Within Borders, Beyond Borders: the Bergama Movement at the Junction of Local, National and Transnational Practices
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The London School of Economics and Political Science Within Borders, Beyond Borders: The Bergama Movement at the Junction of Local, National and Transnational Practices Baran Alp Uncu A thesis submitted to the Department Sociology of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Supervisor: Prof. Leslie Sklair (Dept. of Sociology, LSE) London, January 2012 1 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 99,573 words. 2 Abstract This thesis sets out to examine how local environmental movements mobilize to engage a new intertwined national and global context in which capitalist globalization has intensified major problems, in particular social and economic inequalities and ecological degradation. In their struggles, local movements mobilize beyond their local and/or national borders, inserting themselves into transnational networks. A representative of such struggles, as I argue in the thesis, is the Bergama movement. The Bergama Movement, a local environmental movement struggling against a transnational gold-mining company in Western Turkey, is analyzed based on an extensive field research reflecting the geographical scope of and the diversity of actors involved in the movement. The research aims to understand the interrelated dimensions of a social movement such as initial mobilization, mobilizing structures, framing, identity construction, and political opportunities; embedding it in a new political and social context in which structures and practices at varying levels of politics become enmeshed. Thus, the thesis shows that making clear-cut distinctions between the local, the national and the global, is inadequate in understanding local movements which challenge actors of capitalist globalization. The contribution of this thesis lies in using the case of the Bergama movement to unpack the interrelated dynamics involved in enmeshed scales of doing politics. In that regard, I show that national and transnational actors align themselves, as in the case of the state in Turkey and transnational mining corporations, in a pro-mine network, while the Bergama activists have formed an extensive movement network by forging links with global civil society actors, external political parties, supranational and international organizations and the media who challenge capitalist globalization. Witnessing that their national political context is being restructured under capitalist globalization, they extensively utilize transnational political opportunities and define themselves as part of a general anti-capitalist globalization struggle. 3 Acknowledgements This thesis is the product of many years of work. It would not have been possible without the assistance, encouragement, support, and friendship of my supervisor, friends, and family. I am indebted to express my utmost gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Leslie Sklair. He supported and encouraged me from the first day of my PhD study discussing the ideas, offering invaluable guidance, and overcoming problems. I would also like thank Dr. Don Slater for his academic encouragement and patience. Without them, the completion of the thesis would not have been possible. This thesis is about the Bergama people who had been fighting against major injustices. The fact that they have to continue struggling with life in many ways never stopped them from giving their assistance to me. I would like to thank Sefa Taşkın, Birsel Lemke, Johan Lemke, Feza Lochner, Oktay Konyar, and Senih Özay for sharing their experiences and knowledge with me from the very first day of my fieldwork. The honourable peasants of Bergama –especially Tahsin Sezer, Nevzat Duran, and Hamza Kural- always accepted me and treated me as if I was one of them. By opening their doors, minds, and hearts to me, they enabled me to complete the difficult task of conducting the fieldwork. As experience shows, writing a thesis is a lonely process which threatens the ‘sanity’ of the researcher. Throughout this long and exhausting process, many friends were there for me, keeping me connected to life. I especially thank Okşan Bayülgen, Jeff Ladewig, Selim Sanver, Mihalis Kritikos, Leo Ferraris, Engin Dalgıç, Arkın Akbay, Serra Ciliv, Murat Aslan, and Uluç Ayık for making things a lot easier and more fun. My colleagues at the Marmara University were really kind and supportive in terms of taking pressure off my shoulders throughout this process. I would also like to thank Ayhan Aktar, İlkay Sunar, Şahin Alpay, and Fuat Keyman, established scholars of Turkish studies, and Aydın Engin and Oral Çalışlar, renowned journalists, from whose conservations I have benefitted greatly. I owe my greatest debt n to my parents, Saffet Uncu and Sezer Uncu. Not only have they provided all the best possible conditions for my education and personal growth, but they also made their best effort to start me off with my PhD and complete it eventually. I deeply appreciate all their efforts, support, and love which made me who I am today. Also, my brother and one of my best friends Erman Ata Uncu never showed less than his full support. I also thank other members of my family, Derya Feyzioğlu, Gamze Paker Mekik, and Tankurt Mekik for their encouragement. My beloved little daughter, Neva Feride Uncu, was born into the writing process of my thesis. She brought joy and happiness into my life which gave further impetus to finish the thesis. Last but not the least, my love and wife, Hande Paker, was the real heroine during this process. Each moment I questioned my study and each day I lost hope, she reminded me of the value and importance of it and let me hang on. Living through all the ups and downs of this process together with me, she unconditionally sacrificed her time and work for me. It was with her encouragement, support, assistance, friendship, and love that I was able to overcome the challenge. Baran Alp Uncu Fall, 2012 4 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................... 6 Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................................... 8 The case of Bergama ........................................................................................................... 12 Research Questions .............................................................................................................. 16 Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 17 a. The fieldwork ............................................................................................................ 19 b. Establishing rapport .................................................................................................. 21 Organization of the chapters ................................................................................................ 24 Chapter 2: Social movements and civil society in a globalizing context ........................... 26 Global Civil Society: The contested terrain of the democratic globalizer’s network ........... 36 Social movements under globalization and Global Justice Movement ........................... 45 Analyzing local movements challenging capitalist globalization .................................... 51 Transnational/Global Opportunities ................................................................................... 72 Chapter 3: Social movements, civil society and political context in Turkey ................... 84 State tutelage ........................................................................................................................ 84 Post-1980: Neoliberal agenda and adaptation to capitalist globalization ............................ 93 Turkey-EU relations and its impact .................................................................................... 95 The Erosion of ‘state-centric modernity’ ............................................................................. 96 Revival of Civil Society and Social Movements ................................................................ 98 Further impacts of globalization ....................................................................................... 102 Chapter 4: The Bergama Movement ................................................................................. 106 Building Mobilization: Initial works of scientific contention, networking, and publicity in Bergama ............................................................................................................................. 108 Initial Mobilization of the villagers ................................................................................... 111 Mobilizing Structures ........................................................................................................ 118 a. Organizational