This thesis investigates the dynamics behind the urbanisation processes in ex-rural areas
where agricultural economy had collapsed. Being aware of local values marketable in
tourism, applying tourism as an agent of change is a pervasive vision. This approach relies
on strategies that highlight local resources to compete in the tourism market by making use
of technical means of globalisation. It is expected that the process diversifies local
economies in order to bring welfare to the entire local community. To this end, a great
functional role is attributed to local NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and local
governments on behalf of local democracy. Thus, a power process begins in the place
subjected to tourism development. The actors in this power process can be effective at
different scales like local, national and supra-national. This thesis maintains that the
transformation in rural areas cannot be kept distinct from the political processes that result in
the transformation of cities. Both transformations endeavour to solve system crises. The
transformation in rural areas should be accepted as a process of class strategy that has both
winners and losers itself. For this purpose, this thesis investigated the local agents of this
class strategy, whereas it initiates the capital accumulation process in cities by the agents of
either state apparatuses or market mechanisms. This investigation aims at the role of local
non-governmental organisations and local governments in this process. An Aegean town
which faced a rapid transformation along with tourism development is selected for the case
study because the development was known as an autonomous local movement that was not
based on a tourism development plan. The case study was based on qualitative data from
deep-interviews with local community members and the actors of tourism development.
According to the findings of the study, entrepreneurs that belong to mid-classes of big cities
initiated and conducted the development process. These actors, who had more financial
means and cultural capital than the local community, represented themselves and acted
through local NGOs / then, they examined power in order to construct rationalities of the
development in their own favour. These rationalities which were beyond capacities of local
people did not result in participation of local people in the development process. Local
people only affected the process of decision-making through property holdings.
Consequently, capital accumulation process of this mid-class, the main actors of the
development, was accelerated because local people sold or rented out their properties in the
real estate market developed by the tourism. On the other hand, the local government
formed a counter power striving to attract both national and supra-national big capital
to the town in the process.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12610262/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 December 2008 |
| Creators | Gurkan, Inanc |
| Contributors | Ersoy, Melih |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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