SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Our argument in this chapter is that the historically shifting complexities of public banks in general, and Turkey’s in particular, are best understood from a social content point of view. We start with a brief historical summary of public banking, followed by a discussion of three competing theoretical models for understanding bank ownership. We opt for what we call a social content perspective and illustrate why we think this helps to overcome otherwise static and polarized approaches to banking. We then turn to the case of Turkey to interpret the evolving class-based and sometimes contradictory functions of public banks in concrete terms. Although problematic, we nevertheless point to the potentiality of public banking as an alternative to neoliberal financing norms and highlight possible ways to enhance their ‘public’ character.