Development of environmental movements in Turkey: Hepp (Hydroelectric power plant) opposing environmental movement in Eastern Black Sea

Environmental movements are one of the long-lasting new social movements of 1960s. Underlying reasons behind the formation and development of environmental movements differ. Environmental problems have been brought to agenda of Turkey in 1970s and a number of environmental struggles have taken place until today. Within the scope of this study, struggles against Hydroelectric Power Plants (HEPP), which has developed rapidly in the Eastern Black Sea Region and has been brought to the agenda of our country, are discussed. In this study, it is aimed to reveal the reasons why people participate in the environmental movement against HEPP in the Eastern Black Sea Region. The method of phenomenological research was used to reveal the world of meaning of the people participating in the struggles. Within the scope of the study, the classifications made to explain the development of the environmental movement in Turkey and in the world are discussed. In order to determine the reasons for the participation of the people involved in the struggles, the people involved in the struggles in Rize and Artvin were interviewed. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with ten women and twenty-three men in 2019. Environmental movements against HEPP in the Eastern Black Sea Region have been evaluated within the framework of the classifications made to explain the underlying reasons for the emergence of environmental movements in the literature. As a result of the interviews conducted in the field study, it is concluded that the reasons why participants participate in the struggle cannot be explained according to post-materialistic values. Besides, it has been concluded that participants are NIMBY (Not in my backyard) based, and their involvement in the process can be explained with reference to environmentalism of the malcontent and partly with the environmentalism of the poor and deep ecology approaches. Key Words: Environmental Movements, Environmentalism of the Poor, Environmentalism of Malcontent, The Struggle Against HEPP, Eastern Black Sea Region