Çağatay Edgücan Şahin (ed.), 21. Yüzyıl Türkiye’sinde Tarım ve Kooperatifler: Teori, Pratik, Vizyon, Istanbul: NotaBene Yayınları, 2021, 256 pp. ISBN: 978-605-260-312-3.
Edited by Çağatay Edgücan Şahin, 21. Yüzyıl Türkiye’sinde Tarım ve Kooperatifler is a collective work that examines the contemporary problems of agriculture in Turkey and the possibilities offered by cooperativism in response to these problems from historical, economic, and social perspectives. Taking as its starting point issues such as rising costs in agricultural production, farmers’ indebtedness, intermediary relations, pressure from imports, privatisation, climate change, and the ageing of the rural population, the book discusses the possibilities that solidaristic and collective forms of organisation can create as alternatives to a corporate model of production.
One of the book’s central questions is whether cooperativism is a utopian form of organisation inherited from the past or a realistic policy for the future capable of responding to the contemporary problems of agriculture in Turkey. Within this framework, cooperatives are considered not merely as enterprises that protect the economic interests of producers, but as structures through which relations of production and distribution can be reorganised on the basis of solidarity. At the same time, the study does not regard cooperativism as a solution in itself; it draws attention to how relations with the state, the market, and capital, forms of organisation, and producers’ participation in decision-making processes determine the character of cooperatives.
The collection examines the historical development of agricultural cooperativism in Turkey through specific products, institutions, and regional experiences. Following an account of the historical development of cooperativism in Turkey and around the world, the book addresses new-generation producer cooperatives in tea production, Pankobirlik and the privatisation process in sugar beet production, Fiskobirlik and class relations in hazelnut production, and the production of cotton, olives, grapes, and figs through the experience of TARİŞ. It thus makes it possible to compare the transformations undergone by agricultural cooperatives in different historical periods in relation to state policies, market relations, and producers’ needs.
One of the book’s important areas of discussion is the relationship between emerging forms of cooperativism and solidarity economies. Initiatives such as the Hopa Tea Cooperative and Özçay in tea production are assessed as new forms of producer organisation that differ from traditional cooperativism, while the Ovacık Agricultural Development Cooperative is examined from the perspective of the solidarity economy. Through the Ovacık experience, the book discusses collective relations of production and distribution, labour policies, relations between local government and cooperatives, and autonomy from the market and public institutions. The study of irrigation cooperatives in Edirne, meanwhile, examines the role of cooperatives in organising the infrastructure of agricultural production and the managerial problems faced by these organisations.
21. Yüzyıl Türkiye’sinde Tarım ve Kooperatifler is a work that, while discussing the possibilities of cooperatives, also makes visible their limitations and contradictions within their relations with the market and the state. Privatisation processes, neoliberal agricultural policies, the growing influence of corporations in agricultural production, the governance structures of cooperatives, and producers’ organisational capacity are addressed in different chapters. Rather than approaching cooperatives solely through their legal forms, this perspective foregrounds questions of who makes decisions, how production and distribution processes are organised, and to what extent the resulting economic and social relations are based on solidarity.
In this respect, the book is a comprehensive reference work that considers together the history of agricultural cooperativism in Turkey, its contemporary crises, and the search for alternative forms of organisation. Although it does not focus directly on the same field as debates on workers’ control and self-management, it intersects significantly with these discussions through questions such as producers’ collective voice and decision-making power over economic processes, solidaristic forms of production and distribution, democracy within cooperatives, and alternative economic organisation. The studies on Ovacık and new-generation producer cooperatives in particular make the book an important resource for assessing the contemporary possibilities of solidarity economies and democratic cooperativism in Turkey.