In Privatization in Turkey: Power Bloc, Capital Accumulation and State, Ahmet Zaifer offers a rare look on privatization in Turkey that involves all three historical periods of Turkish privatization process -1980s and 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s- and covers different forms of privatization from divestiture to public-private partnership. Benefiting from theoretically informed qualitative research spanning nearly a decade that has involved several interviews with key informant groups, extensive review of newspaper articles and detailed analysis of annual reports of businesses, Ahmet Zaifer convincingly proves that the acceleration of privatization in Turkey has not only provided advantages to so-called favourable capital groups and the government elites, but also consolidated the position of Capital in General at the expense of labouring-popular classes and the natural environment of the entire country.
Ahmet Zaifer Ph.D. (2016), SOAS, University of London, is Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Kyrenia. He has published book reviews, translations and many articles on privatization and Turkey. Recent articles have appeared in Critical Sociology, Review of Radical Political Economics, and Journal of Historical Sociology.
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
1Introducing the Privatization in Turkey
1 Theoretical Approaches to Privatization
1.1 Liberal Approaches
1.2 Institutionalist Approaches
1.3 Marxian Approaches
2 An Analytical Framework for Understanding the Privatization Process
2.1 Contemporary Capitalism Is the Context that Brought Privatization Policy to the Fore
2.2 The State Is an Integral Element of the Privatization Processes
2.3 A Power Bloc Is the Key Class Agent behind Privatization
2.4 Privatization Is a Constitutive Element of Domestic Accumulation Strategies
3 Understanding Privatization in Turkey – the Structure of the Book
2The Development of soe s in Turkey in Historical Perspective
1
soe s
and Consolidation of Capitalism in Turkey: 1923–1945
2
soe s
and Post-war Expansion of Capitalism in Turkey: 1946–1960
3
soe s
, Duty Losses and Class Compromises: 1961–1980
4 Conclusion
3To Privatize or Not to Privatize? Interventions to Privatization Process: 1984–2001
1 The World Bank and Foreignization Campaign of the Power Bloc: 1984–1993
2 The
imf
Programs, Intra-capital and Intra-state Conflicts: 1994–2001
2.1
tüsİad
-based Holdings and Privatization
2.2 Intra-capital Conflicts and Privatization
2.3 Intra-state Conflicts and Privatization
3 Conclusion
4The Acceleration of Privatization in the Post-2001 Era: 2002 to 2009
1 Privatization and Internal Restructuring of Accumulation Strategies
2 Privatization and Different Fractions of the Power Bloc
2.1 Privatization and
tüsİad
Holdings
2.2 Privatization and Islamic-Influenced Anatolian Capital Groups
4.4
Northern Marmara Motorway (incl. Third Bosporus Bridge)
4.5
Dardanelles Bridge and Kınalı-Balıkesir Motorway (Malkara-Çanakkale Section)
4.6
Healthcare Campus Projects (City Hospitals)
5 Conclusion
6Comparing Alternatives to Privatization
1 Implications of the Turkish Privatization Experience
2 What Is a Substantial Alternative to Privatization?
2.1
Traditional State Ownership and Control
2.2
Corporatization
2.3
Democratic Control
3 The Question of Strategy: How to Construct and Defend a Substantial Alternative?
3.1
Building Alliances
3.2
Making the State an Operationally Contested Space/Process
4 Conclusion
Appendix 1
tüsİad
-based Conglomerates
Appendix 2Islamic-Influenced and/or Anatolian Companies Having Close Relations with akp-Erdoğan
Appendix 3Divestitures in Turkey between 2010 and 2018
References
Index
All interested in the political economy of Turkey, and anyone concerned with privatization of SOEs, implementation of PPP-based mega projects and the transformation of the state-business relations in Turkey.