ABSTRACT
This chapter takes a political ecology1 approach and looks at the complex dynamics between the state, capital, and civil society players in the analysis of environmental degradation in Turkey. It contends that power, politics, and poverty are absolutely vital in understanding not only the nature of environmental problems and the responses to these problems, but also the struggles over environmental resources. Consequently, it concentrates on the interactions between the state, market, and civil society in highlighting the nature of environmental degradation and environmental conflict. The main argument of the chapter is that the tension that has developed between the economic growth policies followed since the 1920s, and the relatively free political atmosphere generated by the waves of democratization since the 1990s, are reflected in the relationship between environmental NGOs and the state. While the rapid industrialization and commercialization of agriculture, fueled by developmentalism in the 1960s and 1970s and the neo-liberalist market economy since 1980, have contributed greatly to the aggravation of environmental problems, recent transitions in both the public sphere and politics have generated relatively suitable conditions for civil society actions and for resistance to the potentially harmful impacts of rapid economic transformations. It is also contended that the recent tide of democratization in Turkey, fueled by neo-liberalism, is a necessary but insufficient condition for increasing the power of environmental civil society organizations to challenge and influence state policies.
