The Century of the Crises, the Century of the Accumulation: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Abstract

ABSTRACT The hundred-year history of capitalism in Turkey can be discussed in different contexts. This study addresses this process by focusing on economic crises. It argues that the history of capitalism in Turkey can be interpreted as a transition from one crisis to another. This paper suggests reading the crises in the context of the two main accumulation processes: the commercial capital accumulation process and crises (1929 and 1954-8) and the crises of industrial capital accumulation (1978/79, 1989, 1994, 2001, 2008, 2018/2019). The 1978/79 crisis is considered as a crisis of inward-oriented capital accumulation, 1989 as a crisis of export-oriented capital accumulation, and 1994, 2001, 2008, and 2018/2019 as the crises of capital import-oriented accumulation. This study reads these crises that have occurred in different periods as a result of the foreign exchange production and acquisition problem stemming from the peculiarities of late capitalist development.