Globalization, Gender, Labor, and Authenticity in Turkey's Carpet Industry
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Woven Assemblages: Globalization, Gender, Labor, and Authenticity in Turkey's Carpet Industry Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Isik, Damla Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 24/09/2021 16:33:47 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/196145 WOVEN ASSEMBLAGES: GLOBALIZATION, GENDER, LABOR, AND AUTHENTICITY IN TURKEY’S CARPET INDUSTRY by Damla I şık __________________________ Copyright © Damla I şık 2007 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2007 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Damla Isik entitled Woven Assemblages: Globalization, Gender, Labor, and Authenticity in Turkey’s Carpet Industry and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 18 April 2007 Dr. Ana Alonso _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 18 April 2007 Dr. Brian Silverstein _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 18 April 2007 Dr. Anne Betteridge _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 18 April 2007 Dr. Ken McAllister Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date:18 April 2007 Dissertation Co-Director: Dr. Ana Alonso Dissertation Co-Director: Dr. Brian Silverstein 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under user rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: Damla Işık 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Writing is just a process of connections. - Raymond Carver This dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance and generous support of a lot of people. I cannot name them all here, and, indeed, some need to remain anonymous for reasons of confidentiality, but I would like to acknowledge my indebtedness and gratitude. To all who opened their hearts, homes, ateliers, and working spaces to me and to my research study in Turkey and most especially to the women carpet weavers: hepinize çok te şekkürler. Sizin misafirperverli ğiniz ve deste ğiniz olmadan bu proje ba şlamadan biterdi. A thank you to my mother, Mine I şık, who instilled a passion in my formative years to continue my education and to always strive for academic excellence. I learned how to “stand on my own two feet” because of her own perseverance as a single mother. I would not have been where I am today without her. My husband, partner-in-crime and in love, James Smith, has been a constant pillar of support. I could not begin to describe here the ways in which he has contributed to my finishing this dissertation: his unfailing encouragement and support, our conversations over dinners and breakfasts, and his amazing talent as a computer wiz helped me in refining this text. Without his emotional support, I could not have completed this research; without his conscientious editing, the final draft would have had considerably more mistakes. Tesekkürler my partner! Thanks go to my dissertation committee who have constantly challenged me to approach my work in complex ways and constantly made it better. Dr. Ana Alonso 5 inspired me by her theoretical insights, her amazing writing talent, and her unflinching yet supportive critical comments and suggestions. Dr. Brian Silverstein contributed so much to this dissertation and has been such tremendous help throughout the writing of it that I cannot thank him enough. His positive coaching, ongoing reviews and encouragement continuously improved my thinking and my writing. Dr. Anne Betteridge has been a pillar of support with her guidance, her warmth, her discipline, and her caring for this work. Her extensive knowledge on the issues of women, gender, and work in the Middle East helped me tremendously in rethinking some of my own assumptions and conclusions. I thank Dr. Ken McAllister for his friendship, his editorial comments, and his amazing talent at making me always aware of the rhetoric(s) of my own stance as a writer and a thinker. Dr. Anne Hedlund provided invaluable help at the beginning of the research and writing process and helped me stay on track and not lose all heart and hope when I needed encouragement the most. To have such a group of supportive advisors I attribute to an amazing dose of luck, and it has been a privilege to study with each of them. Naturally, any errors found in these pages are the fault of me alone. I cannot name all the professionals, academics, friends, colleagues, and relatives in Turkey and in the United States who also generously supported this research. They do know who they are, and I am thankful for all their help. Her şey için çok te şekkürler! Partial funding for this research came from Emil W. Haury Fund Research Grant, The University of Arizona Social and Behavioral Sciences Dissertation Grant Fund, the Riecker Fellowship, and Janet Upjohn Stearns Foundation Award. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………..8 LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………9 ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………..10 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………….13 Globalization as a Discursive and Productive Practice…………………………. 25 Relational and Responsible Subjects at Thresholds: Honor, Kinship and Labor..29 Strategic Forms: Networks of Power, Contours of Value……………………….33 Ethico-Politics, Agency, and Gender…………………………………………….35 Death (?) of an Industry………………………………………………………….37 Production Assemblages in the Carpet Sector…………………………………...41 Navigating the Field, Following the Relationships: On Methods………………..46 Women and Work in Turkey…………………………………………………….55 A Comparative Perspective: On Interruptions…………………………………...60 CHAPTER 1: SITUATING THE WEAVING INDUSTRY…………………………….68 The Carpet Weaving Industry in the Ottoman Empire…………………………..70 Post 1980s: Integration into the Global Market Economy and the Bid for EU….90 Changing Laws and Regulations: Fantasies of Labor…………………………..101 CHAPTER 2: MODERN WEAVING INDUSTRY, ITS ACTORS AND ITS PLACE IN TURKEY’S ECONOMY…………………………………………...108 Organization of the Business and Definition of Terms………………………...108 Politics of Atelier Weaving: The Hoca and the Government…………………..120 The Carpet Industry and the Turkish Economy………………………………..130 “The Cultural” versus “The Industrial”: Manufacturing Carpets like “Praying for Rain”……………………………………………………...134 CHAPTER 3: GOVERNANCE OF WORK: TATLI G ĐCĐMĐK………………………..146 Changing Tapestry of Konya…………………………………………………...152 Weaving in Konya ……………………………………………………………..162 I am weaving so my daughter doesn’t have to: Paradoxes of Education, Women and Weaving…………………………………………………..172 Going Beyond Formal and Informal Work: Understanding the Governance of Tatlı Gicimik …………………………………………………………179 Going Beyond Categorizations: The Value of Women’s Work………………..192 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS - continued CHAPTER 4: NEGOTIATING RELATIONSHIPS: THE PROCESSES OF LABOR AND FICTIVE KINSHIP…………………………………….198 Social Networks and Social Capital: Fictive Kinship, Honor, and Carpet Production………………………………………………………………204 Weaving in the Home…………………………………………………………..210 The Aya ğaç Atelier……………………………………………………………..222 Fictive Kinship as Practicing Economics………………………………………241 CHAPTER 5: POWER POLITICS IN KONYA: THE DILEMMAS OF THE ĐMALATÇI ………………………………………………………...245 Moving Up the Ladder, Going Beyond the Village: The Carpet Manufacturer..245 Navigating, Negotiating: Dealing with the “Ignorant” Weaver………………...257 Honor, Access and Advertisement: Keeping Competition in Check…………..266 Averting the Dangers of Threshold Crossings: Keeping your Honor Intact…..274 Unfolding Biopower: Relationships and Secrets……………………………….278 Power of Knowledge: Surviving in Konya as a Carpet Manufacturer/Dealer….285 CHAPTER 6: CREATING VALUE THROUGH PERFORMING AND “STORY-TELLING”: AUTHENTICITY, TOURISM, AND THE CARPET BUSINESS…………………………………………….288 Determining Value: Contours of Authenticity…………………………………291 The Making of a “Carpet Village”……………………………………………..303 The Sellers……………………………………………………………………...317 The Weavers……………………………………………………………………324 Meeting the Manager and the Company………………………………………..333 The Seminars and Conferences…………………………………………………345 CHAPTER 7: “REVITALIZING TRADITION:” THE DOBAG PROJECT………….364 History and Mission of the DOBAG Project…………………………………...365 The Image of DOBAG………………………………………………………….375