‘Mirror, Mirror on the Wall’:A Reflection on Engaged Just Transformations Research under Turkey’s Authoritarian Populist Regime

Sustainability transformations call for self-reflection and repositioning researchers’roles in knowledge co-production. While we were investigating the transformationsand resistance to fossil fuel rush in Yeni Foça, Turkey, between 2016 and 2019, ourlives as engaged and situated researchers, our institutions as leading public researchuniversities, and our country – where we conduct research, co-produce knowledgeand put it to use for environmental and social justice – transformed drastically. Wehave witnessed ‘the dark side of transformation’ that took its toll on the environ-mental justice movements we cooperate with, on the public universities we work inand the academics we ally with, and finally, on the political landscape of the countryin which we live, work and play (and which more and more frequently – unfortunately– we leave). In this chapter, we want to turn the tables and reflect on transformationsbased on our experiences and take-homes from Yeni Foça and Boğaziçi Universityin Turkey, both under intense attack from the authoritarian neoliberalism of theErdoğan regime. This reflection, hopefully, will provide some food for thought forother researchers in other places also struggling against the clenched fists of populist,conservative authoritarianism unleashed onto their socio-natures while they try toco-produce knowledge with EJ resistance movements

‘Mirror, Mirror on the Wall’:A Reflection on Engaged Just Transformations Research under Turkey’s Authoritarian Populist Regime

Sustainability transformations call for self-reflection and repositioning researchers’roles in knowledge co-production. While we were investigating the transformationsand resistance to fossil fuel rush in Yeni Foça, Turkey, between 2016 and 2019, ourlives as engaged and situated researchers, our institutions as leading public researchuniversities, and our country – where we conduct research, co-produce knowledgeand put it to use for environmental and social justice – transformed drastically. Wehave witnessed ‘the dark side of transformation’ that took its toll on the environ-mental justice movements we cooperate with, on the public universities we work inand the academics we ally with, and finally, on the political landscape of the countryin which we live, work and play (and which more and more frequently – unfortunately– we leave). In this chapter, we want to turn the tables and reflect on transformationsbased on our experiences and take-homes from Yeni Foça and Boğaziçi Universityin Turkey, both under intense attack from the authoritarian neoliberalism of theErdoğan regime. This reflection, hopefully, will provide some food for thought forother researchers in other places also struggling against the clenched fists of populist,conservative authoritarianism unleashed onto their socio-natures while they try toco-produce knowledge with EJ resistance movements

‘Mirror, Mirror on the Wall’:A Reflection on Engaged Just Transformations Research under Turkey’s Authoritarian Populist Regime

Sustainability transformations call for self-reflection and repositioning researchers’roles in knowledge co-production. While we were investigating the transformationsand resistance to fossil fuel rush in Yeni Foça, Turkey, between 2016 and 2019, ourlives as engaged and situated researchers, our institutions as leading public researchuniversities, and our country – where we conduct research, co-produce knowledgeand put it to use for environmental and social justice – transformed drastically. Wehave witnessed ‘the dark side of transformation’ that took its toll on the environ-mental justice movements we cooperate with, on the public universities we work inand the academics we ally with, and finally, on the political landscape of the countryin which we live, work and play (and which more and more frequently – unfortunately– we leave). In this chapter, we want to turn the tables and reflect on transformationsbased on our experiences and take-homes from Yeni Foça and Boğaziçi Universityin Turkey, both under intense attack from the authoritarian neoliberalism of theErdoğan regime. This reflection, hopefully, will provide some food for thought forother researchers in other places also struggling against the clenched fists of populist,conservative authoritarianism unleashed onto their socio-natures while they try toco-produce knowledge with EJ resistance movements

‘Mirror, Mirror on the Wall’:A Reflection on Engaged Just Transformations Research under Turkey’s Authoritarian Populist Regime

Sustainability transformations call for self-reflection and repositioning researchers’roles in knowledge co-production. While we were investigating the transformationsand resistance to fossil fuel rush in Yeni Foça, Turkey, between 2016 and 2019, ourlives as engaged and situated researchers, our institutions as leading public researchuniversities, and our country – where we conduct research, co-produce knowledgeand put it to use for environmental and social justice – transformed drastically. Wehave witnessed ‘the dark side of transformation’ that took its toll on the environ-mental justice movements we cooperate with, on the public universities we work inand the academics we ally with, and finally, on the political landscape of the countryin which we live, work and play (and which more and more frequently – unfortunately– we leave). In this chapter, we want to turn the tables and reflect on transformationsbased on our experiences and take-homes from Yeni Foça and Boğaziçi Universityin Turkey, both under intense attack from the authoritarian neoliberalism of theErdoğan regime. This reflection, hopefully, will provide some food for thought forother researchers in other places also struggling against the clenched fists of populist,conservative authoritarianism unleashed onto their socio-natures while they try toco-produce knowledge with EJ resistance movements

Diverse values of nature for sustainability

Twenty-five years since foundational publications on valuing ecosystem services for human well-being1,2, addressing the global biodiversity crisis3 still implies confronting barriers to incorporating nature’s diverse values into decision-making. These barriers include powerful interests supported by current norms and legal rules such as property rights, which determine whose values and which values of nature are acted on. A better understanding of how and why nature is (under)valued is more urgent than ever4. Notwithstanding agreements to incorporate nature’s values into actions, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)5 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals6, predominant environmental and development policies still prioritize a subset of values, particularly those linked to markets, and ignore other ways people relate to and benefit from nature7. Arguably, a ‘values crisis’ underpins the intertwined crises of biodiversity loss and climate change8, pandemic emergence9 and socio-environmental injustices10. On the basis of more than 50,000 scientific publications, policy documents and Indigenous and local knowledge sources, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessed knowledge on nature’s diverse values and valuation methods to gain insights into their role in policymaking and fuller integration into decisions7,11. Applying this evidence, combinations of values-centred approaches are proposed to improve valuation and address barriers to uptake, ultimately leveraging transformative changes towards more just (that is, fair treatment of people and nature, including inter- and intragenerational equity) and sustainable futures

Diverse values of nature for sustainability

Twenty-five years since foundational publications on valuing ecosystem services for human well-being, addressing the global biodiversity crisis still implies confronting barriers to incorporating nature’s diverse values into decision-making. These barriers include powerful interests supported by current norms and legal rules such as property rights, which determine whose values and which values of nature are acted on. A better understanding of how and why nature is (under)valued is more urgent than ever. Notwithstanding agreements to incorporate nature’s values into actions, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, predominant environmental and development policies still prioritize a subset of values, particularly those linked to markets, and ignore other ways people relate to and benefit from nature. Arguably, a ‘values crisis’ underpins the intertwined crises of biodiversity loss and climate change, pandemic emergence and socio-environmental injustices. On the basis of more than 50,000 scientific publications, policy documents and Indigenous and local knowledge sources, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessed knowledge on nature’s diverse values and valuation methods to gain insights into their role in policymaking and fuller integration into decisions. Applying this evidence, combinations of values-centred approaches are proposed to improve valuation and address barriers to uptake, ultimately leveraging transformative changes towards more just (that is, fair treatment of people and nature, including inter- and intragenerational equity) and sustainable futures

Countering the hegemonic flows:Some ideas on the expanding opposition to renewable energy in Turkey

The impacts of the energy transition on local communities already have significant socio-ecological, spatial and political consequences. On the one hand, the transition to renewable energies reduces dependence on centralized production and distributed forms of consumption, while on the other hand, the renewable energy boom opens up new possibilities for accumulation through dispossession based on complex relations between the state and the market. The key issue at stake for local communities at the frontlines of this transformation is therefore the democratic ownership, planning and control of renewable energy resources. The energy sector in Turkey has become one of the fastest growing in the world, with installed capacity almost tripling in the last two decades. This article will focus on the changing discourses and practices of opposition to run-of-river hydroelectricity (HEPP) and geothermal energy (GPP) by tracing material and discursive practices in Turkey's energy landscapes. In doing so, it aims to expand the discussion on approaches to nature-society continuum and energy democracy that emerge from local ecological struggles. To this end, using the concept of counter-hegemonic flows, which we see as a set of flows of matter, ideas and social movements, we want to suggest how the materiality of energy and material flows can be juxtaposed with the ebbs and flows of local ecological struggles

Coal, ash, and other tales : The making and remaking of the anti-coal movement in Aliağa, Turkey

In this chapter, we take a critical look at the historical transformation of grassroots mobilization and political engagement in Aliağa in the period between these two historical moments (1990 and 2016) by using archival material from two national newspapers with wide circulation, secondary literature, and indepth interviews with some of the key actors. Aliağa appears to be a curious case for neglect in the scholarly literature on environmental activism in Turkey, a history of victories and defeats only partially told. This is particularly relevant and important since the powerful coalition that had emerged in the 1990s (formed by locals, the Green Party, the main social democratic opposition party in parliament, the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects and labor unions) fought and won a major victory giving way to the cancellation of the government’s plans and the birth of a combatant environmental movement in the region. Although it was one of the fi rst nationally debated environmental justice successes of this scale in Turkey ( Şahin, 2010 ), anti-coal movement in Aliağa still remains somewhat under-investigated in the country’s history of environmental movements. Thus, providing a micro-historical account would not only give the Aliağa anti-coal movement the due credit it deserves, but also help us illustrate the changing nature and shifting contours of environmental mobilizations in Turkey at large in a time of re-escalating authoritarianism. Since “there is not a right or wrong environmentalism, but narratives and practices of environmentalism which are historically produced” ( Armiero and Sedrez, 2014 : 11), our effort here also helps to reveal some hidden narratives and practices which are equally relevant for contemporary environmental movement in Turkey. To this end, we describe how the hegemonic state – in a counter-movement – reacted to the legal developments and the activism in Aliağa by changing the rules of the game; amending institutional and legal frameworks for investment decisions as needed, thereby speeding up and deepening neoliberal reforms. The tale of the anti-coal struggle in Aliağa presented in this chapter is important for environmental struggles in general, as it offers interesting insights into the ways environmental movements and their counter-hegemonic powers clash with, confront, and negotiate with the state just to die out and eventually be reborn.QC 20190902</p

Chapter 9 Coal, ash, and other tales

This book is an exploration of the environmental makings and contested historical trajectories of environmental change in Turkey. Despite the recent proliferation of studies on the political economy of environmental change and urban transformation, until now there has not been a sufficiently complete treatment of Turkey's troubled environments, which live on the edge both geographically (between Europe and Middle East) and politically (between democracy and totalitarianism). The contributors to Transforming Socio-Natures in Turkey use the toolbox of environmental humanities to explore the main political, cultural and historical factors relating to the country’s socio-environmental problems. This leads not only to a better grounding of some of the historical and contemporary debates on the environment in Turkey, but also a deeper understanding of the multiplicity of framings around more-than-human interactions in the country in a time of authoritarian populism. This book will be of interest not only to students of Turkey from a variety of social science and humanities disciplines but also contribute to the larger debates on environmental change and developmentalism in the context of a global populist turn