EXTENDED SUMMARY

One of the most important turning points in the history of the Karabük Iron and Steel Works were the strikes and workers’ movements between 1989 and 1994. In parallel with the workers’ strikes against the neoliberal policies all across Turkey, Karabük was affected by this process. Karabük went through a painful process with the workers’ strikes and the privatisation decisions that followed the strikes. The main point that makes this process unique is the total support of the people of the city to the anti-privatisation movements in Karabük. On 8 November 1994, life in Karabük came to a standstill for four hours. The city, together with workers and trade unions, political representatives, local administration, councillors, business people, presidents of chambers, journalists, artisans and local people, opposed privatisation. During the protest, main roads were closed, official institutions including schools were not opened, artisans did not open their workplaces, industrial production stopped. The 8th of November, when daily life came to a standstill, is important in the memory of Karabük and a turning point in the history of the working class in Turkey.

This research describes the events that occurred until the government’s statement in January 1995, after the 139-day workers’ strike that started in 1989 in the Iron and Steel Enterprises, with the memories of the witnesses. The research used the qualitative research design and collected the data using the oral history method. Oral history is a research method that uses the experiences and memories of people who have had the opportunity to witness events that are considered historically important. According to Thompson (1990), oral history is an information gathering tool that transforms the content and purpose of history. Çakır (2004), on the other hand, states that oral history is a data collection method that provides important contributions to the creation of new knowledge. Accordingly, it is an important tool in the construction of history and memory by extracting and evaluating personal testimonies or experiences from a certain period from the depths of memory.

In this respect, oral history is useful for understanding the movement that begins with a strike and ends with the cessation of daily life. Purposive sampling was used in this study. Purposive sampling is often preferred in the study of social and cultural processes. The sample group was selected specifically for Karabük and in-depth interviews were conducted with six people. The data were analysed using the techniques of the oral history approach. In the literature, there is no research done in the language of the witnesses of this period. Thus, the concern to reveal the unexplained on 8 November 1994 made the research original.

This study founds that Karabük’s struggle against the closure of the factory came to an end with a unique method in the history of workers’ movements. Karabük city supported the workers’ protests in Turkey very quickly and developed a practice of acting simultaneously with the government’s decisions. The fact that Karabük acted as an organised city at a time when it was still a province was the main context emphasised by the participants. The achievements of the actions were seen as a success by both the workers and the local people. Participants pointed out that the fact that the factory was sold to the workers during the privatisation process was important to show that the workers are the owners of the place where they work. The recent history of events was both an advantage and a disadvantage for the study.

The advantage of the study is that because the witnesses are still alive, one-on-one interviews conducted with them and the process is captured from their point of view. The disadvantage of the study is that the same witnesses did not prefer to talk about the events specific to the city, about how the process was initiated In this context, the emphasis on the deliberate privatisation of the factory is remarkable. The study showed that the period is remembered with nostalgia in the memories of those who have struggled. The basic assumption that feeds this understanding is the lack of motivation to fight a similar struggle today. Undoubtedly, the point reached in Karabük represents a place parallel to the workers’ movements in Turkey. The continuation of neoliberal policies during the AKP period also hampered the sustainability of similar actions in labour history. The same policies also weakened the sense of common belonging and prevented the workers’ memory from acting. For these reasons, it seems reasonable to predict that the workers’ movements failed during the AKP period.