Turkish Political Economy Research Articles

Turkish Experience with Divestiture between 2010 and 2019: A Comparative Historical Evaluation

Turkey has pursued a policy of divestiture over the past four decades. Yet, it seems that the scholarly research has largely neglected a full account of the recent divestitures. To fill the gap in the literature, this article employs a Marxian analytical framework to explain divestitures in Turkey in the 2010s. The article argues that the most recent era for divestiture is significantly different from the previous ones in terms of its scope, economic and political implications, and the capital groups benefiting from divestitures. First, divestitures had become narrower and more limited in terms of sectoral scope. Second, they had been geared towards earning revenues for the state and creating new financial resources to address the immediate needs of construction-oriented capital accumulation, instead of enhancing export competitiveness. Third, they had been dominated by Islamic-influenced Anatolian companies that have close relations with the AKP government. This interpretation demonstrates that “short-termism” and “favouritism/particularism” have become more important objectives than enhancing “competitiveness” and “transparency” in the recent conjuncture of Turkish political economy. Yet, unlike most of the existing literature, this does not prevent one from interpreting divestiture as a class-based policy that accelerates capital accumulation and systematically privileges the interests of “capital in general.”

Disabled Women’s Care Experiences in Turkey: Intimacy, Dependency, Independent Living

The literature on care relationships and independent living is extensive, although geographically limited, and focuses predominantly on the UK, Scandinavia and the US. This paper explores these themes in the context of Turkey. Through a case study approach, it analyses the experiences of three disabled women with distinctive care arrangements (paid professional, familial informal and an eclectic mix). Cases are discussed in relation to the Turkish context and the existing literature. The paper argues that the experiences of disabled Turkish women need to be understood in relation to the Turkish political economy of care (dependent on family support and undocumented migration), cultural aspects of care (shaped by gendered imagery) and the development of disability rights (characterised by limited independent living). Recognising such universal and locally specific aspects of care and independent living across geographies will contribute to a fuller understanding of disabled people’s experiences and enhance theories of care.

Bridging international political economy and public policy and administration research on central banking

ABSTRACT Central banking as an avenue of research has been of interest to scholars from International Political Economy (IPE) and Public Policy and Administration (PPA) disciplines. Nevertheless, there is very little dialogue between these two perspectives to bridge macro, meso, micro-level analyses and examine the reciprocal relationship between the global and domestic political economy context and monetary policy conduct. This article investigates the Turkish experience to bridge IPE and PPA scholarship on central banking in emerging economies. In doing so, we adopt an analytic eclectic approach combining multiple structural, institutional, and agential causal explanations with particular reference to the Structure, Institution, and Agency (SIA) theoretical framework. This is because analytic eclecticism complements, speaks to, and selectively incorporates theoretical approaches such as the New Independence Approach (NIA) of IPE and institutional and ideational PPA approaches. Drawing on the empirical context of the historical evolution of the Turkish political economy, we explore domestic and international interactions among micro, meso, and macro levels that shape central banking behavior. Our analysis also reveals how global dynamics are translated into domestic policy choices and how particular ideas influence the policymaking process. The analysis underscores the constraining and enabling influence of international dynamics, politics of ideas on emerging economy central banking, and the essential role individual and organizational agency play in the policymaking process.

The Turkish Variety of State-Permeated Capitalism and Mutually Dependent State-Business Relations

ABSTRACT Scholarship on the varieties of capitalism in emerging economies underlines the critical role states play in the political economy of development. This research suggests that “state capitalism” or “state-permeated capitalism” is the most common economic development model among large emerging economies. One of the distinguishing features of these emerging economies is that informal state–business ties are the backbone of their development models. However, more needs to be known about the type, nature and evolution of state–business relations that guide emerging economic development trajectories and their implications for varieties of capitalism within state- permeated market economies. This article situates Turkey within the state capitalism debate by examining the historical legacy of “mutually dependent” state–business ties that have characterised the Turkish political economy and how these ties took a different form under the domination of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi – AKP) since 2002. Related, the article investigates the emergence and evolution of two ideologically distant business groups MÜSİAD and TÜSİAD in the context of changing political economy dynamics, their relations with political authorities and the conflicting positions they have taken for vital economic policies and political reforms during the AKP rule.

Neoliberal Küreselleşme Çağında Uluslararası Örgütlerin Politik Sosyolojisi

The aim of this research is to understand how international organisations (IOs) shape the politico-sociological structure of the nation-states in the age of neoliberal globalisation. IOs have become the most dominant actors of the liberal international order in the post-war era. This article specifically focusses on the Bretton Woods (BW) institutions, namely International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and their impact on the political sociology of the sovereign states. This article argues that the IOs, especially the BW institutions, eventually shape the political sociology of nation-states in two ways. First, it changes the ideological structure of the country, and second it increases the authoritarian tendencies in these countries. To analyse the paradigm, this research studies the Turkish case vis-à-vis its relationship with the IMF since the 1960s. On the ideological side, the BW institutions involvement in the Turkish political economy cause the rise of political Islam since the 1980s. For the authoritarian tendencies, the relationship with BW institutions increased the level of authoritarianism, and as a matter of fact, it even triggered the coup d’état in 1980.

Nuclear Energy as a Hegemonic Discourse in Turkey

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the revival of the nuclear energy initiatives in Turkey and the associated ‘economic growth’ and ‘competitiveness’ discourse of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) as a function of the neoliberal transformation of the Turkish political economy since the 1980s. Based on an engagement between the neo-Gramscian approach and the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this paper shows how the nuclear project in Turkey is historically situated and discursively constructed. Analysing the Parliamentary Records and statements of state officials, the paper has highlighted how the AKP exercises power through hegemonic discourses in terms of the legitimization of the nuclear energy in Turkey.

Europeanisation of Employment Policy in Turkey: Tracing Domestic Change through Institutions, Ideas and Interests

This article examines the impact of the European Union (EU) on Turkish political economy through an analysis of employment policy. Through tracing ‘institutions’, ‘ideas’ and ‘interests’ representing this policy area, it analyses the extent to which the accession process, which started with the granting of candidate status at the Helsinki Summit in December 1999, has prompted a transformation in this policy area. It draws on empirical evidence based on semi-structured interviews and other primary sources. The main finding is that domestic change occurs, however limited and variegated across sub-policy areas, through policy learning. Moreover, the policy ideas transplanted from the EU gain importance only in interaction with preferences of the coalition of dominant actors.

Turkey’s Moment of Inflection

Turkey today imagines itself as a major contender on the global scene. It is the world's seventeenth-largest economy and has used its geostrategic position and active diplomacy to assume membership in the UN Security Council for the first time in almost 50 years, to become a member of the G20 and to take on a visible role in international disputes. But it faces daunting obstacles at home and abroad, the two most important being the Kurdish problem and the state of civil–military relations. How the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) handles these two challenges will determine whether the current improvement in the Turkish political economy proves to be fleeting. Turkey is at an inflection moment. If it can resolve these problems it will find that many of the obstacles to European membership and continuing development will rapidly recede. Failure will mean a return to nationalist and autarchic policies as well as continual violence and instability.

The Turkish Political Economy: Globalization and Regionalism

AbstractSince the early 1980s, the Turkish economy has globalized via neoliberal reforms. Turkey's globalization entailed a fundamental shift from the inward-oriented, state-led industrialization that had characterized the Turkish political economy for decades to a strategy of export-led growth in an open market economy. Regionalism also became a major component of Turkey's globalization. In the post-Cold War era, the Turkish state has actively pursued multiple projects of regional economic integration. Regional projects are currently regarded as building blocks to Turkey's more successful participation in globalization. However, Turkey's neoliberal form of globalization so far has been characterized by major structural weaknesses, and it has resulted in recurrent economic crises.

The semi‐formal sector and the Turkish political economy

The general dichotomy in developing economies between the ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ economic sectors needs to be refined to account for the ‘semi‐formal’ sector: one whose activities appear to be governed by formal rules and procedures but are, in fact, largely unregulated and unrecorded by the state. Using Turkey as an example of a transitional, developing economy, the paper situates the semi‐formal sector in relation to the other two. Also important to examine is the level of autonomy which the semi‐formal sector enjoys in relation to the state and other economic sectors. Autonomy depends on access to resources, and the use of these resources in pursuit of economic, political, or socio‐cultural agendas. Three comparative lessons can be drawn: 1) despite state endeavours, a sizeable portion of seemingly formal economic activities go unreported and unregulated; 2) the semi‐formal sector helps the perpetuation of a mutually beneficial relationship of mutual neglect between state and society; and, 3) the sector's political agendas may best be characterised as one of ‘oppositional pragmatism’.