This paper suggests a theoretical framework aimed at integrating institutional theory with social networks and cognitive frames to understand the rise of “Anatolian capital”: The new, supposedly Muslim generation of industrial districts and elites in central and south-eastern Anatolia which play a central role in local economies and constitute the major socio-economic constituency of the JDP (Justice and Development Party). Investigating the ways in which Anatolian business networks provide resources for their members and allow for the development of solidarity and interests will further our limited understanding of how business groups operate; that is, in an environment of economic uncertainty as well as strong and intransparent state institutions. Such contextually-specific research on how state and non-state actors interact across institutions can reveal the mechanisms that produce unique economic trajectories among places. An analysis of these processes will also shed light on the micro-foundations of institutional change and the role of values in a Muslim and secular emerging market. Closed networks based on common values are assumed to function as an engine of trust-creation among fragmented economic actors. Membership in formal and informal associations of an economic, political or civic kind facilitate the exchange of resources and information, thereby empowering their respective constituencies. Finally, the author proposes a research design aimed at exploring the mechanisms of this framework by comparing matched company clusters in the textiles manufacturing industry in Gaziantep and Kayseri.
