Bir girişimcilik olarak benlik: İstanbul?da uluslararası şirketlerde yeni orta sınıf öznelliklerinin üretimi

This thesis examines how the subjectivities of white collar members of the new middle classes in Istanbul, Turkey?s globalizing city, are produced in particular ways in the spheres of education, work and consumption under the sway of neoliberalism, conceptualized as a form of govermentality that provides a particular mentality or manner of doing things. Based on qualitative fieldwork during which I interviewed 24 white collar employees working in the Istanbul branches of multinational companies, I argue that, through the process of subjectivation, white collar members of the new middle class are turned into subjects of neoliberalism and ?enterprising selves? who are rational, competitive, autonomous, calculating and responsible individuals, and who need to continuously improve themselves. The subjectivities of these highly educated, productive selves in neoliberal work environments are shaped through the extension of the economy, based on market rationality, knowledge and calculation, into society where the social comes to be understood in economic terms. In the thesis, I emphasize that this subjectivity formation is never a smooth process, and hence, neoliberal subjects are actually fragile subjects whose reproduction of themselves is possible through certain costs. One of these costs is the prevalence of a cynical attitude among many white collar workers as there exists a distance between their critical consciousness and practices. Another finding of this study is that many of the informants are marked with anxieties and insecurities. As a conclusion, this thesis demonstrates that the formation of new middle class subjectivities is productive for global capitalism, it preempts social ideals such as collective action and solidarity among employees and contributes to the effacement of the public vis-à-vis an ever-expanding, isolated and exclusionary private.