MARXIAN THEORY AND SOCIALISM IN TURKEY

ERCAN GÜNDOĞAN (PhD)(2009, VDM Verlag), ISBN 3-639-13607-1, ISBN 978-3-639-13607-4

MARXIAN THEORY AND SOCIALISM IN TURKEY, A Critique of The Socialist Journal Aydınlık

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Second gift for Nesrin and Özgür

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PREFACE

This book is originally prepared as a PhD dissertation and was submitted to Middle East

Technical University, the Department of Political Science and Public Administration in June

2005. I defended the thesis before a jury which consisted of my supervisor Assoc.Prof. Dr.

Mehmet Okyayuz and As. Prof. Dr. Galip Yalman, Prof. Dr. Ünal Nalbantoğlu, As. Prof. Dr.

Mehmet Yetis and As. Prof. Dr. Kürsat Ertuğrul. It is now published as a book with

negligible changes. Even though this seems a sign of success, from its first proposal and

preparation to its defence, the reverse was valid. Firs of all, its two volumes having around

one thousand pages exceeded the size of the theses approved by the university before.

Even some professors, mainly in administrative positions, saw the format unacceptable. In

addition, its original theoretical plan was immediately criticized of being highly theoretical

and not having an empirical content and research by some jury members. For this reason,

as regards format and empirical content, a historical research about Turkish socialist

movement was inserted and articulated into the original plan that was only confined to the

Marxian theory.

The reader will easily see my attempts of articulating the Marxian theory to the context of

Turkey when dealing with the Socialist Journal Aydınlık.

Despite all difficulties, however, my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Okyayuz knew

what I wanted to do and always supported the study with critical thoughts and

contributions. I want to thank him for supporting me throughout the process of writing and

defending the thesis. This support did not only consist of providing me with valuable

scientific information and of establishing an atmosphere of free debate constituting the

basis of my argumentation, but also of trusting in me. Furthermore I always benefited his

intellectual sensitivity and scientific accurateness.

I also want to thank Professor Nalbantoğlu who did provide me a lot of valuable

information concerning the history of the Turkish Left. His critical statements contributed a

lot to the linkage of a theoretical topic with a (still ongoing) Turkish debate. Furthermore, I

want to thank Professor Yalman, Professor Yetis and Professor Ertuğrul who contributed

to my thesis with their critical supports. I would like to thank Metin Çulhaoğlu who read and

corrected the last draft of the thesis in a short time. I tried to benefit from his comments.

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Moreover, I have to thank Muzaffer Đlhan Erdost for valuable theoretical and personal

information and comments about the socialist movement of 1960s and 1970s.

However, completing such a hard work could be possible only with my wife Nesrin and her

son Özgür. The thesis required so much time, energy, love and passion that I could neither

attempt at writing nor completing it without Nesrin and Özgür. I want to dedicate the thesis

to them for their intelligence, goodness and above all, their presence. Wilhelm Reich said,

knowledge, love and labour are the three sources of life. I have had much of them.

I want to thank a medical doctor, Mustafa Güven, who supported this thesis with his

medical help. Also Eray and Oğuz Tırpanlı, I thank you so much for your support.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents, my brother and sister for their all kind

of support during my education period.

Finally, I want to thank Barthlemy Chaton from VDM Publishing House Ltd. for his kind

help for the process of review and publication.

Despite all contributions mentioned above, all possible shortcomings and drawbacks in the

book belong to me.

Dr. Ercan Gündoğan

March 2009

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER

1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………… . ... ..... .9

1.1. The Context of the Study …………………..…………….… ……..9

1.2. The Purpose of the Study …………………….…………… … .….13

1.3. The Methodology………………….……………………… ….. … ….14

1.4. The Structure of the Study ……………………….………….… …15

1.5. From Marx to the Turkish Marxist Movement ………….…… …23

1.6. The Socialist Journal ‘Aydınlık’………………………….… .… …26

2. CLASS AND CAPITALIST SOCIETY IN MARX…………… ….… 32

2.1. Early Development of Class conception in Marx………… .…… 32

2.2. Classes of modern society, trinity of land labour capital.

Dialectical Development of inner contradictions of capital … … .60

2.2.1. An Introduction to Capital …………………..……… ………. 60

2.2.2. Capital…….……………………..….....…. ……… … ……67

3. ENTRY OF CAPITAL INTO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

AND THE DEBATE ON THE MODES OF PRODUCTION IN

THE AYDINLIK …………………… …………….…….…….……..… 184

3.1. Subordination of Agricultural Production into Capital

Ground-Rent …………………………………………. .…… ….…184

3.2. Dissolution of central military feudalism, and

the comprador alliance…………..………………………… …. ...…212

3.3. Rejecting the idea of Primitive Capitalism …….………… ………259

3.4. Dominant Classes in the TWP Program………………… … 264

4. REVOLUTIONARY STAGES AND STRATEGY………..… ……… …271

4.1. Background of the Revolutionary Thought in Marx…… …… …272

4.2. The Stages of the French bourgeois revolution,

1789 to 1871…………………………………………… … ….….314

4.2.1. “The Civil War in France”: The revolution completed… . 320

4.3. The Stages of Revolution in Turkey………..….………… …….…333

4.3.1. The National Liberation Struggle………..…………… ……333

4.3.2. “The Kemalist Reforms Period”……..………….…… …….336

4.3.3. Anti-Kemalist Counter-Revolution of

dominant classes…………………………………… …… … 345

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4.4. 27 May Movement…………………..………………...… …………354

4.5. The National Democratic Revolution………..…………… ………356

4.6. The Permanent Revolution in Marx………………….…… ………369

4.7. Mao’s Revolutionary Strategy for Backward Countries…..… ….371

4.8. WPT and the National Democratic Revolution…………..… ……378

4.9. Military Warning against “Marxist-Leninist” uprising……… ….…390

5. REVOLUTIONARY CLASSES AND POSSIBILITIES………… …….406

5.1. (National) bourgeoisie and Revolutionary possibilities…… ……407

5.1.1. The Genesis of the Industrial Capitalist in Marx….… ……418

5.1.2. Individual, class and Bourgeois-civil society ………….. …420

5.1.3. Purpose of Capitalist Production and the Capitalist… …..439

5.1.4. Merchant’s Capital: Old and Modern……………..… ….…453

5.1.5. From usury to modern banking……………………….… …467

5.1.6. Capitalist as personification of capital ………………....… 480

5.1.7. A Marxian interpretation of

cultural-spatial identifications………………………… ….…484

5.2. PETTY BOURGEOISIE: AS AN INTERMEDIARY CLASS…. …490

5.2.1. Political fall of the petty bourgeoisie after 1848 June… ....504

5.2.2. The “Middle Classes” in WPT program………………. …..510

5.2.3. The Kemalist Army…………………………..………… ……513

5.2.4. The Relative Autonomy of the state

and bureaucracy…………………………..…………. ....…..513

5.3. PROLETARIAT…………………………………….……….… ……521

5.3.1. Struggle for a Normal Working Day…………….…… ….…522

5.3.2. Uncompleted Proletarian Revolution:

1848 February……………………………………….… …… 531

5.3.3. The Working Class in WPT program ……..………… ....…540

5.3.4. Trade Unions: RTUCT and TUCT………………....… ……551

5.3.5. Worker Resistance in June 70:

A Sign of Maturation…………………………………… ……572

5.3.6. Objective existence of the proletariat, the leadership… …575

5.4. PEASANTRY: AS AN INTERMEDIARY CLASS ………....... .. 578

5.4.1. “The Foundational Moving Force” ………….………. . …579

5.4.2. Primitive Accumulation and Peasant …………. ……. .....580

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