Begüm Özkaynak

Environmental organisations in Turkey: engaging the state and capital

Throughout the world, unfettered capitalism and the obsession with economic growth have led to the destruction of many ecologically important sites, and generated sharp conflicts between the state and civil society actors concerned to protect the environment. Some optimists about the role of civil society actors gloss over the power dynamics in which they are embedded, and their economic and political contexts. The roles civil society organisations (CSOs) can play are contingent on such relationships and contexts, which in turn are affected and transformed by the dynamics of neoliberal globalisation. Our study of environmental CSOs in Turkey, focusing on their institutional context, identifies two crucial dimensions that shape their contribution: their interactions with the state and with financial donors.

The political ecology of a Ramsar site conservation failure: the case of Burdur Lake, Turkey

The Burdur Lake basin in Turkeys Mediterranean region has been facing severe environmental damage in the form of increased pollution and a decrease in water volume, despite its Ramsar status as a major wintering site for the endangered white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala). In fact, after the basin was granted Ramsar status it was made the subject of a ‘hard-park’ conservation policy. This in practice disenfranchised and alienated local people but did not lead to the effective preservation of the basin. We aim to shed light on the political ecology of the ongoing degradation, which has layers at local, national, and international levels, by using both quantitative and qualitative methods (consisting of in-depth interviews, focus groups, and face-to-face, randomly selected interviews with 625 people). We specifically explore the possible reasons why local people by and large did not—despite their high level of environmental concern about the site—demand conservation policies or voluntarily take action to preserve their site. Acknowledging that the sources of the problem are multilayered in nature, thus requiring a multilevel solution, we then propose a governance modality tailored for the case at hand. Since many of the problems that Burdur Lake faces are not unique, it is hoped that the conducted analysis will be relevant to other similar sites.

Network effects in environmental justice struggles: An investigation of conflicts between mining companies and civil society organizations from a network perspective

This paper examines conflicts that occur between mining companies and civil society organizations (CSOs) around the world and offers an innovative analysis of mining conflicts from a social network perspective. The analysis showed that, as the number of CSOs involved in a conflict increased, its outcome was more likely to be perceived as a success in terms of environmental justice (EJ); if a CSO was connected to other central CSOs, the average perception of EJ success was likely to increase; and as network distance between two conflicts increased (or decreased), they were more likely to lead to different (or similar) EJ outcomes. Such network effects in mining conflicts have policy implications for EJ movements. It would be a strategic move on the part of successful CSOs to become involved in other major conflicts and disseminate information about how they achieved greater EJ success.

Towards a Political Ecology of EU Energy Policy

At the root of energy policy are fundamental questions about the sort of social and environmental futures in which people want to live and how decisions over different energy pathways and energy futures are made. The interdisciplinary field of political ecology has the capacity to address such questions, while also challenging how energy policy conventionally gets done. We outline a political ecology perspective on EU energy policy that illuminates how the distribution of social power affects access to energy services, participation in energy decision-making and the allocation of energy’s environmental and social costs.

Driving Forces and Spatial Impacts: An Integrated Approach for Small- and Medium-Sized Cities

The project presented here was conducted in the province of Yalova, Turkey, and was aimed at making an integrated assessment of possible future states of the province in 2020, given the local driving forces (e.g., demographic trends; people’s attitudes, perceptions and priorities regarding socio-economic and ecological issues; and the nature of governance) and the external factors (at the regional, national and global levels). It is believed that the questioning of local driving forces and external factors that today prevail in the province help us understand the possible directions of change in the city. Therefore, this chapter focuses on the multiple forces operating at various spatial scales impacting on Yalova. It is hoped that the approach reported will be of wider relevance to other regional and local authorities, considering the need for integrating external developments with local factors.