Economics and Law Journal

Primary Language
: TR
  • Yeşim Akın Yalçın
From Etatism to Privatization, A National Factory in Kastamonu: Taşköprü Hemp Industry Establishment

ABSTRACT

Taşköprü Hemp Industry Enterprise was established by Sümerbank in 1947 in Taşköprü district of Kastamonu. The institution, which started operating in the last periods of the etatism policy and continued its existence until the second half of the 1990s, is important both in terms of its contributions on a local scale and the labor history of Turkey. The establishment is important in terms of its place in Turkey’s capital accumulation as well as its revitalizing nature of the economic and social fabric of the region. Within the scope of the study, the development of the agricultural industry was revealed with the transformation of the villagers into industrial workers. The effects and consequences of the decisive dynamics on the road from etatism to privatization constitute the essence of this research. The basis of the study is to read the practical implications of economic policies and the transformations in living conditions in the factory, which meets 40% of Turkey’s hemp needs, from both economic and social lenses. In the story of the institution, which was privatized after 1980 and prevented from technological developments and investments, the angle between the changing economic policy and the search for cheap labor force, flexible and precarious working conditions is evaluated.
Keywords : Labor history, Etatism, Sümerbank, Taşköprü Hemp Industry

EXTENDED SUMMARY

Turkey’s first hemp industry enterprise was established by Sümerbank in the Taşköprü district of Kastamonu in 1947, within the scope of the industrialization and total development targets that started with the First Industrial Plan. With the etatism policy adopted in the mid-1930s, public economic enterprises were implemented in various parts of the country. After the First World War and the War of Independence, in which the modern Turkish State suffered heavy destruction, it accomplished a lot in a short time under the concept of etatism; He established many state enterprises and took over basic industry. What happened during the etatist economic policy period was not only limited to the industrialization movement and its effects, but the social consequences of etatist industrialization also emerged. In the field of education, health, law; many regulations have been made and important developments have been achieved, even exceeding industrialization efforts. In addition to this holistic development, the roots of a modern working class in Turkey should be sought in this period. Taşköprü Hemp Industry Enterprise is one of the organizations that was established in this period. The establishment of the institution, which was established in the last periods of the etatism policy and continued to exist until the second half of the 1990s within the Turkish economic policy that changed with the 1950s, is important both in terms of its contributions on a local scale and its contributions to the labor history of Turkey. The establishment, which has the characteristics of a small-scale factory, is worth examining in terms of its place in Turkey’s capital accumulation as well as its revitalizing nature of the economic and social fabric of the region. Within the scope of the study, the development of the agricultural industry was observed with the transformation of the villagers who lived with subsistence agricultural activities on a local scale into industrial workers. The main purpose of this study is to tell the story of how the employees of the enterprise transformed their lives and production areas because they were a part of this economic transformation, in the concrete form of Taşköprü Hemp Industry Establishment, to gain its deserved place in the labor history literature and to contribute to the increase of interest in such research. In the current study, the “written text analysis” technique were used. Scanning the Court of Accounts Library and archives, scanning documents, books and related publications in the National Library are the studies carried out to collect data. The reflection of the effects and consequences of the determining dynamics on the road from etatism to privatization in a provincial area forms the texture of this research. The practical implications of economic conditions and changes in the institution that meets 40% of Turkey’s hemp needs, the transformations in living conditions and the reading of a historical process from both economic and social structure determine the basis of the study. The institution, which has been making significant contributions to the economy of the country and the region since 1947, received its share from the privatization wave that started after 1980, and the process of closure began by being withheld from technological developments, investments and supports. In the historical story of the institution that resisted extinction until 2004, the angle between the economic policy, which started with etatism and turned towards privatization, and the search for cheap labor force, flexible and precarious working conditions, is evaluated. Although the “transfer to the private sector”, which started in the 1980s, was a product of the globalization period, the liquidated public economic enterprises were mostly sold to foreign companies and banks. The liquidation of these structures and the economic program established with the savings of the people only leads to the further enrichment of capital accumulation and removes society and its benefits from the equation. In addition to the hemp, string and various products it produces, the Taşköprü Hemp Industry Institution has provided vital opportunities for hundreds of workers employed in a district with a population of less than five thousand and for the families they support. In addition to providing electricity for the district, it has contributed to both the social and economic development of the region with the arrangements it has made in the fields of education, health, sports and culture. While the privatization and subsequent closure of the factory signifies the end of an era, it also maintains its quality as a stopping point in making sense of both history and the conditions we are in and are drifting into.

Devletçilikten Özelleştirmeye Kastamonu’da Bir “Milli Fabrika”: Taşköprü Kendir Sanayi Müessesesi

ÖZ

Taşköprü Kendir Sanayi Müessesesi Sümerbank tarafından 1947 yılında Kastamonu’nun Taşköprü ilçesinde kurulmuştur. Devletçilik politikasının son dönemlerinde faaliyete geçen ve 1990’ların ikinci yarısına dek varlığını sürdüren müessesenin, hem yerel ölçekte katkıları hem Türkiye emek tarihi açısından kazandırdıkları önemlidir. Küçük ölçekli bir fabrika olan kuruluş, bölgenin iktisadi ve toplumsal dokusunu canlandırıcı niteliğiyle birlikte Türkiye’nin sermaye birikimindeki yeri açısından da önemlidir. Çalışma dâhilinde geçimlik tarımsal faaliyetle yaşamını sürdüren köylünün sanayi işçisine dönüşümü ile tarım sanayinin gelişimi ortaya koyulmuştur. Taşköprü Kendir Sanayi Müessesesinin somutluğunda, müessese çalışanlarının yaşamlarını ve üretim alanlarını dönüştürmelerinin öyküsünün emek tarihi yazınında hak ettiği yeri kazanması ve benzer araştırmalara yönelik ilginin artmasına katkı sağlaması amaçlanmıştır. Devletçilikten özelleştirmeye giden yolda belirleyici dinamiklerin etki ve sonuçları bu araştırmanın özünü oluşturmaktadır. Türkiye’nin kendir ihtiyacının % 40’ını karşılayan fabrikada iktisat politikalarının pratik karşılıkları ile yaşam koşullarındaki dönüşümlerin hem iktisadi hem toplumsal mercekten okunması çalışmanın zeminini belirlemektedir. 1980 sonrası özelleştirme dalgasından payını alan ve teknolojik gelişmelerden, yatırımlardan alıkonulan kurumun öyküsünde devletçilik ile başlayıp özelleştirmelere yüzünü dönen iktisat politikası arasındaki açı değerlendirilmektedir. Taşköprü örneği tarihe olduğu kadar içinde bulunduğumuz koşulları değerlendirmeye de ışık tutacaktır
Anahtar Kelimeler : ÖZEmek tarihi, Devletçilik, Sümerbank, Taşköprü Kendir Sanayii

Cite This Article

APA
AKIN YALÇIN, Y., & . ( 2025). From Etatism to Privatization, A National Factory in Kastamonu: Taşköprü Hemp Industry Establishment. Çalışma ve Toplum, 1(84), 263-284. https://doi.org/10.54752/ct.1623996