EXTENDED SUMMARY

This article examines the multidimensional process through which salt—a vital mineral abundantly available in nature—has been progressively drawn into commodification throughout history, with particular attention to the Turkish context. The study aims to analyze how salt has been transformed from a natural resource with use value into a commodity with exchange value, exploring this transformation through historical, social, ecological, and political-economic lenses. By focusing on salt, the research provides insights into the broader contradictions that capitalist production relations establish with nature and society, demonstrating how a seemingly limitless natural resource can be artificially rendered scarce through political and economic mechanisms.

The scope of the research encompasses both global and local dimensions of salt commodification. At the global level, the study identifies distinct historical phases in the commodification of salt, from pre-capitalist state monopolies to contemporary neoliberal market regimes. At the local level, it traces the transformation of salt production and distribution in Turkey from the Ottoman Empire through the Republican period to the neoliberal era, examining state policies, capital accumulation strategies, and forms of social resistance that emerged in response to these transformations.

The study employs a critical political economy approach to analyze the commodification of salt. This approach is rooted in Marxist value theory, which distinguishes between use value and exchange value, while also engaging with contemporary theoretical frameworks on commodification, such as those developed by Appadurai (1986) and Polanyi (1957). The research methodology combines historical analysis, political-economic critique, and case studies to construct a comprehensive understanding of salt’s transformation.

The primary analytical framework divides the commodification of salt into five historical periods, each representing a qualitative transformation in salt’s value form: Pre-capitalist state monopolies, the mercantilist period, liberal-competitive capitalism, Fordist accumulation, and post-Fordist/neoliberal restructuring. This periodization serves not as a mere chronological-cultural narrative but as a means to understand the structural shifts in the political construction of salt’s value. For the Turkish case study, the research draws on historical sources, including archival materials, legislative documents, development plans, newspaper archives, and official reports to trace the evolution of state policies toward salt production and distribution across different political-economic regimes.

The analysis reveals that salt’s commodification is not merely an economic phenomenon but a multilayered process that intertwines dispossession, ecological destruction, and social resistance. Salt has undergone multiple metamorphoses in its value form throughout history. Initially valued primarily for its life-sustaining properties (use value), salt gradually acquired exchange value through various political constructions of scarcity. This transformation was not uniform but proceeded through distinct phases that corresponded to broader shifts in economic systems. In pre-capitalist state monopolies, salt’s value derived from politically constructed scarcity through taxation and monopolization. During the mercantilist period, salt became integrated into international trade networks and colonial expansion strategies. Under liberal-competitive capitalism, salt’s value became increasingly determined by market mechanisms as industrial production expanded. The Fordist accumulation period witnessed the standardization and branding of salt, along with its integration into mass consumption patterns. In the post-Fordist/neoliberal era, salt has been further differentiated and segmented into specialized product categories with symbolic and cultural values.

The commodification of salt has been accompanied by diverse forms of resistance from affected communities. Examples include Gandhi’s Salt March in India (1930), protests against large-scale salt mining at the Keta Lagoon in Ghana (2010s), labor struggles at salt production facilities in Turkey, and environmental activism against the commercial development of salt flats. These resistances demonstrate that commodification is not a smooth or uncontested process but one that generates social conflicts and alternative value propositions. The transformation of salt production has fundamentally altered labor relations and working conditions. Traditional salt harvesting methods have been increasingly replaced by mechanized, industrialized processes that subject workers to precarious employment conditions and significant health risks, including hypertension due to continuous exposure to sodium chloride particles.

Furthermore, industrial salt extraction has led to severe environmental degradation in various regions worldwide. From the Atacama Salt Flat in Chile to Turkey’s Salt Lake (Tuz Gölü), large-scale salt production has resulted in biodiversity loss, water level depletion, soil salinization, and disruption of ecosystem balance. These ecological impacts represent the “metabolic rift” that emerges when natural resources are subjected to capitalist exploitation logic.

In the Turkish context, the study identifies three distinct phases in the commodification of salt. During the Ottoman Period, salt production and distribution underwent significant transitions, from a relatively decentralized system in the early Ottoman period to a centralized state monopoly in the 19th century. The 1862 Salt Regulation established full state control over salt, which was later transferred to the Ottoman Public Debt Administration (Düyun-u Umumiye) following the 1875 financial crisis. In the Early Republican Period, the new Turkish Republic continued the state monopoly on salt through the Salt Monopoly General Directorate established in 1927. Salt became not only a source of tax revenue but also a strategic resource integrated into industrialization policies. The 1936 Salt Law formalized state control over production and export, while price equalization policies aimed to ensure nationwide accessibility. With the neoliberal transformation beginning in the 1980s and accelerating in the 2000s, Turkish salt production underwent significant liberalization. The elimination of the Salt Law in 2001 and the privatization of state-owned salt facilities between 2009-2010 marked the complete transition of salt from state control to market domination. This period also saw increased product differentiation, the emergence of “gourmet” salt varieties, and the integration of salt into global value chains.

The study concludes that the commodification of salt represents not only an economic reorganization but also a profound epistemological and political transformation in human-nature relations. By analyzing salt’s journey from a natural resource to a market commodity, the research demonstrates how capital accumulation processes simultaneously depend upon and undermine both labor and nature. The commodification of salt in Turkey exemplifies how state policies, market mechanisms, and social resistances interact to shape resource governance. The transition from state monopoly to market control reflects broader shifts in Turkey’s political economy, from statist development to neoliberal restructuring. This transformation has produced complex outcomes: While creating new production capacities and consumer choices, it has also generated labor insecurity, ecological degradation, and disputes over resource access.

The paper argues that alternative approaches to natural resource management are urgently needed to address the ecological limits of capital accumulation. Building on Ostrom’s (1990) work on commons governance, the study suggests that collaborative management principles, multi-stakeholder participatory approaches, and ecological justice perspectives could form the ethical and political foundation for more sustainable and equitable salt governance models. Ultimately, the research demonstrates that resistance to salt’s commodification involves more than opposing the negative impacts on workers or protecting specific natural areas—it requires reimagining our relationship with nature beyond the commodity form and developing alternative social and economic models based on principles of collective resource management and ecological justice.