Değişmeye irade, toprağa erişim: Türkiye'nin çay üretiminde kalkınma

This thesis studies the development of Turkey's tea production in its 100 years of history. The thesis focuses on the social, political, and economic changes created by the tea development project, which was initiated by the state, by examining the political actors, local and national dynamics in the process of its cultivation. Written from a historical perspective, the thesis offers an alternative approach to official history via oral history interviews with tea producers conducted during the field study in addition to using archival and parliamentary documents, providing a more comprehensive and grounded account of the history of tea cultivation in the region. As a reflexive sociological study using qualitative research methods, this thesis employs ethnographic research methods extensively, including participant observation, in-depth interviews, and oral history interviews with 46 individuals over a six-month fieldwork period. The thesis, which reveals the crises created by the tea development project in the rural areas of Eastern Black Sea and the changes in the lives of producers, discusses the development project from the perspectives of rural life and gender, and critically examines the concept of development itself. The thesis analyzes the developmentalist front of the state in Turkey through the unique development story of the Eastern Black Sea Region. The research studies tea production chronologically and looks at the relationships of land, labor, and tea created between the people and the state in the region.