Ruins, Space, and Catastrophe: Socio-Environmental Dynamics of the 2023 Earthquakes in Antioch, Turkey

The vulnerability and resilience paradigms in disaster studies literature provide a framework for understanding the root causes of disasters. These paradigms highlight the necessity of examining the social dynamics involved in such events. However, increasing occurrences of wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and other ecological catastrophes are often viewed through techno-managerial lenses. A critical approach necessitates questioning terms like “vulnerability” and “resilience” by addressing the unequal power relations, spatial conflicts, and the politics of socio-ecological destruction. This study focuses on the 2023 earthquakes in Turkey. When these earthquakes struck southern Turkey, over 50,000 lives were lost, and millions were deeply affected. The city of Antioch-Hatay, bordering Syria, was the worst-hit province. Antakya (Antioch), an ancient city known for its significant socio-cultural contributions to Christianity and Judaism, became a "center of paralysis" following the earthquake, due to inadequate disaster response. This situation sparked local, national, and transnational solidarity practices, including aid initiatives and the emergence of self-organized collective kitchens in response to the crisis. Such events fundamentally alter everyday life, disrupting routines and rhythms. The processes of disaster recovery and reconstruction reweave the fabric of life, leading to new social compositions. In this context, the reconstruction process in Turkey has introduced a new “dispossession” law, resulting in mass housing projects that have led to the destruction of olive groves. In dialogue with the urban political ecology framework, this study aims to illuminate the multifaceted political dynamics of disasters and contribute to critical scholarship that conceptualizes disasters as social constructs.