Abstract
ON INDUSTRIALIZATION PROCESS IN THE WORLD AND TURKEY IN THE AXIS OF DEPENDENCY AND UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT
This study examines the economic transformation of Turkey, as well as the industrialization policies followed since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, in relation to the global capitalist system by stressing the issue of dependency. The majority of countries around the world, including Turkey, are referred to as less developed, underdeveloped, developing or dependent countries in the development economics and sociology literature. The differences between established capitalist countries and those that experienced capitalist relations later are attempted to be captured by such concepts. The proliferation of concepts can be treated as an indicator of the historical evolution of the relationship between the two sets of countries. A fundamental question of theoretical studies on this topic has involved whether the unequal relationship between these countries would change. Also debated is the potential transformative impact of the internal evolution of national economies. This study is informed by Samir Amin’s explanation of “uneven development” and other literature related to dependency theory. Thus, the analysis focuses on Turkey’s “integration” into and “dependency” on the capitalist world system. Following a brief reference to the historical transformation of Turkey’s economy, the study provides an assessment of the “import-substituting industrialization” strategy, followed until the 1980s, and the “export-led industrialization” policies implemented since the 1980s. It contends that both strategies have failed to address Turkey’s “industrialization” problem and pushed the country into a vicious circle by reproducing “dependency” relations. While there may be several explanatory factors for this failure, the “dependency” relationship with the world capitalist economy is seen as the primary mechanism. Despite the pessimistic outlook, the article concludes that Turkey still has the potential to break the vicious circle, and there are alternative development and industrialization strategies.
Keywords
Industrialization of Turkey, development, uneven development, dependency, economic transformation of
