Affective economies of Beyoglu in Istanbul: The construction of ‘Disgust’ and ‘Fear’ in neoliberalization of nightlife

• Published in: Emotion, space and society space and society, 2017-05, Vol.23, p.1-8
• Main Author: Ural, Haktan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Affect; Istanbul; Neoliberalization; Nightlife economy; Subject positions
• ISSN: 1755-4586; 1878-0040
• DOI: 10.1016/j.emospa.2017.02.003

This study contributes to understanding neoliberalism in Beyoglu, by examining how neoliberal discourses create and circulate normative meanings in nightlife. I suggest that neoliberal discourses and practices inform a value structure in everyday life which identifies subject positions in terms of affiliation and marginalization in Beyoglu's nightlife scene, based on the affective economies of Beyoglu. Affiliation/marginalization distil through moments of contact, imbued with various affective dispositions. I argue that spaces of affiliation shape and are shaped by the affective dispositions of (middle-)classed night-time euphoria. Conforming to norms of desirability, attractiveness and safety, they present a cultural and economic model attuned to neoliberal rationalities. Two dominant stereotypes of ‘undesirability’ emerge in affective terms: (i) those of ‘ineligible’ dispositions which produce emotions of ‘disgust’, and (ii) those of ‘fearful’ bodies constantly moving across the night-time leisure places of Beyoglu. By examining the relationship between neoliberalism and affective economies in Beyoglu's nightlife, this study contributes to research on night-time leisure places, providing insight into linkages between emotional subjectivities and rational thinking. •Emotional experiences act upon rational subjectivities that vocalize neoliberal discourses.•Affective dispositions invoke distinctions on the basis of gender, class, sexuality and ethnicity.•These dispositions also reflect upon discourses of marginalization in neoliberal rationalities.•Marginalization of certain bodies and practices are based on the affective registers of ‘disgust’ or ‘fear’.