This paper is a subjective review of the book on political science named Social cash transfer in Turkey: Toward market citizenship, written by the representative of Istanbul University, Ceren Ark-Yildirim, in collaboration with French researcher Mark Smyrl. The book focuses on social and economic citizenship, asking whether the citizenship’s definition grounded on the fundamental equality of membership can be advanced by various policies and regulations centered on the market, including social cash transfer. The book is relevant as it was only published a year ago, in May of 2021, and the authors believe that contemporary Turkey represents the perfect setting for investigating the question of their interest. Concluding their investigation and analytical work, the book’s authors emphasize that they cannot come to a definitive result regarding the impact of cash transfer as a social assistance instrument. The book is written by credible authors but contains much unreliable evidence and explores the issue in a generalized manner, which is probably why the researchers could not come to definitive conclusions.
Book Review: Analysis
First, it is essential to mention that both authors seem credible as they are university scientists working at the faculties corresponding to the book’s topic. Ark-Yildirim represents the department of political sciences and public administration at Istanbul University, and Smyrl works in the faculty of law and political science at the University of Montpellier (Ark-Yildirim & Smyrl, 2021). In addition, the book’s creators utilized assistance from the French National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) and several partners from the same scientific field who have given their comments on Arc-Yildirim and Smyrl’s writing. As per the mentioned facts, it can be assumed that the knowledge and conclusions presented in the book come from a credible source, and readers can trust the writing.
The book’s primary claim is related to several specific questions regarding social assistance. The authors make two highly significant statements: first, a broader shared understanding premise of the existence of supportive economic policies; second, that level of understanding can only be achieved through analyzing the situation specifically as to time and place (Ark-Yildirim & Smyrl, 2021). The issue is relevant and actively researched nowadays as many modern scientists explore the role of cash transfer as a social assistance instrument in poverty, social safety, and periods of crisis (Tekguc, 2018; Cetinoglu & Yilmaz, 2020; Kian et al., 2022). Following the analyses made within the writing, the researchers conclude that cash transfer projects depend on several crucial variables, such as human resources, financial capabilities, and the local knowledge capacity. Although these conclusions may seem vague as they do not give generalized and exhaustive answers to the questions asked, they actually emphasize the scope of the problem, illustrating its complexity.
Furthermore, the authors claim that their book is a continuation of a previously published work. They call it the pioneering work on the same subject created by Thomas Humphrey Marshall, but the writing is cited and referenced not in every chapter (Ark-Yildirim & Smyrl, 2021). That fact implies that the researchers extend the issue discussed by their predecessor but ground the investigation based on their knowledge and additional research. Additionally, Ark-Yildirim and Smyrl (2021) provide a different set of academic sources for each chapter of their work, meaning that multiple components of the problem under discussion have been thoroughly analyzed and evaluated, which highlights the amount of work done by the authors to conduct a well-evident and comprehensive study.
As for the methods of analysis, the book’s creators refer to several particular case studies associated with the issue. For example, they utilize social assistance programs that were put in place by the Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundation (SASF) district and the district municipality. The programs were designed for unconditional cash transfer and implemented locally (Ark-Yildirim & Smyrl, 2021). The usage of empirical evidence makes the authors’ statements more convincing, increasing the credibility of the writing.
Book Review: Evaluation
It appears that the authors succeeded in reaching their initial goal as they have managed to prove their thesis, suggesting that questions of social assistance and cash transfer must be viewed in the current settings in relation to a specific time and place. The authors are not biased in their judgment as they come from different countries, one of which is Turkey, which means the writing presents both inside and outside viewpoints on the problem. However, the researchers’ claim and the utilized evidence undermine the conviction aspect of the writing as they create a certain contradiction. Specifically, Ark-Yildirim and Smyrl (2021) aim to overview contemporary Turkey and analyze the problem in a time-related setting, but they utilize outdated evidence published in the 1980s and 1990s. Since the researchers have chosen to assess the issue on the actual level, it might be more reasonable to utilize the corresponding evidence, which is more relevant in the sense of time.
Additionally, the research results seem to be grounded on the generalized approach to the problem. Many political and economic aspects influence social policy, and viewing the issue in a more narrowed scope can lead to more definitive results. For example, Cuevas, Inan, Twose, and Celik (2019) and Yilmaz (2019) examine the role of cash transfer specifically in terms of providing assistance and protection to vulnerable refugees in Turkey to increase the overall welfare. The works by Bugra (2018) and Ozel and Parrado (2020) explore the relationship between social assistance programs, wealth, and inequality. Finally, several Turkish researchers examine the impact of social assistance, showing that it can serve both social and economic purposes, limiting and contributing to market expansion simultaneously (Bugra, 2020; Dorlach & Savaskan, 2018). All mentioned works provide definitive conclusions, meaning that specific answers to the questions under discussion exist, should they be viewed narrowly.
Conclusion
Social cash transfer in Turkey: Toward market citizenship is written by experts on the subject but relies on outdated evidence and does not provide definitive conclusions, which is probably the result of generalizing the research scope. Firstly, the writing’s authors aim to examine the issue in the contemporary setting but utilize many sources from the end of the twentieth century, which contradicts their initial goal. Secondly, the researchers attempt to explore cash transfer as an overall social assistance instrument without giving their work a specific target, which leads to the impossibility of reaching accurate results. Many scholarly writings preceding the work under discussion investigate the same subject but in a more narrowed setting, achieving definitive conclusions about the impact of cash transfer. The book’s authors, however, provide non-biased views on the topic and complement their research with empirical evidence. Overall, the writing appears credible and thorough, but choosing a different course for this investigation and narrowing its scope would probably help the authors to reach more accurate results, making the research more informative.
References
Ark-Yildirim, C., & Smyrl, M. (2021). Social cash transfer in Turkey: Toward market citizenship. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bugra, A. (2018). Social policy and different dimensions of inequality in Turkey: A historical overview. Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 20(4), 318-331. Web.
Bugra, A. (2020). Politics of social policy in a late industrializing country: The case of Turkey. Development and Change, 51(2), 442-462. Web.
Cetinoglu, T., & Yilmaz, V. (2020). A contextual policy analysis of a cash programme in a humanitarian setting: the case of the emergency social safety net in Turkey. Disasters, 45(3), 604-626. Web.
Cuevas, P. F., Inan, O. K., Twose, A., & Celik, C. (2019). Vulnerability and protection of refugees in Turkey: Findings from the rollout of the largest humanitarian cash assistance program in the world. World Bank. Web.
Dorlach, T., & Savaskan, O. (2018). The political economy of economic and social policy in contemporary Turkey: An introduction to the special issue. Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 20(4), 311-317. Web.
Kian, R., Erdoğan, G., de Leeuw, S., Salman, F. S., Sabet, E., Kara, B. Y., & Demir, M. H. (2022). Logistics planning of cash transfer to Syrian refugees in Turkey. European Journal of Operational Research, 296(3), 1007-1024. Web.
Ozel, I. D., & Parrado, S. (2020). Varieties of regulatory welfare regimes in middle-income countries: A comparative analysis of Brazil, Mexico, and Turkey. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 691(1), 223-242. Web.
Tekguc, H. (2018). Declining poverty and inequality in turkey: The effect of social assistance and home ownership. South European Society and Politics, 23(4), 547-570. Web.
Yilmaz, V. (2019). The emerging welfare mix for Syrian refugees in Turkey: The interplay between humanitarian assistance programmes and the Turkish welfare system. Journal of Social Policy, 48(4), 721-739. Web.