Critical Ecological Medical Anthropology of Rural Transformation in Izmir-Ali̇ağa-Horozgedi̇ği̇ Village
Gözde Dalan Polatİzmir-Aliağa-Horozgediği Köyü’nde Kırsal Dönüşümün Eleştirel Ekolojik Sağlık Antropolojisi
Gözde Dalan PolatAccording to the Planned Development Principle of the 1961 Constitution, Aliaga was declared a heavy industrial zone and Horozgediği Village found itself surrounded by industry. The villagers have started to work in transportation and the village itself has undergone a rural transformation in this context. Health migration is now taking place in the village due to the heavy air pollution and the diseases and health problems considered to be related to this that came about following the transformation of agricultural areas into industrial sites after the 1970’s. The air pollution caused by the industry has disrupted the whole ecological balance of the village. All living creatures from vegetation to animals have become sick and cancer has started to be frequently mentioned in the village (Sofuoğlu, Baytak, Bayram, Müezzinoğlu, Odabaşı, Seyfioğlu, Elbirve Tuncel, 2008). These frequently experienced health problems in the village, have caused households to migrate slowly over time. The problems created by this rural transformation have been interpreted through the works of social scientists such as Zerzan (2009), Güvenç (2016, 2010, 2008), Latour (2008), Beck (2011), which are considered to be covered by critical ecological medical anthropology (Young, 2002). Critical ecological medical anthropology critically approaches the effects of unplanned development projects on the environment and human health made by multinational companies for high profits in the name of “development” (Young, 2002).
Zerzan (2009) emphasizes that multinational corporations take shelter behind the discourses of development and sustainable economy, where, in fact, they are only interested in their profit margins. Progress in the name of development is an ecological disaster, and the individual is almost completely dehumanized.
Bozkurt Güvenç (2016, 2010, 2008), in parallel with Zerzan, has critically approached the policies of 1970s that viewed economic growth as the driving force of social development or development through the concepts of economic growth progress and development.
Bruno Latour (2008) under the title of ‘1989: The year of miracles’ in his book We Have Never Been Modern states that these first conferences on the global situation held in Paris, London and Amsterdam, are not consensual; he emphasizes that the victory belongs to the multinational companies that dominate nature and states that these companies pretend to be protecting the nature but do nothing and he also draws attention to environmental and human massacres.
Ulrick Beck (2011) stated that the environmental problems created by these multinational corporations have a boomerang effect which put the whole ecology at risk.
Fieldwork was conducted in April and August, in two periods for two years in Horozgediği village between 2015 and 2018. The area was first investigated in detail by Bahadır Doğutürk, spokesperson and founder of the Foça Environment and Culture Platform. All the factories surrounding the village and the places where these factories dump their waste were examined on site. The same area was visited on site by other platform members, journalists, peasants, and individually and unstructured in-depth interviews were conducted, either individually or as group interviews. In-depth interviews were carried out - sometimes in the old stone walled coffee house in the village, sometimes in the gardens of the participants, and sometimes in the houses as face-to-face interviews.
The interviews were conducted with people who had migrated from the village but still continue to work in the factories in the village, retired people who had to leave their furnished homes and move elsewhere because of the air pollution and one retired person who had to move back to his house in the village because he could not afford the rent in the city.
In-depth interviews were conducted on health issues related to air pollution with three public health doctors who had previously worked in the region.
The villages of Ilıpınar and Kozbeyli, which are located in the vicinity of Horozgediği Village and near the slag mountain, were visited and interviews were conducted. Written documents, documents, statistics, previous EIA meeting minutes, reports about the region, documentaries, and photographs were collected and documentary observations were made. These documents were used to the extent permitted by the ethical rules.
The intensive air pollution in the village has left the whole ecology and people facing many diseases such as respiratory tract diseases and cancer. Due to this air pollution, the possibility of developing lower and upper respiratory tract diseases and lung cancer in the local population is increasing and even the products grown in fruit and vegetable gardens carry the risk of disease (Eroğlu & Bozyiğit, 2015: 190).
People living here, nature and the environment are struggling under these unhealthy conditions. People who have the means, migrate from the village in order not to get sick and those who do not have the means desperately seek hope. Therefore, the village has turned into a truckers’ village. However, as the factories could not provide them with the business they hoped, the villagers became even more poor.
The findings were evaluated by discourse analysis. The findings obtained from the study were discussed under the titles of “Like Hell: Air Pollution and Its Effects on Health”, “Health Migration: Karanfil Street” and “From Bağ-Bahçe to Industry from Farming to Nakliyecilik”. As a result, people in this region, which was expected to become economically developed, have become more impoverished and their health has been adversely affected.
