Barış Alp Özden’s book, Working Class Formation in Turkey, 1946–1962: Work, Culture, and the Politics of the Everyday, focuses on the formation of the working class “with distinct dispositions, identity, and politics.” It sheds light on the “everyday catastrophes and victories” experienced by workers throughout this formative period.
The book’s significance and contribution to the literature can be summarized in two key points. First, it addresses a period in the labor history of Turkey that has been mostly overlooked, bringing much-needed attention to this formative era. Second, the author’s methodological and thematic choices, particularly the focus on everyday life and the inclusion of two chapters dedicated to non-work dimensions of the working-class experience, enhance the book’s appeal and productivity. A core strength of the book lies in its investigation of various layers of the working-class experience within a single study, engaging with diverse literatures, such as urbanization, leisure, everyday life, labor process, linguistic analysis, and anthropology of law – an impressive feat. While not an expert on the era, I found the historical data presented in the book to be impressive.
The book’s structure is organized around a thematic exploration of the working-class experience. The first two chapters delve into non-work experiences, focusing on housing and leisure activities. Chapters 3 and 4 shift the focus to work experiences, examining the workplace and the development of labor law. Finally, the last chapter explores the politics of class formation, following the construction and organization of worker identity.
In Chapter 1, the focus is on the previously overlooked connection between gecekondu (shanty or squatter housing) literature and labor history in Turkey, aiming to bridge this gap. An intriguing revelation is the higher homeownership rate of workers compared to self-employed professionals and civil servants, which is attributed to the squatter housing and the specific meaning of home for workers. Özden highlights how neighborhood organizations enhanced the collective skills of gecekondu dwellers to defend their interests, exemplified by protests in Taksim Square during the early 1950s, which were met with state repression. Throughout the chapter, Özden suggests that gecekondu neighborhoods facilitated the formation of the working class. However, a cautionary note is struck at the end of the chapter, warning about the influence of patronage relations and the commercialization of urban land, potentially leading to more conservative political behavior among homeowners.
Chapter 2 delves into leisure activities, specifically cinema, football, and coffeehouses, marking a pioneering exploration in Turkey’s labor history. The chapter asserts the significant influence of the working class on the development of these emerging popular culture domains. For example, it emphasizes how young workers shaped football to align with their needs and culture, both as players and supporters. Furthermore, Özden shows that the neighborhood coffeehouse served as a “second home” for working-class men, providing a space for relaxation, socializing, and engaging in activities like card or backgammon games. This finding remained relevant, especially for the middle aged, based on my ethnographic studies conducted in İstanbul during the 2000s and 2010s. Özden contends that working men developed “a distinctive culture around the coffeehouse that became an intergenerationally transmitted ingredient of working-class identity” (p. 89). The chapter concludes by arguing that shared experiences in popular leisure activities reinforced solidarity and working-class identity. While the chapter may not strictly demonstrate Özden’s conclusions, his reasoning appears sound.
Chapter 3 holds a special place for me due to my interest in textile manufacturing and my penchant for the more traditional aspects of labor history. The chapter conducts a comparative study of class struggle on the shop floor by focusing on two distinct modes of textile production: the small-scale production of weavers in Mahmutpaşa and the large-scale production in Mensucat Santral. The management of the latter, which was İstanbul’s largest private weaving mill employing nearly 700 workers, doubled the number of looms operated by each weaver in 1954. This led to a prolonged struggle involving two strikes, instances of police violence, the dismissal of eighty-seven striking workers, a week-long picket line, and an İstanbul-wide fundraising campaign by unions for the dismissed workers. Despite these efforts, the workers were unable to return to work, let alone alleviate the intensified workload. It is worth noting the remarkable similarities here with the working conditions and struggles of İstanbul weavers that I studied in the 2000s and 2010s. While this may initially seem disappointing, it serves as a reminder of the cyclical nature of the class struggle.
Chapter 4 opens with the assertion that law is the primary site upon which authoritative social relations in the workplace are constituted, making labor law fundamental to labor history. Being a student of contemporary labor movements, I wholeheartedly agree, as even the petty details of labor law can significantly influence the unfolding of collective working-class resistance. Furthermore, the legal framework governing workplace labor relations was established during the period from 1946 to 1963, prompting a dedicated exploration of labor law in the era. Özden’s investigation in this chapter encompasses three sections covering key themes: the role of internal factory regulations; the performance of the labor inspectorate; and the use of arbitration mechanisms as the sole legitimate channel for resolving collective labor disputes. Notably, the third section provides a broader, quantitative perspective on class struggle in the era. The act of raising and litigating collective labor disputes offered workers a boost in self-confidence and collective training. Özden posits that the legislation system “magnified the workers’ sense of themselves as workers rather than citizens or the nation as a whole” (p. 153).
Chapter 5 investigates the formation of the working class by examining the construction and organization of worker identity. The first section conducts a discourse analysis to explore the evolving meaning of the concept of “worker.” The following section on strikes investigates a significant case: the six-day strike of 600 dockworkers in İzmir in 1954, protesting against subcontracting. Despite severe repression and ultimate defeat, this strike garnered unprecedented public interest and support, marking a pivotal moment in Turkey’s labor history. The final section examines the political stance of the labor movement. Due to the anti-communist purge in the post-war years, the presence of “an independent political alternative targeting the working class” was notably feeble. Consequently, bread-and-butter unionism prevailed during this era, although an incipient, more radical form of labor politics was quietly gaining ground, especially in the İstanbul Trade Unions Alliance (ITUA).
The book has some minor shortcomings. We are left without a fully satisfying answer to one of the most intriguing mysteries of Turkish labor history: how did some 100,000 workers gather at Saraçhane in 1961? While this historic meeting, as succinctly depicted by Özden, symbolized the formation of the working class in Turkey, the fundamental question remains: how did the labor movement evolve to the extent of orchestrating such a massive and independent collective action? Throughout the book, we read how numerous dynamics created the “space on which the subsequent labor movement was built,” and that certainly makes sense. However, exactly how this subsequent building occurred remains unanswered. Who were the “more radical” leaders? How were they influenced by the dynamics that Özden surveyed? What were their motivations? How did the rank-and-file shape them, and how did they, in turn, shape the rank-and-file? Additionally, what transpired within the ITUA? How did the more radical unionists gain a stronghold over it, especially considering its previous impotence “due to the rivalry between pro-DP [Democrat Party] and pro-RPP [Republican People’s Party] unionists” at the beginning of the 1950s? This may be an unfair criticism, considering that Özden’s goal appears to be stretching the analysis towards less-explored spheres of working class formation. However, given that this is the only book we have which focuses on the Turkish labor history of the 1950s, and the title of the book seems promising in that sense, I expected to encounter a more analytical account of more classical themes.
I also find the relatively limited engagement with Hakan Koçak’s studies, which offer an analysis of the labor movement of the 1950s, a little problematic. This seems to be a symptom of the limited attention given to movement-related questions in the traditional sense. Koçak’s studies could have provided a good starting point for a more argumentative analysis. For instance, in analyzing the impact of housing policy on the labor movement, Koçak makes a notable statement absent in Özden’s discussion. By quoting the complaints of employers on how quickly the unions could mobilize and gather women and children in front of the factory during collective disputes in the 1960s, he provides an intriguing analysis: the cheap solution that the capital and the state found for workers’ housing problem actually cost them greatly in the next decade (Koçak Reference Koçak2008, 122). This analysis does not challenge Özden’s conclusions; however, it discloses another mechanism through which gecekondu neighborhoods facilitated the formation of the working class.
Lastly, a featured life story might have been beneficial. It would have offered a vertical thread to bind the different layers explored in various chapters. For instance, I would have liked to have heard Avni Erakalın’s story. As a textile worker who rose to become the head of ITUA and, later, the president of the Workers’ Party of Turkey, his narrative could have woven together not only the different themes and layers but also the micro and macro scales. Since the author interviewed him, incorporating his story could have provided a compelling account.
These points, however, are meaningful only for those who are interested in the intricate details of the history of the labor movement in Turkey. Overall, Working Class Formation in Turkey, 1946–1962 is to be highly recommended as an insightful and well-written work. It makes an essential and important contribution to the field.
