ENTITLE Seminar: Prof. Murat Arsel " The rise and transformation of environmentalism in Turkey"

Assoc. Prof. Murat Arsel (Institute for Social Studies, The Hague). Date / Time: 25.11.2014 (Tuesday) / 12:00 Venue: Z/021 Edifici Z ICTA-ICP (New ICTA building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) Ecological conflicts and thus ecological resistance in Turkey often went unnoticed in international appraisal of Turkey¿s developmentalist economic ¿miracle¿ (Sachs, 2013) in the past 12 years under AKP (Justice and Development Party) rule. Yet Gezi Park resistance of June 2013 ignited a flame for these struggles that was unmatched in the history of environmentalism in Turkey. This ENTITLE seminar by Murat Arsel (ISS, the Hague) will present an overview of the past, present and future of ecological struggles in Turkey. The development of environmental politics in Turkey followed a relatively standard pattern until the late 1980s. However, the interaction between state-led developmentalism and crony neoliberalism has since engendered what can be termed the ¿environmentalism of the malcontent¿. Such movements have consciously shied away from fundamental critiques of development (e.g. post-developmentalism) or even economic growth (e.g. degrowth). It is necessary to critically interrogate their transformative potential by paying close attention to the type of cross-class alliances that have enabled their rise. This presentation will engage with the past and the present of environmentalism in Turkey. Bio: Murat Arsel is a broadly trained human geographer, specialized in the political economy of environmental change and societal transformation, paying particular attention to natural resource conflicts, rural and agrarian development, and state-society relationships. Much of his empirical has focused on Turkey, with developing interests in (Western) China and Latin America (particularly Ecuador). He received his PhD from Cambridge from the Department of Geography. He also has an MPhil in Environment and Development from Cambridge, an MSc in Politics of the World Economy from the London School of Economics, and a BA in Economics and Government from Clark University. Before taking up his current position at the ISS in Netherlands, he was based at the University of Chicago as a Lecturer and Research Associate. He is currently a member of the editorial board of the journal Development and Change and co-editor of the book ¿Environmentalism in Turkey: Between Democracy and Development?¿ (Ashgate, 2005). He was recently Keyman Family Visiting Associate Professor of Modern Turkish Studies (Spring 2014) at Northwestern University. More info: http://www.marsel.me/ ENTITLE is an EU-funded Initial Training Network under the Marie Curie action of FP7. It is coordinated by ICTA at the Autonomous University of Barcelona with the collaboration of 8 Universities, 2 Non-governmental organizations and 1 Environmental consultancy.