American Developmental Thought in Turkey During the Cold War

A talk with Begüm Adalet.

This talk proposes that we consider modernization theory as a transnational practice, one that was not simply developed by American intellectuals, but was instead produced through specific and often uncertain encounters across multiple sites of contestation. As one of the first beneficiaries of Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan funds, Turkey was an important venue in which postwar developmental thought and practice were tested and prefigured. American funds and expertise enabled agricultural mechanization, social scientific research, and the extension of roads and hotels across the country over the years. These material and social transformations captured the imagination of American social scientists, such as Dankwart Rustow and Daniel Lerner, as they grappled with problems of development.

Part of the Ottoman Studies Lecture Series.

From the Hagop Kevorkian Center.