This presentation is going to provide an overview on contemporary developments in Turkish politics in the context of degrowth. I will start with historical account of various growth imaginaries since the Ottoman Empire and the ways in which these are articulated in contemporary economic, social and political goals of the Turkish society. Later, I will question contemporary social movements and citizen initiatives ranging from slow city movements to urban gardens in order to answer whether or not they can constitute a potential for degrowth alternatives in Turkey.

Mine Islar is an Associate Professor in Sustainability Science and Director of PhD School at LUCSUS. Her research interests are political ecology and transformative political frameworks including degrowth. Currently, she is co-leading a project called ‘Postgrowth Welfare Societies’ that aims to assess ways of decoupling welfare from economic growth as well as leading a team of researchers who work on the changing human-nature relations in the Himalaya. She works closely with science-policy interface platforms such as the IPBES.

This event is part of the CMES seminar series autumn 2023. For more information, visit the CMES website.