State management of industrialization and social engineering in the early Turkish republic: the case of Sümerbank and its textile plants

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to illustrate the developmental and modernizational state management policies in the early Turkish Republic in the 1930s through the establishment of state-owned cotton textile factories in underdeveloped regions of the country. It analyzes the state’s industrial-cum-social engineering policies and their micro-level role in Turkish economic development. Design/methodology/approach To illustrate the government’s role in regional industrialization and modernization, this study uses an in-depth case analysis conducted in a sample of textile plants based on a microhistorical approach. Findings Turkey is considered among late developing countries. Following the War of Independence at the beginning of the 20th century, the new government focused on regional industrialization and social transformation through state-owned universal banks[1] acting as state agents of industrialization and modernization. Primary among them, Sümerbank constructed industrial plants in underdeveloped towns which subsequently became the nuclei of growing industrial centers of private enterprise. Sümerbank plants were also micro-level tools of westernization-based modernization of the society under the social engineering objectives of the new government. Originality/value This study uses a specific industrial policy measure (establishment of industrial plants) in explaining the state’s role in industrialization, regional development and social engineering. It sheds new light on the literature on state-led industrial-cum-modernization policies during earlier phases of economic development. It contributes to the international literature on the history of state management of economic and social development.