Customer Reviews

Istanbul: Between the Global and the Local (World Social Change)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a must for anyone seriously interested in Istanbul. Not a travel guide, this book is a collection of essays by Turkish scholars addressing the cultural and material significance of both the "global-city project" in Istanbul and the influx of migrants from rural Turkey. Keyder's brilliant analyses (he contributes three essays to the collection) are matched by the other contributions, all of which are historically and theoretically grounded. Anyone interested in urban studies, world-cities, the global/local dialectic or Turkey today will benefit from reading this book.

This volume, Istanbul: Between the Global and Local, contains a series of essays on contemporary society in Istanbul, with an emphasis on the ways in which globalization has interacted with local realities in that city. While the essays are not always strong, many of them are, with the essays by Keyder, Martin Stokes, and Jenny White worthy of particular note. For students of Middle Eastern or Turkish culture and cultural politics, this volume is well worth while. For people with more general interests, it is probably too specialized. Below is the table of contents:

Introduction

The Setting, Caglar Keyder

Who Owns the Old Quarters? Rewriting Histories of the Global Era
Ayfer Bartu

Istanbul of the Conqueror: The "Alternative Global City" Dreams of Political Islam Tanil Bora

The Historical Construction of "Local Culture": Politics of Islamist versus Secularist Identity Yael Navaro-Yasin

Islamic Chic Jenny White

Istanbulities and Others: The Cultural Cosmology of Being Middle Class in the Era of Globalism Ayse Oncu

Sounding Out: The Culture Industries and the Globalization of Istanbul Martin Stokes

The Housing Market from Informal to Global Caglar Keyder

Where Do You Hail From? Localism and Networks in Istanbul Sema Erder

A Tale of Two Neighborhoods Caglar Keyder

Synopsis Caglar Keyder

This is not a Travel Guide. It is an anatomy of a cosmopolitan city.The book is about changing Istanbul in last 100 years with most of the emphasis is given to last 50 years when the real change occured. It is about the strugle between secular city view and traditional or Islamic city view for Istanbul. How the mayors tried to give different images to Istanbul based on their political affiliations. How migration from rural areas into cities specifically into istanbul changed the city, it's image and social structure. Although I have my doubts that those who set the policies had the image of the city in mind or if the result was by product of their policies is questionable but two different views constantly reshaped the city.
The scope also extends much broader areas such as Music,fashion and life.