ABSTRACT
Based on an ethnographic study of the Istanbul neighbourhood of Tophane, this chapter sheds light on the trope of the clash of neighbourhoods and on the negotiations of political and affective belonging. Focusing on various places and practices of consumption, it analyses constructions of social relatedness and practices of boundary-making through multiple (re)inventions of the mahalleli urban kin. While lifestyle debates in relation to urban territoriality have long formed the core of discussions on modernity, this chapter moves beyond this perspective to show that negotiations of belonging through the notion of the mahalleli reflect anxieties over the loss of moral values, economic position, and political legitimacy across classes. The analysis reveals the de-facto ambiguity of lifestyles and moral order both within and across urban boundaries to reflect upon modes of belonging vis-à-vis the state in present-day Istanbul.
