The elite professional class in Kayseri: a preliminary interpretation

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the formation and nature of the elite professional class in Kayseri, a newly emergent upper class group triggered by industrialization and urbanization of educated, occupational elites who earn high incomes in manufacturing, construction, and financing sectors. Specifically, this study seeks to 1) examine the question of how the economic development in Kayseri has shaped the elite professional class, exploring the underlying mechanisms which have helped form them, and 2) analyze the classed characteristics of the elite professionals in contemporary Kayseri. This study deals with the issues presented above, focusing on the period from 1980 to 2013. I assert that the elite professionals occupied in private sectors in Kayseri have created a homogenous class identity in which individuals form a set of lifestyle, taste, and political outlooks. So as to prove this proposal, I will firstly discuss the theoretical approaches to the elite professional class, and then theorize Kayseri in accordance with my framework of study. Finally, I will prove my stand as my qualitative study in Kayseri reveals classed identities of individuals belonging to the elite professional class.