FROM URBAN POLITICS to the POLITICS of REPRESENTATION: REPRESENTING ISTANBUL‟S URBAN TRANSFORMATION in “URBAN ACTIVISM DOCUMENTARIES” of the 2000S
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FROM URBAN POLITICS TO THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION: REPRESENTING ISTANBUL‟S URBAN TRANSFORMATION IN “URBAN ACTIVISM DOCUMENTARIES” OF THE 2000s by SONAY BAN Submitted to the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Sabancı University Spring 2012 © Sonay Ban 2012 All Rights Reserved Abstract FROM URBAN POLITICS TO THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION: REPRESENTING ISTANBUL‟S URBAN TRANSFORMATION IN “URBAN ACTIVISM DOCUMENTARIES” OF THE 2000s Sonay Ban Cultural Studies, MA Thesis, 2012 Prof. Dr. Asuman Suner Keywords: urban transformation, documentary filmmaking, representation, resistance, activism. This study aims to trace the documentary representations of the process of urban transformation conducted under the AKP government during the 2000s. It examines how different modes of oppositional politics that engage in a critique of neoliberal urban policies of the AKP government are articulated in “urban activism documentaries”. The study entails textual analysis of films as well as interviews with the directors involved in the process of filmmaking. The thesis aims to contribute to the existing literature in urban studies by exploring the area of intersection between urban politics and the politics of representation. It investigates to what extent documentary films can serve as alternative channels of opposition against dominant discourses and practices of urban transformation in Turkey. iv Özet KENT SİYASETİNDEN TEMSİL SİYASETİNE: İSTANBUL‟DA 2000‟LERDEKİ KENTSEL DÖNÜŞÜM SÜRECİNİN “KENT AKTİVİZMİ BELGESELLERİ”NDE TEMSİLİ Sonay Ban Kültürel Çalışmalar, MA Tezi, 2012 Prof. Dr. Asuman Suner Anahtar Kelimeler: kentsel dönüşüm, belgesel film yapımı, temsil, direniş, aktivizm. Bu çalışma 2000 sonrası AKP hükümeti sırasında yürütülen kentsel dönüşüm sürecinin belgesellerdeki temsilinin izini sürmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma, AKP hükümetinin neoliberal kent politikalarını eleştiren muhalefet siyasetinin farklı biçimlerinin “kent aktivizmi belgeselleri”nde nasıl dile getirildiğini incelemektedir. İncelemede filmlerin metinsel analizlerinin yanısıra film yapımı sürecine dahil olan yönetmenlerle görüşmeler de yer almaktadır. Bu tez; mevcut kent çalışmalarıyla ilgili akademik yazına, kent siyasetiyle temsil siyaseti arasında bir kesişim alanı araştırarak katkı sağlamayı amaçlamaktadır. Belgesel filmlerin, Türkiye‟de sürdürülmekte olan kentsel dönüşüm uygulamalarına ve hâkim söylemlere ne ölçüde alternatif muhalefet alanları açabileceğini araştırmaktadır. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis has been written in a period of time when I have been thinking long and hard about my capabilities on academic writing. I came across to acknowledge its hardships sometimes through breakdowns and at others through short-term withdrawals. At that point, I feel very fortunate and indebted to Asuman Suner. Her academic and intellectual guidance, incessant enthusiasm for my thesis, her encouragement and patience at every stage of this work have given me the strength to go on. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Can Candan: one of my biggest chances in life was to take his documentary courses during my undergraduate studies in Boğaziçi University. Being his student was stimulating in the sense that it not only made me write this thesis with an emphasis on documentary filmmaking. It also showed that I have a wonderful professor of great personality who would always be helpful and kind enough to support me. And one of the chances I got while studying in Sabancı University was to meet Banu Karaca. She was enthusiastic about my thesis from the very first day I have opened up what was on my mind. Her initial advices were of crucial importance as a starting point. This thesis would not have been written without the help and support of my dear and best friends who have always been there for me when I was down. I am grateful to my brother and my sister-in-law who were patient enough with me. I will always be thankful to God for blessing me with the most beautiful niece, whose existence has been giving strength and breathe of life. My sister has of tremendous support and faith on me in my whole life. She always encouraged me to realize my dreams as well as hers. I am deeply indebted to her patience and unconditional love for me. My father and my mother had never given up on trusting me in patience even at the times when I do not deserve being their lovely daughter. I am sincerely grateful to my parents who worked so hard for my education. Without their infinite generosity, unconditional and incessant love and support, and their trust I would not be able to do anything in life. This thesis is solely dedicated to my parents who were not as “privileged” as their daughter. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES.................................................................................. viii INTRODUCTION..................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1. AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF URBAN TRANSFORMATION IN MAJOR WORLD CITIES AND IN ISTANBUL ………………………………………………….. 10 a. The History of Urban Transformation and Capitalist Modernity……………………………………….. 10 b. Urban Transformation in Istanbul…………………………. …... 18 c. Emergence of Grass Root Movements Out of Urban Restructuring………………………………………………......... 31 CHAPTER 2. A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE “URBAN ACTIVISM DOCUMENTARIES” OF THE 2000s IN TURKEY…...... 35 a. “Urban Activism Documentaries”: Themes and Styles………… 36 b. A Brief Overview of the History of Documentary Filmmaking……………………………………………………… 47 c. The Documentary Form: Representing Reality……………. …… 55 d. Documentary filmmaking in Turkey………………………. …… 60 CHAPTER 3. POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION IN “URBAN ACTIVISM DOCUMENTARIES”…………………………. 74 a. The Thematic Unity in “Urban Activism Documentaries” in the 2000s…………………………………………………….. 75 b. Aesthetics and Politics of Documentary Filmmaking in “Urban Activism Documentaries”……………………………… 85 CONCLUSION……………………………………………………….. 107 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………….. 110 APPENDIX……………………………………………………………. 122 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: DVD screenshot from Canım Sulukule (2010)……………………… 79 Figure 3.2: Two screenshots taken from Fatih Pınar's Tarlabaşı video on his website ………………………………………………………………………. 80 Figure 3.3: DVD screenshot from Nerede Yaşarsan Yaşa! (2011) ……………… 84 Figure 3.4: Example of aerial footages: Three DVD screenshots from Ekümenopolis (2010)…….…………………………………………………. …… 89 Figure 3.5: Expert consultations: Two screenshots from Ekümenopolis (2010)… 90 Figure 3.6: A screenshot from Selahattin'in İstanbul'u (2010) ………………….. 94 Figure 3.7: Two screenshots showing demolition of the workshop for the kids and Selahattin's reaction in Selahattin'in İstanbul'u (2010) …….……………….. 96 Figure 3.8: Two screenshots indicating interview with a young couple in Göç (2008)…………………………………………………………….. 97 Figure 3.9: Two screenshots from the conducted interviews in Göç (2008)…….. 98 Figure 3.10: A screenshot depicting the police violence in Göç (2008) ………… 99 Figure 3.11: A screenshot showing a couple in Canım Sulukule (2010)………… 104 viii INTRODUCTION This thesis aims to trace the documentary representations of the process of urban transformation conducted in Istanbul under the AKP government during the 2000s. It examines how different modes of oppositional politics that engage in a critique of the neoliberal urban policies are articulated in “urban activism documentaries”. The process of urban transformation1 in Istanbul involves the implementation of neoliberal policies in the urban context since the 1980s. The recent urban transformation of Istanbul has been enabled and legitimized through a set of legal changes wrapped in neoliberal language.2 This process includes the implementation and planning of mega projects, major changes in real-estate investments, and a new visibility and domination of the finance and service sectors in the city‟s economy.3 The passing of the municipality law of 1984 was by followed the implementation of the first neoliberal urban renewal projects that were initiated by the metropolitan municipality under 1 Different terms are used to describe the divergent processes of urban restructuring in academic literature such as “urban renewal”, “urban gentrification” and “urban transformation”. In Turkey, the term “urban transformation” (kentsel dönüşüm) has often been employed by the AKP (Justice and Development Party) government to describe its neoliberal urban policies. Another important term in this context is “urban revitalization”. 2 Bartu Candan, Ayfer and Biray Kolluoğlu, “Emerging spaces of neoliberalism: A gated town and a public housing project in İstanbul” in New Perspective on Turkey, no. 39 (2008), p. 12. 3Ibid, p. 12. 1 Bedrettin Dalan, the mayor of the liberal-conservative right-wing ANAP government between 1984 and 1989. The ongoing empowerment of the municipal government during the 1990s has been further consolidated by the AKP government since 2002 through the implementation of a series of projects under the disguise of the adjustment policies of Turkey to the European Union membership; the selection of Istanbul as the European capital of culture in 2010; and the strengthening of the building stock for the forecasted Istanbul/Marmara earthquake.4 Thus, several “urban transformation projects” have been inaugurated in specific gecekondu5 areas and historical neighborhoods of Istanbul such as Sulukule, Tarlabaşı, Ayazma, Ayvansaray, Balat, Başıbüyük, Bezirgânbahçe and so on. These projects