Commodification of Nature and Accumulation by Dispossession in Karaburun Peninsula
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COMMODIFICATION OF NATURE AND ACCUMULATION BY DISPOSSESSION IN KARABURUN PENINSULA A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School of Engineering and Sciences of İzmir Institute of Technology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in City Planning by Yağmur ÖZCAN CİVE July 2019 İZMİR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am certain that the thesis wouldn’t exist without the support of the following individuals and institutions. Firstly, I would like to thank my advisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Adile ARSLAN AVAR for her guidance, patience, insight and criticisms. The thesis has taken shape thanks to her knowledge. Secondly, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Hayriye ÖZEN and Asst. Prof. Dr. Nicel SAYGIN for their attendance at my thesis defense and their precious contributions in my thesis. I would like to give special thanks to Karaburun City Council and Çiğdem AKÇURA for their help in the data collection and interview process. I would like to thank Semahat ÖZDEMİR for her help in data collection process. I especially thank Zerrin BALCI for her technical support. I am so grateful to my family members; Korkut Özcan, Asiye Özcan, Yalın Özcan and Burak Cive for their unlimited supports that help me to finish the thesis. They have been always with me on this difficult path. Especially, my father has accompanied me during the all field surveys. My husband has helped me voluntarily during the thesis process. Their encouragements were the greatest support for me to find my way and complete this process successfully. Finally, I would like to thank everyone who supported and encouraged me in this process. Especially, I am grateful to my friends Ayça UYSAL and Miray GÜMÜŞ who have experienced this process with me for their support to finish the thesis. ABSTRACT COMMODIFICATION OF NATURE AND ACCUMULATION BY DISPOSSESSION IN KARABURUN PENINSULA Biophysical areas and resources have been privatized, and subjected to market in response to requirements of the capital accumulation with the view of overcoming the crisis of capitalism in the 1970s. Natural areas previously untouched or used for local production have become “spatial fixes”, to which global capital switched, through state regulations. In other words, there has been an increasing intervention into natural areas, and occurred an intense form of commodification of nature. Privatization, commodification and marketization of these areas lead to environmental degrading. Besides, enclosure of these areas to prevent access of local people to use these natural sources causes them not to able to keep on their livelihood activities. Local people who have been taken away from their common lands or private properties by being deprived of use or ownership are becoming increasingly impoverished and dispossessed. Neoliberal practices after 2000 in the Karaburun Peninsula are striking examples of commodification of nature and accumulation by dispossession. This study examines neoliberal regulations, policies and practices, the overlap between the natural areas and investments, and ownership of these areas in Karaburun Peninsula. As a result, it is seen that the pasture areas used by the villagers to earn their living have been narrowed; their properties have been expropriated and then allocated for wind power generation and industrial olive cultivation. Moreover, the increase of mining investments, fish farms and secondary dwellings on state lands, agricultural lands, pastures and coastal areas have led to privatization of natural areas and restriction of local access. iv ÖZET KARABURUN YARIMADASI’NDA DOĞANIN METALAŞMASI VE MÜLKSÜZLEŞTİRME YOLUYLA BİRİKİM 1970’lerde kapitalizmin krizinin üstesinden gelmek amacıyla sermaye birikiminin gerekliliğine cevap olarak biyofiziksel alanlar ve kaynaklar özelleştirilmiş ve pazar unsuru olmuştur. Daha önce el değmemiş veya yerel üretim için kullanılan doğal alanlar, devlet düzenlemeleri ile küresel sermayenin aktarıldığı “mekânsal sabiteler” haline gelmiştir. Başka bir deyişle, doğal alanlara müdahale artmış ve doğanın metalaşmasının daha yoğun bir biçiminin ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu alanların özelleştirilmesi, metalaşması ve pazarlanması çevresel bozulmaya yol açmaktadır. Ayrıca, yerel halkın bu doğal kaynakları kullanmasını engellemek için bu alanların etrafının çevrilmesi, yerel halkın geçim faaliyetlerine devam edemelerine neden olmaktadır. Kullanım veya mülkiyet hakkından yoksun bırakılmak suretiyle ortak arazilerinden veya özel mülklerinden uzaklaştırılmış olan yöre halkı giderek yoksullaşmakta ve mülksüzleşmektedir. 2000 yılından sonra Karaburun Yarımadası'ndaki neoliberal uygulamalar, doğanın metalaşmasının ve mülksüzleştirme yoluyla birikimin çarpıcı birer örneğidir. Bu çalışmada Karaburun Yarımadası’ndaki neoliberal düzenlemeler, politikalar ve uygulamalar, doğal alanlar ve yatırımların örtüşme durumu ve bu arazilerin mülkiyet durumları incelenmiştir. Bunun sonucunda, köylülerin geçimlerini sağlamak için kullandıkları mera alanları daraltıldığı, mülklerinin kamulaştırıldığı ve daha sonra rüzgar enerjisi üretimi ve endüstriyel zeytin yetiştirme faaliyetleri için tahsis edildiği gözlemlenmektedir. Dahası maden yatırımları, balık çiftlikleri ve ikincil konutların devlet arazilerindeki, tarım ve mera alanlarındaki ve kıyılardaki artışı doğal alanların özelleştirilmesine ve bu alanların yerel kullanımının kısıtlanmasına sebep olmaktadır. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ......................................................... 4 2.1. Neoliberalizing Nature ......................................................................... 4 2.2. Debates on Commodification of Nature .............................................. 8 2.3. Means of New Type Commodification of Nature.............................. 12 2.3.1. Governance (Deregulation, Reregulation, ……..Flanking Mechanisms)……….…………………………………..12 2.3.2. Commodification of Biophysical Nature (Privatization, ……..Valuation, Enclosure) and Accumulation by Dispossession ......... 15 2.4. New Fixes (Environmental, Ecological, Eco-Scalar) .......................... 19 2.5. Commodification of Natural Areas ...................................................... 23 CHAPTER 3. NEOLIBERALIZING NATURE AND NATURAL CONSERVATION IN TURKEY ....................................................... 30 Neoliberalizing Nature in Turkey ...................................................... 30 atural Conservation and Changing Regulations and Policies for ………... Natural Areas.........……….………………………………………....34 Reregulation, Institutional Restructuring and Re-scaling .................. 44 CHAPTER 4. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 46 vi 4.1. Time and Place of Field Research ....................................................... 46 4.2. Data Collection and Techniques ......................................................... 46 4.3. Data Analysis ...................................................................................... 48 CHAPTER 5. SOCIO-NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF KARABURUN PENINSULA ..................................................................................... 49 5.1. General Socio-Economic Characteristics of Karaburun Peninsula .... 49 5.2. Natural Characteristics: Karaburun Peninsula as a Unique ……….. .Natural Area ....................................................................................... 61 5.2.1. Natural Protection Areas which are Legally Approved………….64 5.2.2. Conservation Proposals…………………………………………..65 5.2.3. Announcement of Special Environmental Protection Region…...67 CHAPTER 6. COMMODIFICATION OF NATURE IN KARABURUN PENINSULA ...................................................................................... 69 6.1. Industrial Olive Production ................................................................ 69 6.2. Sustainable Energy Investments ........................................................ 73 6.3. Fish Farms .......................................................................................... 84 6.4. Quarries .............................................................................................. 91 6.5. Secondary Houses and Tourism ......................................................... 94 6.6. Related Plans and Strategies .............................................................. 98 CHAPTER 7. ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND SPATIAL RESULTS OF COMMODIFICATION OF NATURE IN KARABURUN .....PENINSULA .................................................................................... 106 7.1. Accumulation by Dispossession ...................................................... 106 7.2. Damage of Natural Environment and Ecosystem ............................ 112 vii CHAPTER 8. CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 120 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 125 APPENDICES APPENDIX A. LAWS AND REGULATIONS ABOUT NATURAL AREAS, ……………….. THEIR MANAGEMENT AND USE….…………………………...136 APPENDIX B. IMPORTANT