Batuman, B: The Politics of Public Space

Analyzing the social history of K z lay Square in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, this book investigates the relation between public space and politics. Drawing on the work of Henri Lefebvre, Batuman argues that the political participation of the social groups in public sphere becomes possible only through spatial appropriation. Yet, the social production of public space is always mediated by the rules and regulations dictated to the space by the power of the state and the economic influence of capital. The clash between the forces of domination (of the state and capital) and appropriation (of marginal groups seeking participation) produce the public space through a constant struggle for hegemony. The book investigates this process through the particular case of the making of Ankara into the capital of the newly born Turkish Republic. The social history of K z lay Square throughout the 20th century presents a spatial history of the public sphere as a terrain of hegemonic struggle complementing a top-down modernization process.