This thesis has the following purpose: to demonstrate that the practice of urbanagriculture in the Yedikule market gardens in Istanbul is a resistance practice. Theethnographic part of the present study was conducted in the market gardens (inTurkish, bostan) at Yedikule, a historic district of Istanbul.This thesis examines urban agriculture as a resistance practice in the light ofthe concept of sustainability. Its major claim is that by virtue of the fact that itprovides environmental, social and economic sustainability and food security both atneighborhood level and at town level, the practice of urban agriculture in the YedikuleBostans – which is a local production and consumption system – constitutes resistanceto the unsustainable industrial agricultural system. Secondly, I will claim that theYedikule Bostans have the potential to contribute to the sustainable development ofthe city of Istanbul. Thirdly, I will argue that the struggle to protect the remainingmarket gardens at Yedikule from destruction, and to reinstate those that have beendestroyed, also constitutes an act of resistance. Fourthly, I will describe the variousbarriers which militate against the environmental, social and economic sustainabilityof the Yedikule Bostans, and I will argue that it is the Turkish state's neoliberalpolicies– of which the 'urban transformation' project responsible for the marketgardens' ongoing destruction forms a part – that constitute the major barrier to thesustainability of the Yedikule Bostans.In conclusion, the thesis claims that the campaign to protect these marketgardens should focus on their contribution to environmental, social and economicsustainability, and on the issue of food security. In this way, it hopes to be a source ofmotivation for the continuance of the struggle to protect the Yedikule Bostans.

Bu tez sürdürülebilirlik konseptinin ışığında kentsel tarımı bir direniş pratiği olarak inceler. Ana iddiası şudur; Yedikule Bostanları - bir yerel üretim ve tüketim sistemi olarak- hem yerel bazda hem kent bazında çevresel, sosyal ve ekonomik sürdürülebilirlik ve gıda güvenliği sağlayarak sürdürülebilir olmayan endüstriyel tarım sistemine karşı bir direniş oluşturur.

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