Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
SIYASAL-JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCES, cilt.29, sa.2, ss.247-269, 2020 (ESCI)
Monopolies were used by states and ruling classes in shaping economy and politics since the emergence of the first states. The Ottoman rulers and the Republican bureaucrats also applied to monopolies extensively. Whereas monopolies mostly funded the Ottoman sultans' treasuries, in the twentieth century the Young Turks started to use them to protect domestic producers and finance modernization projects. Although, these aspects have been examined in depth, social resistance to monopolies has been examined only in the Ottoman context. However, people's response to the Republican-era monopolies has barely been studied. This article, drawing on archival evidence and newspaper reports, examines the responses of consumers, producers and traders to monopolies in the form of smuggling in the early Republican era. It argues that most of what was called smuggling could actually be considered to be means of economic survival in the form of people's long-term practices against the restrictions on production and trade and against the high prices of monopoly goods. It shows that smuggling restricted the state's extractive capacity and forced the rulers to soften the restrictions and decrease the high taxes and prices. In this regard, this article argues that smuggling had a social aspect that increased the bargaining power of people.