The Role of the State in the Commodification of Agriculture: Agriculture in Turkey

Abstract

The nature-dependent structure of agricultural production makes the turnover period of capital uncertain and agricultural production a risky field. Compared to industrial production, agricultural production is viewed as relatively more challenging to be governed. Due to this uncertain characteristic of agricultural production and labor processes, capitalism, instead of dispossessing the entire peasant population, has tended to strengthen their relations with capital. As peasants enter into capitalist production relations, they more rely on capital and capitalist exchange relations, which transform them into small commodity producers, thus subordinating them to the general conditions of capitalist production. The commodification of agricultural products requires the existence of markets where they can be bought and sold. However, market development and growth can take time and sometimes proceed slowly. This is where state intervention can come into play. Therefore, the aim of this study is to reveal the role of the state in the commodification of agricultural production in Turkey. In this context, drawing on a Marxist political economy perspective, this study historically focuses on from the early periods of the foundation of the Republic to the contemporary times, making connections with the late Ottoman period. During the period of statist policies, the state intervened in the agricultural sector, subsidized input prices, pursued policies to support agricultural production and provided various aids to farmers, substantially contributing to large-scaled farming. However, concrete developments in this period, such as the expansion of agricultural land and the increase in the use of tractors and fertilizers, added to the state's efforts to the commodification of agricultural production. Therefore, in the process of commodification of agricultural production, especially small-scaled farming has become more vulnerable to serious cost increases and income fluctuations with the withdrawal of the state from the input-output market in the neoliberal times. Large-scaled farming, on the other hand, has been able to protect themselves from the adverse impacts created by the neoliberal period. This study contributes to the debate on state-implemented agricultural policies in the literature from the perspective of the state-capital relationship. This study has highlighted that although the agricultural policies have changed from state-oriented ones to neoliberal ones over time, the significant roles of state in development of commodity-market relations still persists. Although statist policies seem to modernize agriculture in the short term and help small-scaled farming to meet the standards of modern agriculture in this process, it is seen that the state actually serves the interests of the capitalist class in both the short and long term. Although the role of statist and neoliberal policies in the commodification of agriculture are perceived as conflictual, they are rather complementary. Both policies have contributed to the integration of agriculture to capitalist market and strengthening commodity-market relations over time.