Türkiye'de gelişmekte olan "yeni nesil" gıda inisiyatiflerinin yeni doğan gıda egemenliği mücadelesindeki ilerleyişi

This thesis examines the urban collective ecological food initiatives that have been increasing in number with considerable momentum in the last three years. It is based on fieldwork of one and a half years that consists of participant observation and in-depth interviews with prosumers and producers/producer organizations in the network of these initiatives. This research focuses on "new-generation" consumer food cooperatives and identifies their differences from other alternatives as follows: 1) the alternative and ecological production, consumption, and distribution relations of food they attempt to develop, 2) the horizontal and participatory organizational models they try to build. It indicates their concrete transformative practices and direct trust-based relations with small farmers and producer organizations. This dissertation suggests that they have potential to bring positive outcomes for food sovereignty in today's pressuring corporate food regime, if they expand cooperation with various actors to impact on the state's agri-food policies. Their consideration of food and seeds as comprising of socio-economic, ecological, and political relations and their definition of healthy food as a necessity for all, build their commoning politics of food, which also contribute to the opening of an alternative public space for citizens to engage in the emerging struggle of food sovereignty in Turkey. This study also examines alternative municipal agri-food projects. It suggests that local governments also have potential for contributing to alternative agri-food relations if they support ecological production and solidarity for diverse actors, including prosumer initiatives, in the organization of production, distribution, and consumption of food with a food sovereignty perspective.