The suburbanization of rural life in an arid and rocky village in western Turkey

In this longitudinal and qualitative study of rural life in western Turkey, I argue that ecological conditions, state policies, and villagers' agency play a significant role in the suburbanization of villages. This paper traces the history of how villagers in the Yuntdağ north of Manisa, an arid and rocky region, used nomadic heritage and Islamic culture as economic resources. I argue that villagers have gone from being cultural heritage entrepreneurs to wage laborers, incorporating and identifying with the ethno-national identity of the nation while adjusting their lives to the state. In so doing and with the bureaucratic redefinition of the villages in the region as urban neighborhoods, the meaning and definition of rural life gradually is erased. Based on over fifteen years of ethnographic fieldwork, 2000-2015, this paper considers the suburbanization of rural life and the highly gendered economic decisions villagers make.