Negotiating the Night: Creative Class in a Post-Secular Mahalle, The Case of Balat

Abstract

The ongoing urban transformation projects in Istanbul have resulted in gentrification. The fast-paced transformation impacts everyday life whilst changing neighbourhoods. Balat, as one of the oldest mahalles in Istanbul, has been transforming under the influence of culture-led gentrification and has gradually become a popular spot for the creative class. Substantial literature on Istanbul informs us that in some areas night-life and the consumption of alcohol create a tension amongst the locals and the newcomers. Balat’s religious majority aligns well with the government’s conservative, post-secular values. This can appear in the forms of de-secularising businesses, choosing not to serve alcohol and avoiding night-time activity altogether. In other words, the form of consumption that is tolerated in Balat cannot be thought outside of Islam. The methods employed in the study of these night negotiations and the impact of post-secularism in Balat consisted of observation conducted over 3 months as part of a micro-ethnography work undertaken during a PhD fieldwork. This paper will expand thinking about the parallel lives between the creative class and the locals in Balat where the night is being actively negotiated and the sense of belonging and community is being reconfigured by gentrification and post-secularism.