NEOIstanbuLIBERAL: A City of Capital or a City of Culture?

Resumen

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate how Istanbul is articulated to neoliberal globalisation through cultural events. Of special significance is the emphasis to be placed on this fact recurring once again, as it is in several cities in the U.S. and Europe, in a diversified context in İstanbul. While urban culture is determined as the major marketing instrument to make the city a point of attraction, urban place is commodified via urban culture marketing. One of the arguments of this study is that there exists a direct nexus between Istanbul becoming another global station of capital flows, and that the middle-class choosing this city as “a city to live”. Given that one of the criteria for a city to be “a city to live” for the middle-class is the cultural life in the city, mega cultural events in Istanbul are essential. This phenomenon is fed by a couple of concepts (or rhetoric) such as “creative cities”, “creative classes”, “creative industries” and is being propagated through the media.

In this context, recent international cultural events organised in İstanbul are going to be evaluated in the study. The data set consists of “official information” provided by the organisers of these events and how they are represented in the media. Findings which are going to be intersected on an interdisciplinary hub of urban sociology/cultural sociology/communication studies, are going to be ascertained from a critical point of view.