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Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14288/6
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Publication Open Access The promising momentum and collective practices of the recently expanding network of consumer-led ecological food initiatives in Turkey(İstanbul Üniversitesi Yayınevi, 2020) Department of Sociology; Al, İrem Soysal; Department of Sociology; Graduate School of Social Sciences and HumanitiesThe main objective of this paper is to contribute to the discussions on the collective ecological food initiatives in Turkey that the academic literature has to a large extent ignored. This study provides a current and detailed analysis of these initiatives in Turkey, whose momentum has expanded considerably in recent years, especially in Istanbul. The study investigates food communities and consumer food cooperatives as two significant forms of consumer-led collective ecological food initiatives, comparing these in terms of their motivations, organization models, and functions. A comprehensive picture of almost 20 consumer-led ecological food initiatives is presented, and 11 prominent examples of these possessing transformative ambitions in Istanbul are discussed in detail. The fieldwork is based on my participant observation of the Kadikoy Cooperative, of which I have been a member for one year, and close interactions with the members of other ecological food initiatives for two years, as well as 20 in-depth interviews with the members of these initiatives. This paper examines the commonalities in these initiatives that differentiate them from other alternative food channels, as well as the connections, relationships, and collaborations among these recently emerging collective ecological initiatives. The paper discusses concrete examples of the alternative relations in food production, distribution, and consumption that these urban ecological food initiatives try to offer in practice and that indicate the potential power these initiatives have for transforming current food relations and for contributing to the emerging food sovereignty struggle in Turkey. The study also illustrates how the consumers and producers in this network of initiatives have conceptualized their practices and ambitions within the food sovereignty movement.Publication Open Access Beneath walls and naked souls: factors influencing intercultural meaningful social interactions in public places of Istanbul(Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2022) N/A; Department of Sociology; Department of Media and Visual Arts; Ramirez Galleguillos, María Laura; Eloiriachi, Aya; Coşkun, Aykut; Faculty Member; Department of Sociology; Department of Media and Visual Arts; KU Arçelik Research Center for Creative Industries (KUAR) / KU Arçelik Yaratıcı Endüstriler Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi (KUAR); Graduate School of Social Sciences and Humanities; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; N/A; N/A; 165306Individuals often avoid intercultural interactions due to biases and stereotyped perceptions about others. However, these encounters are needed to promote social inclusion and diversity. Previous PD studies have supported migrants' social inclusion through developing their social capital and empowerment. Very few studies explored the facilitation of intercultural interactions within everyday contexts, like public places; further, most studies provide western perspectives. Addressing this gap, we conducted a focus group study with migrants and locals living in Istanbul, a city connecting eastern and western cultures, to explore how they perceive intercultural meaningful social interactions (IMSI). We asked participants to share poems about meaningful interactions, opening a dialogue about their intercultural life experiences. This technique allowed us to identify abstract qualities of IMSI and factors that influence them. We contribute to PD work on social inclusion by presenting in-between perspectives of IMSI and discussing opportunities for facilitating IMSI in a super-diverse city.Publication Open Access Women’s entrepreneurship in Turkey: recent patterns and practices(2021) Department of Sociology; Mert, Aslı Ermiş; Faculty Member; Department of Sociology; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; 292273This article sets out to understand the recent patterns and practices of women’s entrepreneurship in Turkey, and by investigating its demographics using quantitative methods, critically discussing microcredit as a policy tool, evaluating the reinforcement provided by civil society and public institutions specifically based on the action plans of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization (KOSGEB), the aim is to examine whether existing entrepreneurship opportunities and support mechanisms enhance women’s skills and potential based on Nussbaum’s (1999; 2000) combined capabilities approach and human powers concept. This article finds that there is no particularly restricted demographics of women’s entrepreneurship in Turkey, specifically referring to marital status and educational level. In terms of microcredit as a common practice, discussions underline that it does not seem to contribute to women’s human powers to a large extent in terms of strengthening their position in the job market and society. Finally, it is seen that there are various sources of support towards women in entrepreneurship in Turkey offered largely by NGOs as well as public institutions, yet at the level of action plans the main target is mostly increasing the number of entrepreneur women, who are considered as a part of special target groups rather than being regarded as a separate focus. Based on Nussbaum’s combined capabilities approach (1999), this article underlines that public institutions and social policies as primary external capabilities need to continue supporting women’s internal capabilities (via training, networking activities etc.) in entrepreneurship, yet also concurrently focus on the expansion of the scope and fields of women-owned businesses to enable the execution of their human powers. / Bu makale, Türkiye’de kadınların güncel girişimcilik örüntülerini ve konuya ilişkin pratikleri irdelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Öncelikle, kadınların girişimciliğinin demografik yapısı nicel yöntemlerle incelenmiştir. Ardından, mikrokredi bir politika aracı olarak tartışılmış ve bu konudaki sivil toplum ve sosyal politika destekleri özellikle Küçük ve Orta Ölçekli İşletmeleri Geliştirme ve Destekleme İdaresi Başkanlığı (KOSGEB) aksiyon planları bağlamında değerlendirilmiştir. Makalede, girişimcilik imkanları ve desteklerinin Nussbaum’un (1999; 2000) birleşik yapabilirlikler yaklaşımı ve insan güçleri kavramı çerçevesinde kadınların bu alandaki yetenek ve potansiyellerini geliştirme kapasitesi ele alınmıştır. Sonuçlar Türkiye’de kadınların girişimcilik örüntülerinde özellikle medeni durum ve eğitim seviyesi açısından çok kısıtlı bir demografik yapıya işaret etmemiştir. Yaygın bir uygulama olan mikrokredinin ise kadınların insan güçlerine istihdam ve toplumdaki statülerini geliştirme bağlamında yüksek düzeyde bir katkı sağlamadığı tespit edilmiştir. Son olarak, sivil toplum alanında kadınların girişimciliğine ilişkin çeşitli destek mekanizmaları olduğu görülmüştür. Kamusal aksiyon planları çerçevesinde de girişimci kadınlara yönelik adımlar mevcut olmakla birlikte çoğunlukla bu alanda çalışan kadınların sayısını artırmanın hedeflendiği ve spesifik olarak kadınlara odaklanan politikaların eksikliği dikkat çekmiş, girişimci kadınların özel hedef grupları arasında değerlendirildikleri gözlemlenmiştir. Bu çalışma, Nussbaum’un (1999) birleşik yapabilirlikler yaklaşımına dayanarak, en önemli dışsal yapabilirlik öğelerinden olan kamu kuruluşu destekleri ve sosyal politikalar bazında girişimci kadınların içsel yapabilirliklerini (eğitim imkanları, ağ oluşturma aktiviteleri vb. aracılığıyla) pekiştirme süreçlerinin devamı ile birlikte kadınlara ait girişimlerin kapsam ve alanlarının genişlemesine ilişkin çalışmalara odaklanılmasının öneminin altını çizmiştir.Publication Open Access The politics of Syrian refugees in Turkey: a question of inclusion and exclusion through citizenship(Cogitatio Press, 2018) Department of Sociology; Akçapar, Şebnem Köşer; Şimşek, Doğuş; Teaching Faculty; Department of Sociology; College of Social Sciences and HumanitiesTurkey began to receive refugees from Syria in 2011 and has since become the country hosting the highest number of refugees, with more than 3.5 million Syrians and half a million people of other nationalities, mainly from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. An important turning point regarding the legal status of Syrian refugees has come with recent amendments to the Turkish citizenship law. Based on ongoing academic debates on integration and citizenship, this article will explore these two concepts in the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey. We will argue that the shift in the Turkish citizenship law is a direct outcome of recent migration flows. We further argue that the citizenship option is used both as a reward for skilled migrants with economic and cultural capital and as a tool to integrate the rest of the Syrians. It also reflects other social, political and demographic concerns of the Turkish government. Using our recent ethnographic study with Syrians and local populations in two main refugee hosting cities in Turkey, Istanbul and Gaziantep, we will locate the successes and weaknesses of this strategy by exemplifying the views of Syrian refugees on gaining Turkish citizenship and the reactions of Turkish nationals.Publication Open Access Gender policy architecture in Turkey: localizing transnational discourses of women's employment(Oxford University Press (OUP), 2017) Alnıaçık, Ayşe; Deniz, Ceren; Department of International Relations; Department of Sociology; Olcay, Özlem Altan; Gökşen, Fatoş; Faculty Member; Department of International Relations; Department of Sociology; College of Administrative Sciences and Economics; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; N/A; 51292This article studies the institutionalization and implementation of policies addressing women’s low labor force participation in Turkey. It examines how state actors and institutions translate gender mainstreaming and work-family balance in the Turkish policy context. Approaching the state as a multi-layered and hierarchical set of institutions and practices, we trace the emergence of a policy architecture that marginalizes questions of women’s employment and gender equality. Our goal is to shed light on how state actors and institutions actively participate in vernacularizing transnational gender policy norms and, in the process, bend these norms so far that they produce contradictory meanings and practices.Publication Open Access Between the state and the world market: small-scale hazelnut production in the Black Sea region(İstanbul Üniversitesi Yayınevi, 2020) Erköse, H. Yener; Şahin, Osman; Yükseker, Deniz; Department of Sociology; Sert, Hüseyin Deniz; Faculty Member; Department of Sociology; Graduate School of Social Sciences and HumanitiesTurkey is the world's largest hazelnut producer and exporter, yet hazelnut farmers have been growing hazelnuts in increasingly difficult conditions even for the years when production levels and hazelnut prices are high. In this paper, we take up the contradictions in hazelnut cultivation in Turkey and seek to show that, despite the commonsense opinion that the problem stems from small-scale cultivation, the more important problem is the unequal power relations that exist in the hazelnut market. We make the following arguments in the paper based on some of the findings from the field study we carried out in the Western and Eastern Black Sea regions in 2017. Issues exist regarding productivity and profitability in hazelnut cultivation characterized by small holdings. Hazelnut farmers are often unable to meet the expenditures and investments required for raising productivity. These problems arise more from the farmers' demographic profiles and debt levels and the unequal power relations in the hazelnut market with respect to small-scale production. Therefore, resolving the problems in hazelnut cultivation might require making changes that favor small farmers' power relations in the hazelnut market rather than enlarging holdings. / Türkiye dünyanın en büyük fındık üreticisi ve ihracatçısı konumunda. Ancak fındık üreticileri, bazı yıllar bol mahsul veya mahsullerine iyi fiyat alsalar bile, giderek daha zorlu koşullarda üretim yapıyorlar. Bu yazıda, Türkiye’de fındık üretiminin barındırdığı çelişkileri ele alacağız. Sorunların kaynağında fındık işletmelerinin küçük olmasının yattığı yönündeki genel kabulün aksine, sorunun aslen fındık piyasasındaki eşitsiz güç ilişkilerinden kaynaklandığını göstermeye çalışacağız. 2017’de Doğu ve Batı Karadeniz Bölgeleri’nde yaptığımız alan araştırmasının verilerinin bir bölümünün bulgularına dayanan makalede şu savları ortaya koyuyoruz. Türkiye’de küçük işletmelerde yapılan fındık tarımının verimlilik ve kârlılık konusunda sorunları vardır. Fındık üreticilerinin çoğu verim artırımı için gerekli harcamaları ve yatırımı yapamamaktadırlar. Bu sorunlar, üretim birimlerinin küçük olmasından çok, fındık üreticilerinin demografik profili, borçlanma ve fındık piyasasındaki eşitsiz yapıdan kaynaklanmaktadır. Dolayısıyla, fındık üretimindeki sorunların çözülmesi için üretim ölçeğini büyütmekten çok, eşitsiz güç ilişkilerinin hâkim olduğu küresel piyasada üretici lehine değişiklikler yapmak daha uygun olabilir.Publication Open Access Neo-Ottomanism and Cool Japan in comparative perspective(Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2021) Shinohara, Chika; Department of Sociology; Ergin, Murat; Faculty Member; Department of Sociology; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; 106427Turkey and Japan have comparable histories of modernization beginning in the nineteenth century. They have since then produced modernities that are considered a mix of ""Eastern""and ""Western.""Over recent decades, both faced the question of what comes after modernity and began manufacturing their versions of authenticities and cultural exports. This paper comparatively locates two symptoms of this process. ""Neo-Ottomanism""refers to the increasing cultural consumption of Turkey's imperial past while ""Cool Japan""emphasizes popular products in entertainment, fashion, youth culture, and food, intending to shift Japan's image to a ""cool""place. Both projects, in different ways, are sponsored by the state; yet their reception in popular culture illustrates the vexed relationship between the state and culture: while states endeavor to colonize culture for their own interests, popular culture provides avenues to outwit the state's attempts. Popular culture's autonomy in both contexts has to do with the collapse of traditional hierarchies, which has paved the ways for the promotion and export of new identity claims. Local and global representations of neo-Ottomanism and Cool Japan differ. Internally, they are fragmented; externally, they are linked to international ""soft power,""and offer alternatives modernities in Turkey and Japan's regional areas of influence.Publication Open Access The gendered workplaces of women garment workers in Istanbul(Taylor _ Francis, 2017) Department of Sociology; Can, Başak Bulut; Faculty Member; Department of Sociology; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; 219278Drawing on 20 semi-structured interviews with women garment workers in a low-income neighbourhood of Istanbul, and observations in the ateliers where they worked, this article examines their work experiences in the gendered and sexualised work atmosphere of garment workshops. There are three interrelated levels upon which the gender-related issues emerge in women garment workers’ stories. The first set of discourses portrays young female garment workers in highly sexualised terms, and the second concerns the use of kinship vocabulary and avoidance of impersonal work relationships. That is, women workers’ experiences in capitalist production sites were trivialised and regulated through the sexualisation of their bodies and the deployment of kinship idioms while addressing their role at the workplace. The third level analyses women’s submissive, subversive or contradictory responses to these gendered disciplinary techniques and representations, i.e. the construction of their subjectivities. These three levels point to two things: first, cultural presumptions about marriage, women’s sexuality and reproductive cycles are materialised at the workplace. Second, gendered instantiations of these presumptions in a specific work environment are both informed by their familial roles (such as daughter, wife, mother, widowed) and inform their future reproductive preferences (whether they marry, have a child, get a divorce, etc.). This article shows how the ways in which women’s difference is construed and acted upon in the garment industry are inseparable from women’s reproductive decisions.Publication Open Access Happiness at the macro level: a critical discussion on the compatibility of different indicators(İstanbul Üniversitesi Yayınevi, 2022) Department of Sociology; Mert, Aslı Ermiş; Faculty Member; Department of Sociology; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; 292273This paper presents a critical discussion mainly based on the macro-level (societal) determinants of happiness by focusing on gender equality, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, and countries’ commitment to reducing inequality. The aim is to critically evaluate the compatibility of these components through the examples of happiest and unhappiest countries to arrive at conclusions regarding the importance of these means as a whole. Rankings based on these determinants reveal an apparent compatibility to exist for both ends of happiness with countries’ gender equality, GDP per capita, and commitment to reducing inequality as well as gross national income (GNI) per capita (based on purchasing power parity [PPP]) and Gini coefficient. Exceptional cases are discussed based on their sociological and socioeconomic contexts. Further research has been determined to be needed that will examine happiness at the macro level using an inclusive multidimensional approach rather than only focusing on a single indicator, in particular by taking into account various means of inequality, primarily regarding gender, income, living standards/conditions as well as issues such as access to health, education, employment opportunities, and information, as parts of the broader concept.Publication Open Access A multivariate investigation of overall happiness, job satisfaction and income satisfaction of women and men in Turkey(Sosyoekonomi Society / Sosyoekonomi Derneği, 2020) Department of Sociology; Mert, Aslı Ermiş; Faculty Member; Department of Sociology; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; 292273This paper examines the factors affecting working women's and men's overall happiness, job satisfaction and income satisfaction levels and the association between these three measures of happiness. Women and men who are satisfied with their workplace relations relative to those who are not are more likely to report that they are satisfied or very satisfied with their life, job and income. Women's job and income satisfaction and men's all three means of happiness are more likely to be high for those who received a pay rise last year. The strongest correlation is observed between job satisfaction and income satisfaction for both genders, which is slightly stronger for women that challenges the arguments on women's financial motivation to be not as strong as men at work. Spillover hypothesis is confirmed in all pairwise combination of the three happiness measures according to findings. / Bu çalışma, çalışan kadınların ve erkeklerin yaşam, iş ve gelir tatmin düzeylerini etkileyen faktörleri Türkiye bağlamında irdelemekte ve bu öğeler arasındaki korelasyonu incelemektedir. Araştırmanın bulguları, işyeri ilişkilerinden memnun olan kadınların ve erkeklerin yaşam, iş ve gelir tatmin düzeylerinin yüksek olma eğiliminin daha fazla olduğunu göstermiştir. Kadınların iş ve gelir, erkeklerin ise her üç mutluluk öğesi önceki sene alınan gelir artışından pozitif olarak etkilenmektedir. En yüksek korelasyon seviyesi kadınlar için biraz daha güçlü olmak üzere iş ve gelir tatmini arasında görülmüş, bu bulgu kadınların iş hayatında ekonomik kazanımlara erkekler kadar önem vermedikleri argümanının aksini desteklemiştir. Yayılma hipotezi üç mutluluk öğesinin tüm ikili kombinasyonlarında gözlemlenmiştir.