In Pursuit of Green Democracy? Assessing the Local Opposition Against Geothermal Power Plants in Turkey

Many scholarly works promote green or environmental state as an alternative to liberal democratic state as part of an effort to address the novel challenges posed by the ecological crisis. Advocates of the concept paradigm view policies incentivizing a transition to the renewable energy sources to be among the essential aspects of greening of the state. On the other hand, the manner in which renewable energy projects are implemented in some contexts does not seem to live up to the participatory, transparent, and cosmopolitan promises of the environmental state ideal. Instead, the counter arguments presented by the environmental movements against these infrastructures appear to better embrace tenets of a greener democracy, and ecological citizenship. This paper will focus on the environmental movement against geothermal power plants (GPPs) in Turkey’s Aydin province. Being among the leading countries throughout the world by means of installed capacity of GPPs, the Turkish state’s ambitions in further geothermal development within a relatively narrow agrarian landscape have sparked protests. Based on a case study including in-depth interviews with different stakeholders, and a variety of secondary sources, this paper will analyze the discourses adopted by the opponents of the GPPs. It will situate the demands and concerns of the local people regarding issues such as decision-making processes, GPP siting, environmental monitoring, and land rights within broader discussions regarding environmental justice, green state, and ecological citizenship.