Poverty and citizenship: An overview of the social-policy environment in Republican Turkey

International Journal of Middle East Studies

Volumn 39, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 33-52

  Bugra, Ayse ^a  

^a BOGAZICI UNIVERSITY   (Turkey)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CITIZENSHIP; MODERNIZATION; POVERTY; SOCIAL HISTORY; SOCIAL POLICY; STATE-LOCAL RELATIONS;

EURASIA; TURKEY;

EID: 34249339108     PISSN: 00207438     EISSN: 14716380     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0020743807212528     Document Type: Review

References (87)

1. The discussion presented in the article is based, first, on an extensive survey of newspapers that cover the period under study. Second, it draws on the analysis of the texts of, and parliamentary discussions around, several major pieces of legislation relevant to the subject matter. Third and finally, my ongoing research on the current social-policy reform process in Turkey contributes to the arguments developed in the third section.
2. B. Geremek, Poverty: A History, trans. A. Kolakowska (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994), especially 102-19;
3. F. Fox-Piven and R. A. Cloward, Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare (New York: Vintage Books, 1993), 3-79.
4. In fact, it is possible to suggest that the regulation of poverty constitutes an important aspect of what M. Foucault calls the "art of government" in its difference from the exercise of sovereignty. According to Foucault, where sovereignty is the central concept in politics, the end of political rule is the maintenance of that rule. Art of government, on the other hand, is the right disposition of things, arranged so as to lead to a convenient end. It is the instrumental rationality of political economy that forms the principal form of knowledge of governing the population with the aid of the apparatuses of security. Foucault writes that it is this transition from the principal of sovereignty to that of "governmentality" which, more than anything else, defines the difference between tradition and modernity. See M. Foucault, "Governmentality,"
5. and G. Procacci, "Social Economy and the Government of Poverty" in The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality, ed. G. Burchell, C. Gordon, and P. Miller (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991), 87-104, 151-68.
6. Geremek writes that modern views on poverty "are all united by a common thread: The conviction that the proper role and the duty of the poor, the condition for which they are naturally fitted, is work." Geremek, Poverty, 238.
7. For a striking exposition of the cruelty of the 18th-century work-centered approaches to poverty, see S. Jordan, "From Grotesque Bodies to Useful Hands: Idleness, Industry and the Laboring Class," Eighteenth Century Life 25 (2001), 62-79.
8. An early instance of this tension can be found in the 16th century when the provost of the merchants of Paris stood before the parliament to speak against the deportation of the alien poor. Geremek, Poverty, 128.
9. The same tension can still be found in the debates around illegal immigrants who live with the fear of deportation, being subjected, at the same time, to the worst possible forms of exploitation in industry and services. On this subject, see a recent online report by the UK Trade Union Confederation, "Forced Labour and Migration to the UK," www.tuc.org.uk/
10. J. L. Vives, De Subventione Pauperum, ed. C. F. Famazzi and C. Matheeussen (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2002);
11. T. Paine, "The Agrarian Justice," in The Rights of Man, Common Sense and other Political Writings, ed. M. Philip (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995).
12. In light of the long history of rights-based approaches to poverty alleviation, the historical validity of T. H. Marshall's account of the successive stages in which civil, political, and social rights were acquired seems doubtful. T. H. Marshall, Class, Citizenship and Social Development (New York: Doubleday and Co., 1964), 65-122.
13. A. de Tocqueville, Memoir on Pauperism, ed. G. Himmelfarb (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1997);
14. F. von Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty (London: Routledge, 1960), 285-86.
15. The terms of the neoliberal debate on poverty and social assistance are clearly present in C. Murray, Losing Ground: America's Social Policy, 1950-1980 (New York: Basic Books, 1984).
16. For a more explicit plea for the substitution of religious sentiment for social policy, see J. R. Morse, "Making Room in the Inn: Why Modern World Needs the Needy?" in Wealth, Poverty and Human Destiny, ed. D. Bandow and D. L. Schindler (Wilmington, Del.: ISI Books, 2003), 179-212.
17. Turkey is mentioned as the only remaining peasant stronghold in or around Europe and the Middle East in E. Hobsbawm, Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991 (London: Abacus, 1995), 291.
18. I use the term moral economy with reference to E. P. Thompson's essay on the 18th-century food riots in England. E. P. Thompson, "The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the Eighteenth Century," in Customs in Common (London: Penguin Books, 1993), 185-258.
19. The transformations in question followed a third military intervention that took place in 1980. It might be possible to argue that the liberalization of the economy, which suggested rising socioeconomic insecurity for at least some segments of the working population, could proceed smoothly only on the basis of repressive legislation introduced by the military government, which stayed in power until 1983.
20. A. Singer, "Charity's Legacies: Reconsideration of Ottoman Endowment Making," in Poverty and Charity in Middle Eastern Contexts, ed. M. Bonner, M. Ener, and A. Singer (Albany, N.Y: State University of New York Press, 2003), 295-314.
21. The contribution of the ruler to poverty relief in 19th-century Egypt or Turkey could indeed be qualified both as welfare and royal generosity toward the unfortunate. See, for example, M. Ener, "The Charity of the Khedive,"
22. and N. Özbek, "Imperial Gifts and Sultanic Legitimation during the late Ottoman Empire, 1876-1909," in Poverty and Charity, 185-202, 203-20.
23. The year 1896, when Darü'l-'aceze was officially opened, was also the year when the law prohibiting begging in Istanbul (Tese'ülün Men'ine Da'ir Nizamname) was implemented. The institution's modern outlook was clearly reflected in its workshops, where inmates were trained to produce significant quantities of manufactured products and which were managed on the basis of ideas about the value of industry and condemnation of dependency characteristic of a work-centered value universe: N. Yildirim, ̇ Istanbul Darülaceze Müessesesi Tarihi (̇Istanbul: Darülaceze Vakfι, 1996).
24. For a discussion on measures taken against beggars in Turkey in the years of the Great Depression, see Pinar Öztamur, "Büyük Buhran ve Cumuriyet Gazetesinde Yoksulluk üzerine Söylemler," Toplum ve Bilim, 94 (Güz, 2002): 175-88. Öztamur's study is based on a survey of the daily Cumhuriyet in the 1930s. The measures taken in this period might be exceptionally harsh, but news items and articles that reveal similar attitudes toward beggars can also be found in other periods of the republican era in many different newspapers.
25. T. Çavuşoǧlu, "Türkiye'de Çocuk Esirgeme Kurumunun Tarihsel Gelişimi," SABEM (Sosyal Hizmetler araştιrma, Belgeleme, Eǧitim Merkezi) 8 (1996): 11-12;
26. 70 Yιlιn Öyküsü: Türkiye Yardιm Sevenler Derneǧi 1928-1998 (Ankara: Türkiye Yardιm Sevenler Derneǧi, 1999).
27. In this regard, it is possible to observe that public campaigns organized by leading members of the Republican People's Party "to encourage the rich to help the poor" involved a fair dose of compulsion along with appeals to sentiments of social solidarity. See, for example, the news of the campaign led by the party inspector Hakkι Şinasi: Cumhuriyet, 16 February 1929.
28. For the fragility of the basis of social legitimacy of private businessmen, see A. Buǧra, State and Business in Modern Turkey: A Comparative Study (Albany, N.Y: State University of New York Press, 1994).
29. Tan, 20 March 1942.
30. Ibid.
31. See also Tan, 7 and 16 January 1942.
32. K. Libal, "'The Child Question': The Politics of Child Welfare in Early Republican Turkey," in Poverty and Charity in Middle Eastern Contexts, ed. M. Bonner, M. Ener, and A. Singer (Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 2003), 255.
33. The Official Gazette 7217 (27 May 1949).
34. See also the Turkish Grand National Assembly Minute Registers, period 8, session 3 (23 May 1949).
35. I. H. Tökin, Türkiye'de Köy ̇ Iktisadiyatι, 2nd ed. (̇Istanbul: ̇ Iletişim, 1990).
36. R. Owen and Ş. Pamuk, A History of Middle East Economies in the Twentieth Century (London: I. B. Tauris, 1998).
37. State Institute of Statistics, Statistical Indicators 1923-1990 (Ankara: Devlet ̇ Istatistik Enstitüsü, 1991), 8.
38. Ilhan Tekeli and Selim Ilkin, "Devletçilik Dönemi Tarιm Politikalarι" in Türkiye'de Tarιmsal Yapιlar: 1923-2000, ed. Selim ̇ Ilkin and ̇ Ilhan Tekeli (Ankara: Yurt Yayιnlarι, 1988), 82-88.
39. Tökin, Türkiye'de Köy ̇ Iktisadiyatι, 144.
40. B. Boran, "Sanayide Köylü-̇ Işçi," Yurt ve Dünya 15-16 (1942): 80-84;
41. see also the observations on labor productivity in coal mining in W. D. Hines et al., Türkiye'nin ̇ Iktisadi Bakιmdan Umumi bir Tetkiki 1933-1934 (Ankara: Köyöǧretmeni Basιmevi, 1936), 107-8.
42. Milletlerarasι ̇ Imar ve Kalkιnma Bankasι (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Washington, D.C., Türkiye Ekonomisi: Kalkιnma Programι için Tahlil ve Tavsiyeler (Ankara: Akιn Matbaaskι, 1951), 139.
43. For the contemporary significance of peasantist ideologies in different countries of the world and the impact of this international ideological environment of the developments in Turkey, see Asim Karaömerlioǧlu, "The Village Institute Experience in Turkey," British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 25 (1998): 47-73.
44. See S. Şimşek, Bir ̇ Ideolojik Seferberlik Deneyimi: Halkevleri 1932-51 (̇ Istanbul: Boǧaziçi Üniversitesi Yayιnlarι, 2002).
45. Ş. Pamuk, "̇ Ikinci Dünya Savaşι Yιlarιnda ̇ Iaşe Politikasi ve Köylülük," in 75 Yιlda Köylerden Şehirlere, ed. Oya Baydar (Istanbul: Tarih Vahfi Yayιnlarι, 1999), 57-66.
46. In the program of the third DP government formed in 1954, it was mentioned that, during the first four years of the DP rule, the scope of land distribution schemes was twelve times more than that of the previous schemes. "Üçüncü Menderes Hükümeti Programι," in Hükümetler ve Programlarι 1920-1960, ed. N. Daǧli and B. Aktürk (Ankara: Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi Basιmevi, 1988), vol. 1, 180-200, especially 196.
47. One finds, for example, articles on the contents of the Beveridge Report and the meaning of social insurance in Turkish newspapers of the period. See, for example, Tan, 2 February 1943, 12 March 1943, and 15 March 1943.
48. A. Gürhan Fişek, Şerife Türcan Özsuca, and Mehmet Ali Şuǧle, Sosyal Sigortalar Kurumu Tarihi 1946-1996 (Ankara: Sosyal Sigortalar Kurumu, 1998).
49. See, in particular, C. Talas, "Sosyal Güvenlik Meselelerimiz," ̇Içtimai Siyaset Konferanslarι 7 (1955): 84-99.
50. Ibid.
51. R. Nalbantoǧlu, "Türkiye'de Ziraat ̇ Işçilerinin Durumu," ̇Içtimai Siyaset Konferanslarι 1 (1948): 16-31.
52. Cumhuriyet, 28 March and 25 April 1958.
53. D. Avcioǧlu, Türkiye'nin Düzeni, vol. 1 (̇ Istanbul: Cem Yayιnlarι, 1973), 617.
54. "Birinci Menderes Hükümeti Programι," in Hükümetler ve Programlarι 1920-1960, 1:154-65.
55. B. Akşit, "Cumhuriyet Döneminde Türkiye Köylerindeki Dönüşümler"
56. and Ç. Keyder, "Tarιmda Küçük Meta Üretiminin Oluşumu: Türkiye Örneǧi," in 75 Yιlda Köylerden Şehirlere, 173-86 and 163-72.
57. N. Kaldor, Report on the Turkish Tax System, written for the State Planning Organization of Turkey (Ankara: State Planning Organization, 1962).
58. Ibid.
59. I. Önder, "Nicholas Kaldor," Toplum ve Bilim 15-16 (1981/1982): 90-93.
60. These figures were presented in the program of the Justice Party (AP) government that came to power in 1965. See "Birinci Demirel Hükümeti Programι," in Hükümetler ve Programlarι 1920-1960, vol. 2, 91-129, 115.
61. State Institute of Statistics, Statistical Indicators 1923-1990, 8.
62. Akşit, "Cumhuriyet Döneminde Türkiye Köylerindeki Dönüşümler."
63. For the central role played by gecekondu in the moral economy of Turkey, see A. Buǧra, "Immoral Economy of Housing in Turkey, " International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 22 (1998): 303-17. There is an extensive literature on gecekondu in Turkish.
64. See, in particular, K. Karpat, The Gecekondu: Rural Migration and Urbanization (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 1976);
65. I. Tekeli, "Gecekondu" in ̇ Istanbul Ansiklopedisi (̇ Istanbul: Tarih Vakfι, 1993);
66. and T. Şenyapιlι, Barakadan Gecekonduya: Ankara'da Kentsel Mekanin Dönüşümü (̇ Istanbul: ̇ Iletişim, 2004).
67. The Official Gazette 7230 (11 June 1949).
68. See also the Turkish Grand National Assembly Minute Registers, period 8, session 3 (2 June 1949).
69. Tan, 24 February 1955.
70. Cumhuriyet, 13 and 23 March 1963, 16 January 1964.
71. The Turkish Grand National Minute Registers, period 2, session 1 (15 December 1965 to 8 August 1966).
72. Gecekondu as a social phenomenon has an affinity with the social processes that Asef Bayat analyses with the aid of the notion of "quiet encroachment of ordinary people." But it also incorporates the moral premises derived from the authorities' understanding of needs to be satisfied to maintain social cohesion. A. Bayat, "Activism and Social Development in the Middle East," International Journal of Middle East Studies 34 (2002): 1-28.
73. O. Işik and M. Pιnarcιoǧlu, Nöbetleşe Yoksullluk: Sultanbeyli Örneǧi (̇ Istanbul: ̇ Iletişim Yayιnlarι, 2001).
74. T. Bulutay, Employment, Unemployment and Wages in Turkey (Ankara: ILO and Turkish State Institute of Statistics, 1995), 191.
75. A. Buǧra and Çaǧlar Keyder, New Poverty and the Changing Welfare Regime of Turkey (Ankara: UNDP, 2003).
76. M. Eder, "Political Economy of Agricultural Liberalization in Turkey," in La Turquie et le développement, ed. A. Insel (Paris: l'Harmattan, 2003), 211-44.
77. Statistics in fact show that Turkey is one of the few countries where there have been no productivity gains in agriculture between the early 1980s and late 1990s: World Bank, World Development Report 2000/2001 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 288-89.
78. Buǧra, "Immoral Economy of Housing" A. Öncü, "The Politics of Urban Land Market in Turkey: 1950-80," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 12 (1988): 38-64.
79. For the significance of recent demographic transformations in Turkey, see TÜṠ IAD, Türkiye'nin Fιrsat Penceresi: Demografik Dönüsüm ve ̇ Izdüşümleri (̇ Istanbul: TÜṠIAD 1999).
80. See Göç-Der (Immigrants' Association for Social Cooperation and Culture), Report on the Socio-Economic and Socio-Cultural Conditions of Kurdish Citizens Living in the Turkish Republic Who Are Forcibly Displaced due to Armed Conflict and Tension Politics (Istanbul: Göc-Der, 2001).
81. In 2003, the Fund spent about U.S. $463 million. Çalιşma ve Soyal Güvenlik Bakanlιǧι (Ministry of Labor and Social Security), Hükümetin Sosyal Politikaya Yaklaşimi ve Yoksulluǧu Azaltmaya Yönelik Uygulamalar (Ankara: Çalιşma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Bakanlιǧι, 2004).
82. Jenny White also draws attention to the efficiency of contemporary Islamic politics in mobilizing private benevolence: Islamist Mobilization in Turkey: A Study in Vernacular Politics (Seattle, Wash.: University of Washington Press, 2003).
83. Deniz Feneri, a philanthropic association that uses the Islamic language of charity is by far the most important nongovernmental organization active in the field of poverty relief. For a general view of the scope of its activities, see Deniz Feneri, Faaliyet Raporu 2003 (Annual Report 2003) (Ankara: Deniz Feneri, 2003).
84. Çalιşma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Bakanlιǧι, Hükümetin Sosyal Politikaya Yaklaşimi, 45.
85. The centrality of the family to AKP's approach to economy and society can be seen, for example, in the program where the party stated that "if Turkish society is still intact after so many problems recently experienced, we owe it to our strong family structure." See http://www.akparti.org.tr/partiprogrami/
86. F. von Hayek, "Individualism: True and False," in Individualism and Economic Order (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1948), 1-32.
87. Çalιşma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Bakanlιǧι, Sosyal Güvenlik Sisteminde Reform Önerisi (Ankara: Çalιşma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Bakanlιǧι, July 2004).