The politics of squatter (Gecekondu) studies in Turkey: The changing representations of rural migrants in the academic discourse

This article aims to develop a critical approach to squatter (gecekondu) st udies in Turkey and investigates the various representations of the gecekon du people in these studies in different periods by placing them in their so cial, political and economic contexts. It details changes in the representa tion of the gecekondu population from the 'rural Other' in the 1950s and 19 60s, to the 'disadvantaged Other' in the 1970s and early 1980s, to the 'urb an poor Other(s)', the 'undeserving rich Other(s)' and the 'culturally infe rior Other(s) as Sub-culture' between the mid 1980s and mid 1990s, and fina lly to the 'threatening/varoslu Other' in the late 1990s. It asserts that, while the approach to the gecekondu people varies from an elitist one, to o ne which is sympathetic to the gecekondu people, this group, nevertheless, has been consistently the 'inferior Other' for Turkish gecekondu researcher s.