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Turkey as an III World Society shows rapid urbanization process without industrialization which causes some problems in housing situation. In postwar period USA gave martial aid to Turkey, in order to provide to Europe agricultural needs, so there appears jobless villagers and sharecroppers because of changes in agricultural sector in terms of providing surplus by tractors namely by less human labor. So migration to big cities was emerged which is the reason for squatter settlements existence. On the other hand globalization plays a role in suburban development which is the upper-class peoples choice for leaving heterogeneous environment in city centers that causes to emerge new suburban homogeneous settlements as gated communities. Firstly, formation of squatter settlements implies temporariness and the term gecekondu refer building in one night. People build their gecekondu's with having rising expectations for their future because they dont have pessimistic feelings although they live in slums in the lack of even electricity.
Gecekondu people are negatively labeled (stigmatized) as peasants in the city, uneducated, uncivilized, uncultured, backwards. They are also called as very&# 351; , which is a sign of subordination and exclusion of these kinds of people. (Kiziltan, 2004) They survive in urban life by the help of democratic parties because they have high voting potential, which is populism as a political aspect, and also they provide cheap labor as their second survival factor in economic dimension. Gecekondu amnesty / pardoning become possible as gecekondu people play a role in production-having cheap labor potential and also in consumption by buying products which urban people use, in order to show that they can adapt to the urban life. According to Mass Society Theory, when individuals hardly connect to society they become members of social movements and mobilize against system. Besides this theory, second generation migrants are relatively deprived and fail to adapt in urban life so they display radical politic actions, try to challenge status quo, mobilize against advantaged groups. At the beginning squatters have only use value but after this value begin to turn into exchange value, so gecekondu people start to be stigmatized as undeserved rich, the villagers want to migrate to city to benefit from this exchanged value and other urban life social institutions (health services, education etc) so there exits social mobility towards cities.
Also, there is another factor which causes social mobility in squatters; squatters are heterogeneous environments which consist of people from different geographical background, so it is possible to expect high social mobility in these settlements. (Yorukan, 21) In Turkey, chain migration is dominant than other type of migration so when gecekondu people dont feel belonging to urban life, they create community with their neighborhood, relatives in order to make solidarity within themselves. So there is acceleration in number of gecekondu's and state take stands in order to prevent this situation (Bastakar, 2004). So this event can be shown as a critic of Urban ecology approach of the Chicago School which ignores the role of state. Do urban people have prejudice against gecekondu people?
Do urban people accept their existence; are gecekondu people welcomed for providing cheap labor to upper class communities? Is there a chance for gecekondu people to adapt urban life or do they stay peasants in city to the rest of their lives? I think these questions are very important to see the approach of urban people towards gecekondu people Industrial developments causes complexity in urban life, crowded environments in city centers, traffic problems, air pollution so middle and upper class people start to move away from city centers in order to reach more peaceful and quiet full settlements. The most powerful reason hinders beyond suburban development is seeking security.
People start to escape from heterogeneous crowded whom they think cause crimes, inappropriate behaviors in society, so they feel their security is threatened todays urban life standards and in order to protect themselves they live behind gates. In the scope of globalization, people become interdependent to each other. Living inside the gates crates lack of social relation between those who live outside the gates. So there exists social stratification in which social inequality sharpens. In En Began Turkey: Kuzeyliler article, Taiwan claims that people who live in Zekeriyakoy, Kemer Country etc have high security trades in their residential, amenities, social activity places, similar neighbors like themselves in terms of education and culture and close connection to nature. Suburbanization can be seen as a result of capitalism, people who own money may have better life chances like living these advantage residential areas behind wall protection.
However, then a question arises in minds, why dont all rich people prefer to live in these secure gated communities? Or do all rich people have access to these privatized residential communities? Who can access and included in this residential or who are excluded from this areas? These questions answers highlights the conflict in stratified societies, focuses on inequality among individuals and effects of globalization and capitalism in urbanization policy.
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Research essay sample on Urban Life Cheap Labor
