The origins of capitalism in Turkey: the transition debate revisited

The transition to capitalism has been one of the most perennial questions in the field of historical sociology. A distinct brand of historical materialism known as Political Marxism (PM) has offered critical insights into the “transition debate,” which have yet to be systematically applied to the case of Turkey. Utilizing a theoretical framework informed by PM, this article problematizes the conventional narratives of the “transition” in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey (1850–1950). It contends that no capitalism developed in Turkey until the 1950s; that is, the conditions conventionally thought to be indicators of capitalist development—such as property rights, wage labor, and accumulation of industrial and mercantile wealth—did not result in a (peripheral) capitalism in Turkey as usually assumed. By revisiting the “transition debate,” therefore, this article seeks to re-periodize the development of capitalism in Turkey, which in turn prompts a fundamental rethinking of both the past and present of Turkish modernity.