Local entrepreneurialism and local business associations

This paper is an attempt to examine the dynamics that have shaped local entrepreneurialism in the context of capitalist state rescaling. It contends that it is not enough to conclude that urban/local governance is pro-business in nature. We need to investigate how these pro-business agendas and governance structures emerge. The empirical analysis is, thus, sharpened by concentrating on the institutional dynamics of the local bourgeoisie’s political mobilisation. The birth and evolution of local entrepreneurialism is explained by examining the changing intra-and inter-organisational dynamics of local business associations in response to the national accumulation strategy shifts and/or the associated changes in the forms of business representation to the state. The arguments are elaborated by examining the case of the city of Gaziantep, located in the Southeastern part of Turkey