Reclaiming the Empire :|environment, marshes, and hydraulic engineering in the late Ottoman period

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the transformation of the environment and the tensions and contestations to which this transformation led among various social actors in the Ottoman Empire. It focuses on attempts to reclaim marshes and other wetland regions such as lakes and rivers in different parts of the empire in the late Ottoman period. According to this dissertation, reclamation projects, which sought to turn uncultivated wetlands into agricultural lands, were part of a new concept of development that attributed the survival of the empire and the prosperity of the population to the growth of public works and a rise in agricultural production and commercial activity. They were related to an Ottoman modernity project in which the Ottoman government sought to establish authority over its territories, population, resources, economy, lands, and environment. Reclamation attempts were initially state-led projects, but in time because of the 1inancial problems of the Ottoman state, they became pro1itable private enterprises over which entrepreneurs competed. These projects not only transformed the environment and ecology but also caused the disappearance of some means of subsistence for the local population such as 1ishery. Thus, they created winners and losers in society, leading to social tensions among various relevant actors. This dissertation problematizes the late Ottoman period by focusing on these tensions and struggles over the environment.