Gentrification as a Blanket Concept: A Tale of Resisting and Contesting Neoliberal Urbanization

This study focuses on the spaces of neoliberalism in Istanbul and more specifically Sulukule neighborhood constitutes its empirical focus. The hegemonic ascendancy of neoliberalism encounters contestations and social unrest, political mobilizations across the world. Through the case of Sulukule (Istanbul, Turkey), our aim is to illustrate how gentrification as a neoliberal instrument utilized by a conservative/Islamist local government intervene the urban space not only for economic purposes but also culturally. This study analyzes this process, which went through in Sulukule, a former low-income neighborhood, mainly inhabited by a Gypsy community, sustaining livelihoods through an historically created entertainment culture, which was not welcomed by the conservative political cadres. This study turns the attention to the dynamics generated at the interstices of economy, politics and society, and delivers a tale of resistance and contestation to the uneasy marriage between conservative Islamism and neoliberalism. Key Words: urban gentrification, neoliberal urbanization