Feeding Istanbul: The Political Economy of Urban Provisioning

272 Pages·2021·25.101 MB·English

by  Candan Turkkan

Feeding Istanbul
Studies in Critical Social Sciences

Series Editor
David Fasenfest
(Wayne State University)
volume 186
New Scholarship in
Political Economy
Series Editors
David Fasenfest
(Wayne State University)
Alfredo Saad- Filho
(King’s College London)
Editorial Board
Kevin B. Anderson (University of California, Santa Barbara)
Tom Brass (formerly of sps, University of Cambridge)
Raju Das (York University)
Ben Fine ((emeritus) soas University of London)
Jayati Ghosh (Jawaharlal Nehru University)
Elizabeth Hill (University of Sydney)
Dan Krier (Iowa State University)
Lauren Langman (Loyola University Chicago)
Valentine Moghadam (Northeastern University)
David N. Smith (University of Kansas)
Susanne Soederberg (Queen’s University)
Aylin Topal (Middle East Technical University)
Fiona Tregenna (University of Johannesburg)
Matt Vidal (Loughborough University London)
Michelle Williams (University of the Witwatersrand)
volume 5
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ nspe
Feeding Istanbul

The Political Economy of Urban Provisioning
By
Candan Turkkan
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: Bust of Karl Marx, 1939, by S.D. Merkurov, at the Fallen Monument Park (Muzeon Park of
Arts) in Moscow, Russia. Photo courtesy of Alfredo Saad- Filho.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Turkkan, Candan, author.
Title: Feeding Istanbul : the political economy of urban provisioning / by Candan Turkkan.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2021. | Series: Studies in critical social sciences, 2666-2205;
volume 186 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2021006234 (print) | lccn 2021006235 (ebook) | isbn 9789004424517 (hardback) |
isbn 9789004424500 (ebook)
Subjects: lcsh: Food supply–Turkey–Istanbul–History–19th century. |
Istanbul (Turkey)–Economic conditions–19th century. |
Istanbul (Turkey)–Politics and government–19th century.
Classification: lcc HD9016.T93 I888 2021 (print) | lcc HD9016.T93 (ebook) |
ddc 338.1/94961809034–dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021006234
lc ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021006235
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/b rill- typeface.
issn 2666- 2205
isbn 978- 90- 04- 42451- 7 (hardback)
isbn 978- 90- 04- 42450- 0 (e- book)
Copyright 2021 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Hotei, Brill Sense, Brill Schöningh,
Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau Verlag and V&R Unipress.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
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without prior written permission from the publisher. Requests for re- use and/ or translations must be
addressed to Koninklijke Brill NV via brill.com or copyright.com.
This book is printed on acid- free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
List of Figures and Tables ix
1 Introduction 1
1 Three Food Regimes 6
2 So, What Are Food Regimes? 10
3 Success vs. Failure: Scarcity, Hunger, Malnutrition, and Famine 13
4 The Political Economy of Urban Provisioning 18
5 Notes on Terms, Periodization, and Methodology 22
6 Chapter Outlines 32
2 The Hungry Capital
The Provisioning of Ottoman Istanbul 36
1 The Provisioning Apparatuses: Routes, Ports, and Actors 38
2 Shared Provisioning Apparatuses 44
3 Sovereignty and Kudret 46
4 Timelines and Macro Processes 49
5 Transitions: Global Wheat, Local Plum 53
6 The Urban Food Provisioning Food Regime 57
3 Unruly Transitions 62
1 The War Years and Republican Istanbul’s Codependent
Provisioning 64
1.1 15 Years of War 65
1.2 R epublican Istanbul 72
2 Urban Provisioning during Unruly Transitions 84
3 Scarcity in War vs. Scarcity in Peace 88
4 The Emerging Food Regime 92
4 Planned Scarcities 98
1 Growing Istanbul: The Pangs of Development or the Crisis of
Capitalism? 99
1.1 The 1950s: Menderes’ Istanbul 99
1.2 The 1960s and 1970s: Volatile Growth 105
2 A Rationed Sovereignty 110
3 Urban Provisioning in Import Substitution 117
4 The Codependent Provisioning Food Regime 123
vi Contents
5 F eeding Global Istanbul 126
1 T he 1980s: From Import Substitution to Market Liberalization 130
2 T he 1990s: A Decade of Crises 136
3 T he 2000s: A World City? Globalization and Istanbul 144
4 T he Contemporary Provisioning Apparatus 157
4.1 I n the Day of a Bazaar Vendor 160
4.2 A t the Hal 164
5 A Precarious Sovereignty or the Sovereignty of Precarity? 168
6 T he Urban Food Supply Chain Food Regime 182
6 D iverging Paths 187
1 T he 2010s: From Consolidation to Domination 190
2 T he Future of Istanbul’s Provisioning Apparatus 197
3 T he Promise of a Different Future 204
4 O f the Sovereignty, Political Community, and the Central
Authority 213
5 T he Global and the Local 217
7 C onclusion 222
A ppendix 1 Some Early Sources on Istanbul’s Bağ, Bahçe, and
Bostan  231
A ppendix 2 List of Various Foods Provisioned to Istanbul and Their
Locations of Production 233
B ibliography 235
I ndex 251
Acknowledgements

There are many people I would like to thank and acknowledge here; and
though I am the author, I feel that they have contributed as much, if not more.
At the top of this long list of people, is Samarjit Ghosh. Not only did he
read my copious chapters several times, he also copyedited them. He listened
to my ideas, and my frequent rants about the state of contemporary politics
and economy, wherever we and our families and friends happen to be. I know
that without his unwavering support, this book would not have been possible.
I have much to thank him for, and this book is definitely high on that list (his
patience with me is a very close second).
Next are my two incredible research assistants: Elif Birbiri and Alperen Buğra
Yılmaz. They read the chapters, checked for citations, compiled the index – and
they did all the work necessary for me to be able to include the photographs
spread liberally all over the book. This was no small or easy task: They went
through quite a few public libraries and some private ones (!) and persuaded
many stubborn copyright holders for rights. I cannot believe how lucky I am to
have worked with them.
Following is my incredible librarian, Neslihan Yalav at Istanbul Kitaplığı. She
was such a tremendous help during the research process that at this point,
frankly, I cannot imagine working on any project without her. She gave me
access to an incredible collection of books on Istanbul, and put me in touch
with key informants, whose insights enabled me to get a comprehensive look
at the city’s contemporary provisioning apparatus.
On that note, I am thankful to all the informants who were kind enough to
talk to me about how Istanbul is provisioned. In particular, I should mention
Serdar Manioğlu. Thanks to Serdar Bey, I was able to find key informants, who
filled me in on the critical gaps in the city’s contemporary food supply chain;
the kinds of gaps that do not meet the eyes or ears of the general public – the
dirty secrets, the cut corners, and the backdoors. I am thankful for their candor
as well as their trust in me.
Lastly, I would like to thank my family. I know it has been a long, bumpy
road. But without Grandma Müşerref’s obsession with storing food in the
freezer, my sister’s consistent questions, my father’s love of good food, and my
mom’s relentless efforts to figure out what it is that I have been working on for
so long, I know I would not have held out as long as I have been able to. You
all have made me stronger. Thank you for helping me make all of this happen.
This book is for you.
viii Acknowledgements
Of the family, and deserving his very own special paragraph, is Mr. ShiroKuro;
who has, irrespective of the circumstances, steadfastly reminded me that 7 pm
is feeding time, and that even if the world is burning, food needs to be had. No
matter how widely I read about hunger, famines, malnourishment, as well as
gastronomy, food culture, and history, my insights on food never seem to even
come close to his simple yet deep connection to food. One has to merely see
him eat chicken, his all-t ime favorite, with such pure joy and concentration, to
be mesmerized with and intellectually intrigued by food and eating. I thank
him for teaching me and for awakening me to the sharp and intimate separa-
tion between the hunger for and the pleasure of food.
Benjamin Nolan and Shai Gortler read and gave me extensive comments
on earlier versions of Chapter 1. Duygu Beykal İz and Murat Bayramoğlu read
the whole manuscript and gave me comments and ideas. Nilhan Aras and
Özge Samancı have given me ample space and opportunity to explore and
articulate my thoughts and findings on the subject in much shorter pieces for
MetroGastro and Yemek ve Kültür, respectively.
Errors remain mine, and mine alone.
Figures and Tables
Figures
1 During wwii, the Turkish Red Crescent was one of the main organizations that
did extensive provisioning and rationing work, in Istanbul and beyond. Photo
courtesy of the Cengiz Kahraman Archive 5
2 Itinerant garlic seller, late Ottoman era. Photo courtesy of the Engin Özendes
Collection 40
3 Men carrying fat from the Oil Port, late 19th century. Photo courtesy of the
Cengiz Kahraman Archive 42
4 A bostan (vegetable garden) along the Edirnekapı Walls, 19th century. Photo
courtesy of the Cengiz Kahraman Archive 45
5 A manav (fruit and vegetable seller) at the market, 19th century. Photo courtesy
of the Seyit Ali Ak Archive 54
6 Patisserie Baylan, Istanbul – One of the few pastry shops in Istanbul that
survived both world wars, the occupation of the city, the Independence War,
and the structural adjustments of the 1980s. This photo is of the now- closed
branch in Karaköy. Baylan continues to serve delicious cakes, chocolates,
cookies, and desserts to its customers across its other locations in İstanbul.
Photo courtesy of the salt Research Archive 69
7 Sugar refinery in Etimesgut, Ankara. Photo courtesy of the salt Research
Archive 74
8 Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Republic with sugar: From the 10th
Year Anniversary Fair organized by İş Bankası. Here, the Bank is advertising
its investments in two sugar refineries; one in Istanbul, the other in Alpullu,
Kırklareli. Photo courtesy of the İş Bankası Archive 79
9 From the same exhibit as the previous one. The model of a publicly owned
sugar refinery. Photo courtesy of the İş Bankası Archive 80
10 Uşak sugar factory. Photo courtesy of the salt Research Archive 93
11 Alcoholic beverages production facility for the Public Tobacco and Alcoholic
Beverages Company or tekel, 1953. Photo courtesy of the salt Research
Archive 111
12 M anavs are still operational in most Istanbul neighborhoods; however, their
prices are usually higher than supermarkets and bazaars. The manav pictured
here is located at Kadiköy. Photo by Alperen Buğra Yılmaz 154
13 Domestic supermarkets today are practically indistinguishable from their
multinational counterparts. Photo by Alperen Buğra Yılmaz 155