Narrative

My research lies at the confluence of economic geography, critical social theory, and political economy approaches within urban geography and focuses on themes of urban redevelopment, marginalization and spatialities of contentious politics. I am interested in studying urban space as a complex – i.e. not determinate – formation which is shaped by the encounters of its human and non-human components, political and cultural practices, and contingencies thereof. I have been exploring methodological strategies adequate to such an ontological approach. I employ a variety of social science methods including textual analysis, archival work, expert-interviews and ethnography. The recent urban transformation campaign launched by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) has provided me with a compelling point of entry to explore these ideas and put my conceptual tools to work. The two main pillars of this urban transformation are the clearance of squatter settlements on the outskirts of the city for lucrative re-development and the enforced gentrification of the inner-city slums. My dissertation investigates the IMM’s urban transformation agenda as a lens to study the shifting dynamics of disenfranchisement and poor people’s mobilization in Istanbul. I focus on two neighborhoods: Basibuyuk, a site of squatter redevelopment project located on the Asian side of Istanbul, and the historic neighborhood of Sulukule--home to one of the oldest ethnic Roma settlements in the world dating back to the Byzantine Empire--which is currently being demolished as part of the Municipality’s renewal project. A comparative study of these two sites enables me to look at multiple aspects of the ‘urban transformation’ agenda and how it is being contested by communities in settings with different cultural norms and political dynamics.