Gezi Protests and Beyond: Urban Resistance Under Neoliberal Urbanism in Turkey

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 2000s, a number of international protest demonstrations, such as alter-globalisation movements, have emerged in reaction to neoliberal restructuring and the accompanying gradual erosion of citizens’ rights. These movements contesting the impact of global neoliberalisation began over time to focus on cities and to scrutinize current urban governance, increasing precarization, and socio-spatial segregation. During the European Social Forum that took place in Istanbul in 2010, a handful of panels on the theme of the right to the city brought together activists and residents from different neighbourhoods that were either destroyed or under the threat of destruction, to discuss the possibility of creating a common urban movement. Two visits were also organised for international participants to the Tozkoparan and Sariyer neighbourhoods, both destined to be urban transformation areas, threatening the inhabitants with expulsion and resettlement in degraded conditions.