CONFLICT GEOGRAPHIES OF WATER POLLUTION IN THRACE REGION OF TURKEY by Eda Acara A thesis submitted to the Department of Geography In conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada (May, 2015) Copyright ©Eda Acara, 2015 i Abstract This thesis addresses the tension between industrial development policies and environmental protection and the rising pollution levels in the City of Lüleburgaz in Thrace region, a peripheral region of Istanbul, Turkey. The environmental narratives of second- third-generation Muslim-Balkan immigrants, who began arriving in the early 20th Century, and Kurdish migrants, who arrived in Lüleburgaz in the post-1990 era, express conflict geographies of pollution across communities and between the communities and the state. Heavy pollution in the Ergene River, where the river is declared “dead,” is not a mere accident but rather a facet of neoliberal environmental governance. A politics of non-governance Conflicting narratives of Muslim-Balkan immigrants and Kurdish migrants uncover multiple layered conflict geographies of water pollution in Thrace region by grappling with the question of how “the nation” is continously reterritorialized within neoliberalized constructions of environment and river politics at the community and policy realms. Ethnic-class segregation leads to different community demands with regard to river pollution and environmental degradation in neighbourhoods characterized by different materialities of housing and occupation, a particular facet of non-governance that creates landscapes of invisibility. This analysis contributes to theories on “actually existing neoliberalism” and the ways through which the nation and its various territorial practices at different epochs of neoliberalization processes not only create consent for neoliberalization practices, but also give way for historical and racialized ethnic conflicts to survive. ii Acknowledgements Writing is a collective process. We collect a thesis across bits and pieces of information, sweat and tears. As labourers of research, aiming to make a difference at some level, we also collect each and one another during this process. This means that without the labour of so many different people across a wide spectrum, fields and backgrounds, it would be absolutely impossible to write and in fact, it would be even impossible to dream writing this dissertation. Before going over the thanking list however, there are two people in my life that formed the backbone of this dissertation: my father and my best friend, Professor H. Altan Acara who guided me through the mists of my nomadic-living in between Turkey and Canada and who unfortunately passed away during when I was writing my dissertation in 2014 and my mother, Feriha Acara, who taught me her “strength” through the phase of my father`s disease. Without them, this dissertation would not have grown into a comprehensive research. I would like to thank all my beloved friends both in Canada and in Turkey, my second family who have been around me rescuing and even protecting from the dark times of my juggling between hospital and caring responsibilities and academic work. It is not enough to mention their names and they deserve more space and telling but unfortunately, I will only be able to tell their names and thank them one by one for their support and care for me. With them- as opposed to without them, I saw that even during very difficult times, we are able to count on life more than it offers. To Ezgi Sarıtaş, I would like to thank her for being in my life for more than 10 years as a friend, who knows me sometimes better than I do. To feminist utopists Elif Ekin Akşit Vural, Funda iii Şenol Cantek and Kübra Ceviz I would like to thank them for theır constant care and attention. I would like to further thank Özlem Sarıyıldız and Bilge Demirtaş, for all their creative thinking that they did not spare to share with me. Without their words, I wouldn’t have been able to finish this dissertation and an important chapter of my life. To Mahmut Kavuşan, Nurcan Çarıkçı, Sevim Özdemir, Alptekin Top, Ayça Kurtoğlu, Tore Fougner, my cousins Ece Ceylan Eker and Efe Ceylan, my aunt and uncle Sebahat Ceylan and Ali Ceylan for opening up their houses and/or finding me suitable places to stay and write my dissertation during the very hardest times of my nomadic existence in between 2013 and 2014. Also, I am grateful to have my 10 year old nephew Altan Eker, who supported me with his cries for “never give up” at the most hopeless moments. Then, I especially would like to thank Christine Grossutti, Armağan Teke, Gentry Hanks, Susan Delisle, Susanne Cliff-Jungling, David Cliff and Beverley Mullings for their support during “Canadian winters”. I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Audrey Kobayashi for offering me with her practical vision of problem solving which provided me with the opportunity to join in the PhD program at Queen`s University. Her teachings on how Canadian system works at different levels for immigrants were an invaluable experience. For that matter, I also would like to thank all of my professors, colleagues and administrative staff, Kathy Hoover and Sheila Macdonald at the geography department of Queen`s University and people at Graduate Studies such as Monica Corbett for all of their help in easing my life by offering genuine solutions. And, I should not forget Don Orovan for offering me with iv his warm hello whenever I see him at the department; he always lightens my workday even if it is a dark Canadian winter day. Of course, special thanks will go to the participants of this research and my dearest informant and his mother, who has been excited like I was through out my field research. Without their participation this dissertation would not have been possible. I know that Ergene River and its pollution needs a multidisciplinary intervention where opinions and experiences of people living in the very polluted territories close to the river must be taken into consideration. I hope this dissertation will be a start in taking that lane of creating a more peaceful and sustainable environment of our own. Lastly, without the funding of SSHRC Doctoral Award, AAG Dissertation Award and Queen’s University Graduate Dean’s Doctoral Field Travel Grant for pursuing my field research, writing this dissertation would have been impossible. v Statement of Originality I hereby certify that all of the work described within this thesis is the original work of the author. Any published (or unpublished) ideas and/or techniques from the work of others are fully acknowledged in accordance with the standard referencing practices. (Eda Acara) (May, 2015) vi Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... iii Statement of Originality .............................................................................................................. vi Chapter 1 Introduction: Meeting the Ergene River .......................................................................... 1 Theoretical Frameworks and Literature Review ........................................................................ 10 Conflict Geographies of Water Pollution: The Messiness of Encounter ................................... 12 Governmental Rationalities and Environmental Governance .................................................... 17 Memories of the Dead River and Environmental Narratives ..................................................... 22 Methodologies ............................................................................................................................ 23 Research Design: Theoretical Sampling and Recruiting Participants for Research .................. 26 Coding from Below and Tackling the Messiness of Contradictions in the Interviews .............. 32 Contextualizing: Analyzing written materials and following local memory ............................. 35 The Question of “Where are you from?” and Contentious Reflexive Methodologies .............. 38 Chapter 2 Prelude: Finding Ergene River ...................................................................................... 47 Politics of Non-Governance and Organized Irresponsibility: How does the Neoliberal State, “See” Pollution? ......................................................................................................................... 54 Chapter 3 Territorializing the Nation in Thrace Region ................................................................ 66 Methodological Background of Analysis and Making sense of the National Materials ............ 72 The Discourse of Turkish Migration and Ambivalence of Paradoxical Nationalism ................ 75 Sanitation of the Ottoman Past and Placing the Turk ................................................................ 82 Colours of Civilization ............................................................................................................... 97 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 107 Chapter 4 Settling in ..................................................................................................................... 110 Historical Geographies of Settling