ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION OF SYMBOLIC CAPITAL: INCOME, TITLES AND STATUS IN WESTERN ANATOLIA

Abstract

Buldan, as one of the few semi-urban and semi-rural areas of agricultural and industrial production, was one of the regions where weaving continued through personal ateliers in the midst of the 19th century. Although the profession of çulha (weaver) had been the main source of income for those of the household heads among all professions in the city center, agricultural and commercial people were also engaged in cotton production and trade. This article aims to analyze the social structure of Buldan, considering its social dynamics of production relations. One of the areas of the symbolic capital-based relationship between the actors of this complex production process was basically related to the positioning of personal statuses in the social structure. This positioning may be one of the final indicators of interpersonal power relations. Temettuat registers, in this perspective, provide information regarding the head of the household, including a very detailed information on agricultural production and professional structures, as well as information on social status through titles. The titles can be used for indicators of social status as one of the cursors of the symbolic capital that could be found in the temettuat registers. The extent to which the occupational structure, income and taxes changed according to the titles of the people was one of the best examples of the reflection of symbolic capital on economic relations. Because of this relationship, it could be considered that the symbolic power relations in the daily lives of personal actors are also shaped by titles through language. Therefore, the ultimate aim of this article is to discuss to what extent the economic relations between actors changed according to symbolic capital.