IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v12y2023i6p342-d1167430.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Imagining Decent Work towards a Green Future in a Former Forest Village of the City of Istanbul

Author

Listed:
  • İklil Selçuk

    (Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Özyeğin University, 34794 Istanbul, Turkey)

  • Zeynep Delen Nircan

    (Foundation Development Directorate, Sabanci University, 34956 Istanbul, Turkey)

  • Burcu Selcen Coşkun

    (Department of Architecture, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, 34427 Istanbul, Turkey)

Abstract

This paper addresses issues pertaining to the future of work and sustainability through the lens of a case study of ecological deterioration and how it destroys and creates green jobs in a forest village of Istanbul. As elsewhere in major urban centres of developing countries, the hyper-expansion of city regions due to authoritarian developmentalism fosters the state-led construction sector in Turkey. Growth-driven economic policies continue to have adverse effects on the environment, resulting in deforestation among an array of ecological damage. Based on a qualitative analysis of oral history interviews and observations informed by a larger interdisciplinary research project, we observe resilience in the forest village under scrutiny as certain types of work are abandoned, and new forms are created by adaptation to the ecological and social conditions. The perceptions of changing conditions by locals vary across existing ethnic, gender, and class hierarchies in the local community. Moreover, our findings indicate that the types of work available in the village prior to urban transformation were not all decent or green. In face of ongoing ecological deterioration in a (formerly) forest community, participatory micro-initiatives, and grassroots, utilizing local community projects emerge that nevertheless pursue a green and just transition. We focus on one such initiative, the Community Fungi platform, to demonstrate the possibility of working towards a collective imagination of a green future inspired by past but unforgotten sustainable communal practices, in the context of the forest village under scrutiny in this paper.

Suggested Citation

  • İklil Selçuk & Zeynep Delen Nircan & Burcu Selcen Coşkun, 2023. "Imagining Decent Work towards a Green Future in a Former Forest Village of the City of Istanbul," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:12:y:2023:i:6:p:342-:d:1167430
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/6/342/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/6/342/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Singh, Neera M., 2019. "Environmental justice, degrowth and post-capitalist futures," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 138-142.
    2. Yinghe, Huang & Yeo-Chang, Youn, 2021. "What makes the traditional forest-related knowledge deteriorate? A case of Dengcen village in Southwestern China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    3. Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, 2015. "The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10581.
    4. Gavin Melles & Christian Wölfel & Jens Krzywinski & Lenard Opeskin, 2022. "Expert and Diffuse Design of a Sustainable Circular Economy in Two German Circular Roadmap Projects," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-12, September.
    5. Gertjan Dordmond & Heder Carlos Oliveira & Ivair Ramos Silva & Julia Swart, 2021. "The complexity of green job creation: An analysis of green job development in Brazil," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 723-746, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jan van Duppen, 2021. "Book review: The Botanical City," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(8), pages 1746-1750, June.
    2. Łukasz Jarosław Kozar & Robert Matusiak & Marta Paduszyńska & Adam Sulich, 2022. "Green Jobs in the EU Renewable Energy Sector: Quantile Regression Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-21, September.
    3. Katherine Farley, 2022. "“We ain't never stolen a plant”: Livelihoods, property, and illegal ginseng harvesting in the Appalachian forest commons," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(2), pages 309-321, June.
    4. Eduardo Polloni-Silva & Diogo Ferraz & Flávia de Castro Camioto & Daisy Aparecida do Nascimento Rebelatto & Herick Fernando Moralles, 2021. "Environmental Kuznets Curve and the Pollution-Halo/Haven Hypotheses: An Investigation in Brazilian Municipalities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-19, April.
    5. Dominic Piacentini, 2021. "Beside the berm: The convenience of roadside picking," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(2), pages 208-218, June.
    6. Letizia Bindi & Angelo Belliggiano, 2023. "A Highly Condensed Social Fact: Food Citizenship, Individual Responsibility, and Social Commitment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-22, April.
    7. Janet McIntyre‐Mills, 2020. "The COVID‐19 era: No longer business as usual," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(5), pages 827-838, September.
    8. Gräbner-Radkowitsch, Claudius & Strunk, Birte, 2023. "Degrowth and the Global South: The twin problem of global dependencies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    9. The Re‐Arrangements Collective & Fabien Cante & Ajmal Hussain & Timo Makori & Surer Qassim Mohamed & Alana Osbourne & Francesca Pilo’ & Kavita Ramakrishnan & AbdouMaliq Simone & Rike Sitas & Adeem Suh, 2023. "MOVEMENT 2. FORMALIZING ARRANGEMENTS: Re‐signification and the Making of Governable Spaces," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 471-482, May.
    10. Popan, Cosmin & Anaya-Boig, Esther, 2021. "The intersectional precarity of platform cycle delivery workers," SocArXiv tk6v8, Center for Open Science.
    11. Lisa Alvarado, 2019. "Institutional Change on a Conservationist Frontier: Local Responses to a Grabbing Process in the Name of Environmental Protection," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-17, November.
    12. Katharine Legun & Karly Ann Burch & Laurens Klerkx, 2023. "Can a robot be an expert? The social meaning of skill and its expression through the prospect of autonomous AgTech," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(2), pages 501-517, June.
    13. Eriksson Madeleine & Tollefsen Aina, 2018. "The production of the rural landscape and its labour: The development of supply chain capitalism in the Swedish berry industry," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 40(40), pages 69-82, June.
    14. Claudia Matus & Pascale Bussenius & Pablo Herraz & Valentina Riberi & Manuel Prieto, 2021. "Nature Is for Trees, Culture Is for Humans: A Critical Reading of the IPCC Report," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-9, October.
    15. Mathias Decuypere & Hanne Hoet & Joke Vandenabeele, 2019. "Learning to Navigate (in) the Anthropocene," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-16, January.
    16. Tom Broekel & Rune Dahl Fitjar & Silje Haus-Reve, 2021. "The roles of diversity, complexity, and relatedness in regional development – What does the occupational perspective add?," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2135, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Nov 2021.
    17. repec:caa:jnlcjf:v:preprint:id:158-2023-cjfs is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Dominik Hartmann & Diogo Ferraz & Mayra Bezerra & Andreas Pyka & Flavio L. Pinheiro, 2021. "Comparing cars with apples? Identifying the appropriate benchmark countries for relative ecological pollution rankings and international learning," Papers 2107.14365, arXiv.org.
    19. Faulques, Martin & Bonnet, Jean & Bourdin, Sébastien & Juge, Marine & Pigeon, Jonas & Richard, Charlotte, 2022. "Generational effect and territorial distributive justice, the two main drivers for willingness to pay for renewable energies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    20. Yura Yokoyama, 2023. "From money to culture: The practical indeterminacy of Bitcoin's values and temporalities," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 32-43, January.
    21. Cynthia Imogen Hammond, 2021. "Glacier, Plaza, and Garden: Ecological Collaboration and Didacticism in Three Canadian Landscapes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-19, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:12:y:2023:i:6:p:342-:d:1167430. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.