Oyunu meşrulaştırmak: İstanbul'da at yarışı bahisçileri ve kimlik inşası üzerine sosyolojik bir çalışma

This thesis examines how horse race bettors in Istanbul reinterpret the concept of play to legitimise their betting practices in the face of social stigma. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Huizinga, Caillois, Turner, Berger & Luckmann, and Bourdieu, betting is approached as a socially and culturally constructed form of play in which knowledge, chance, identity, and emotions are deeply intertwined. The study adopts a qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation conducted across four betting shops in different districts of Istanbul. The data were analysed through thematic and discourse analysis. The findings reveal that participants adopt alternative identities such as "player" or "horse enthusiast" to distance themselves from the stigmatised label of "gambler" Betting venues are shown to function as spaces that generate social ties, performative rituals, and symbolic capital. By exploring how culturally embedded leisure practices are shaped by moral economics, institutional frameworks, and everyday interactions in the Turkish context, this study contributes to the sociology of play and gambling.