Abstract

Based on fieldwork between August and December 2019 in Istanbul, media analysis, and historical research, this thesis explores the tension between the materiality and immateriality of infrastructures. Its case is Kanal Istanbul and its impact on Durusu village. As Kanal Istanbul has been in the works for more than ten years and is still not actualized, it has engendered a speculative moment that presents a rich ground to observe how imagination and speculation come into play when thinking of this infrastructural tension. How is the emerging future that is contingent on Kanal Istanbul negotiated by the people living in Durusu, the government, and the groups resisting the construction of the canal? I will argue that even in the material absence of Kanal Istanbul, it has significant impact as a speculative imaginary. It evokes a wide range of competing affects that are embedded in the inextricably interlinked in/visibilities of multiple infrastructures and speak to the politics of future building.