Constructing Change: A Political Economy of Housing and Electricity Provision in Turkey(Studies in Critical Social Sciences)

In Constructing Change, Ezgi B. Unsal provides a political economy of electricity and housing provision in Turkey. By using the case studies of electricity and housing in Turkey, the book explores how social provision is increasingly commodified across the globe as a defining feature of financialisation. Distinguishing this trend from macroeconomic definitions of financialisation, the book offers a contextual narrative of economic change in Turkey, with undetermined macroeconomic outcomes. It contributes to the literature on the financialisation of social provision and the political economy of Turkey, by confirming the increasing influence of finance on social provision sectors, making them prone to volatility while contributing to their growth at the same time.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgements List of Illustrations 1 What Is This Book about? General Introduction and Methodology  1 Objectives and Contribution  2 Methodology and the Structure of Analysis   2.1  Systematic Dialectics and Hegelian Heritage   2.2  Marx’s Materialism and the Incorporation of Empirical Material into Theory   2.3  Essence and the Process of Change   2.4  Levels of Abstraction: Tendencies and Countertendencies   2.5  The Value of Labour Power   2.6  The Systems of Provision (sop) Approach to Social Reproduction  3 Conclusion 2 A Literature Survey on Financialisation  1 Introduction  2 Financialisation as an Object of Study: The Rise of Finance and Its Impacts on the Economy   2.1  Cambridge Theories of Distribution   2.2  How Do the Cambridge Theories of Distribution Relate to Financialisation?   2.3  Empirical Analyses on Firm-level: Decreasing Real Investment, Slowing Down of Accumulation   2.4  Empirical Analysis on Aggregate Level: The Impacts of Worsening Income Distribution, Determination of Different Accumulation Regimes   2.5  Emphasis upon Increasing Levels of Debt and Securitisation   2.6  Asset Price Inflation Approach and ‘Forced’ Indebtedness   2.7  Conclusion  3 Financialisation as a Reference Point for Periodisation   3.1  Annales School and Recurrent Financialisation   3.2  Financialisation as Coupon Pool: Social Accountancy and Cultural Economy Approach   3.3  Finance-led Accumulation Regime as an Alternative to Fordist Regime: French Regulation School   3.4  Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) Approach   3.5  Tri-partite Class Regime and the Crisis of Neoliberalism: Duménil and Lévy   3.6  Financial Expropriation Approach: Lapavitsas and Dos Santos   3.7  The Increasing Presence of Interest-bearing Capital  4 Conclusion 3 Financialisation in Developing and Emerging Economies  1 Introduction  2 Historical Development of Financialisation in Developing Countries   2.1  Reserve Accumulation Strategy and the Narrowing Down of the Policy Scope   2.2  Crowding-out of Investment and Changes in Firm and Institutional Behaviour  3 Conclusion 4 The Political Economy of Turkey Since 1980   Towards Differentiated Global Integration  1 Introduction  2 1980s and 1990s: Capital Account Liberalisation, Export Boom and Public Indebtedness  3 Political Economy of Transition: The Differentiated Impacts of the 2001 Crisis  4 After 2001: Restructuring of the Banking Sector  5 After 2001: Household Indebtedness  6 After 2001: Capital Restructuring?  7 Conclusion 5 The Political Economy of Electricity Provision in Turkey  1 Introduction  2 Privatisation of Electricity Provision: Rhetoric and Experiences around the World   2.1  Scholarship on Privatisation of Electricity Provision: How and What to Regulate?  3 Energy Sector Outlook in Turkey  4 Historical Background and Institutional Framework for Electricity Provision in Turkey   4.1  Privatisation Process i: Policy Design and Price Regulation   4.2  Privatisation Process ii: Addressing Losses and Theft and Other Problems in Implementation  5 The Case of Hydroelectric Power Plants (HEBB s) in Turkey: How They Are Built and Financed   5.1  Ilisu Dam: A HEBB Project   5.2  Coruh Development Plan  6 What Role to the Finance?   6.1  Firm Financing: An Investigation of Corporate Balance Sheets in the Electricity Industry  7 Conclusion 6 The Political Economy of Housing Provision in Turkey  1 Introduction  2 Production Matters in a Comparative Context: Housing Provision in Britain  3 Production upon Landed Property: Marx’s Agricultural Rent Theory   3.1  Rent in Urban Settings  4 The Dynamics of Housing Production in Turkey: A Construction Boom Facilitated through State Institutions   4.1  A History of Housing Provision in Turkey within the Context of Urbanisation   4.2  The Rise of a State Institution in the Transition towards Market-based Provision: toki (Housing Development Administration)  5 An Empirical Investigation of the Construction Sector Firms’ Financial Statements  6 The Dynamics of Housing Consumption in Turkey   6.1  Housing Consumption: Who Consumes How Much?  7 Conclusion 7 Conclusion  1 Introduction  2 Main Findings and Contribution  3 Further Issues and Concluding Remarks Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Ezgi B. Unsal recently finished her PhD at SOAS, University of London and is currently a lecturer at Kadir Has University.