The capitalistic function of education-directed social responsibility projects in Turkey within the context of relationships between the private sector and NGOs

İlker C.Bıçakçı

Yıldız Technical University

[click here for print-friendly version]

Abstract

Similar to other underdeveloped countries, the Republic of Turkey is also faced with high levels of poverty and unemployment, and to ameliorate these problems the state has traditionally devoted much of its social welfare efforts towards improving health and education. Certain private sector corporations also recognize that to grow and advance their own organizations it is imperative that they too contribute to these welfare efforts. They are also cognizant of the fact that they have to preserve their prestige and win the sympathy of the society if they hope to preserve their economic lives. To this end many of these corporations are conducting social responsibility projects, generally doing so in collaboration with various non-governmental organizations (NGO's). The projects directed towards developing educational opportunities not only contribute-even if in a limited fashion—to social life, they also bring added value to the private sector and serve as corporate public relations work.

Keywords: Social Responsibility, Educational Policy, Private Sector, NGOs

---

Introduction

Over time the concept of the “social state” has turned into that of a “minimal state” as the state has relinquished much of its public resources to private organizations and institutions, thus creating a new world system. Not only has the state deserted its protectionist and inclusive stance of ownership of the public sphere, it has proven unable to satisfy basic human rights such as health or education, despite the fact that it continues to collect taxes for these functions.

In line with the growth of the ideology of globalization, the responsibilities accepted by the social state have continued to narrow. The minimal state has become exclusive rather than inclusive in terms of the public duties it accepts. State-provided health and education services are continually shrinking due to the lack of necessary funds. While this has led to enormous gaps of services being provided to the population, the resulting measures of privatization have opened the doors to new areas in which private companies can earn profits

In such a climate the concept of corporate social responsibility has become a trend that is attractive for a number of reasons, not all of which are necessarily altruistic.

The Concept of Social Responsibility

The word 'responsibility' is defined as a concept that has human attributions. According to the dictionary of Turkish Language Association, assuming responsibility occurs when “a person assumes the results of his own attitudes or any event that is under his province” (TDK Turkish Dictionary, 1988:1328). According to the Grolier Webster International Dictionary, 'responsibility is the state of being responsible; the capability of making ethical and moral decisions.' (Grolier Webster Dictionary, 1975:818). Ali Püsküllüoğlu, however defines responsibility as follows: “The state of giving account when necessary of the works one has to do or has to be done” (1994:955).

When we look at all of the three definitions given above, it can be understood that responsibility renders a person morally obliged for his actions. When we assess the concept on the corporate basis, the necessity of acting in conformity with the code of ethics arises. When the notion of business code is integrated with the term 'ethics,' it is understood that efforts are carried out in conformity with some specific criteria, standards and moral understanding in effect. For instance, when a government minister gets his son's company included into a public tender he has misused his authority or if a company knowingly jeopardizes the environment and human health during production it is in violation of today's ethical norms.

Liberal extremists hold that responsibility is a concept relating to a company's clients, those to which it is directly responsible. Milton Friedman (1970) claims that only people can have responsibilities; a corporation perceived as an artificial person can only have artificial responsibilities; however 'business' as a whole cannot be said to have responsibilities, even in this blurred sense. According to Friedman, because a corporation holds the function of acquiring profits it is solely and entirely responsible to its stockholders. If corporations try to achieve other socially desired aims without maximizing profit, they end up causing a heavy tax burden on their stockholders, the stockholders to whom they are directly responsible.

Various socioeconomic approaches have been raised that counter this extremely liberal approach. These approaches discuss corporate social responsibility as having a social dimension and allege that the business world has to be responsible to the whole society.

“Corporate responsibility's twentieth-century incarnation originated as an American practice and was subsequently adopted in Britain and Europe. The practice was stimulated by the idea that affluent companies could well afford charitable donations to those less well off in society. The sense of obligation was nourished by social activists in the 1960s and 1970s, many of whom criticized the role of large corporations and power elites in society and argued that political and economic justice could only be achieved through a redistribution of goods and power. These sorts of arguments tend to promote an idea that increased power should bring with it increased responsibility and an obligation not to exploit or take advantage of individuals and small communities” (L'Etang, 1966:85).

According to Kitchen (1999), companies are part of society in which they operate and they need to consider their corporate behavior as part of their role in society. (p.129).

Peach assesses the responsibility of companies under three levels:

Level One: Basic

• pay taxes
• observe the law
• deal fairly

Level Two: Organizational

• minimize negative effects
• act in the spirit of the law

Level Three: Societal

• accept responsibility for a healthy society
• help remove/alleviate society's ills (cited in Kitchen1999:129).

The concept of 'mission' found in corporate enterprise literature may be defined as humane and social commitments of a company relating to its profession. The ethical obligations these commitments bring to the company are fulfilled when these corporations support social responsibility actions. These are within the course of public relations activities done so as to create a good reputation in public esteem. These kinds of activities are done voluntarily and do not have an objective of profit. According to Grunig (1992), corporate responsibility and excellent public relations balance the private interests of the organizations with the interests of publics and of society (cited in L'Etang, 1999:86).

The concept of corporate social responsibility is different from the concept of 'benevolence' in that it is shaped in line with corporate aims. Put another way, for the company social responsibility is especially one of the ways of achieving corporate aims and serves to the interests of the corporation.

The chief ethical criteria anticipated for corporate social responsibility actions are as follows:

1. not to realize any profit from the work, whether directly or indirectly
2. to respect the social benefit of the work
3. not to turn the compulsory advertisings of the work into an advertisement activity
4. to contribute to the activity not only in cash but also with persons and ideas
5. to include the widest section of the society and NGOs in the activities, and accomplish the most widespread cooperation.
6. to transform this understanding into a culture within the company and not carry out the corporate social responsibility activity 'so as just to be doing something.' (“Sorumluluğun Kadar Kurumsun,” 2003)

In public relations literature, Grunig and Hunt clearly see corporate responsibility as central to the practice of public relations at a strategic level; they also identify a separate role for public relations in identifying organizational responsibilities. According to L'Etang (1999) it appears that the authors recommend a limited stakeholder-only model of corporate responsibility for primarily practical and self- interested purposes rather than normative and idealistic reasons (p:94).

Criticism has been raised that, “social responsibility practices are carried out so as to hide the unethical commercial activities of companies.” Which one is important: to be good or to do something good? The good activities of companies do not always show that they are good. The Global Compact, a compact prepared by United Nations in an effort to make a promise towards the society, focuses on the concept of corporate citizenship. Here it is seen that the relative value of corporate social responsibility practices depends largely on the importance given to the criteria of corporate citizenship.

Global Compact and Social Responsibility Projects as a New Competitive Field

The call for signatories to the Global Compact was first made in January 31, 1999, during the World Economic Forum in Davos by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. The global compact projects which the institutions of the United Nations, unions and NGOs support, actually draw attention to the problems caused by the corporate order, and ask the companies to show concern for human and workers rights, to be responsive to the ecological system and to stop malpractice. The main principles of the Global Compact, which has been prepared to improve the concept of responsible corporate citizenship, are as follows.

Businesses:

Human Rights

Principle 1: should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and

Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights

Labor Standards

Principle 3: should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;

Principle 4: should eliminate of all forms of forced and compulsory labor;

Principle 5: effectively abolish child labor; and

Principle 6: eliminate discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Environment

Principle 7: should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;

Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and

Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies

Anti-Corruption

Principle 10: should work against all forms of corruption, including extortion and bribery.

(http://www.unglobalcompact.org/AboutTheGC/TheTenPrinciples/index.html)

A total of 106 of the world's 500 largest companies by market capitalization are Global Compact participants (source Financial Times Global 500 ranking). The economic and social impact of this group of companies is immense, with direct employment of close to 10 million employees, market capitalization of approximately USD 4.9 trillion, and revenues of approximately 3.5 USD trillion recorded in 2005. (http://www.unglobalcompact.org/CommunicatingProgress/global_105_impact_and_progress). By its nature, capitalism also converts the sense of social responsibility to money. Within this context, customer preference for these companies' products and services rise alongside a rise in the shares of the companies in stock exchange. Investors understand the benefits that derive from investing in corporations that accept their social responsibilities while they also demand new investment tools of these kinds. (Argüden, 2002: 57).

According to Argüden (2002), the world's leading index provider, Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange (FTSE), are guiding other investors and consumers with FTSE4Good, a social responsibility designed index. While still functioning as a commercial index, FTSE4Good evaluates the social responsibility performances of companies. FTSE4Good inclusion criteria cover the following areas:

• Working towards environmental sustainability
• Developing positive relationships with stakeholders
• Supporting universal human rights.” (p: 57).

In the atmosphere of severe competition, those companies that find that they can only expand their profitability by creating a difference use the social responsibility area for their own corporate interests.

The Foundational Goals of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Working on the Field of Education in Turkey

The primary goals of the Sabancı Foundation (VAKSA) of Sabancı Holding were described in its establishment in 1974 as the “goal to provide approximately 1000 students with annual scholarships totaling 200 YTL (approximately $13/month) during the 9 months period between October and June and to provide a broad range of services to the public and the youth, and to assume 'partial' obligations of the government by contributing to the social and cultural development of the country.” (www.vaksa.org.tr)

Since its inauguration in 1974 it cannot be said that this foundation has provided the 'broad' range of activities as specified in its goal statement. First off, since its founding it has provided scholarships for nearly 30,000 students (an average of 940 students a year, not the planned for 1000). The Sabancı Foundation (VAKSA) regards education as the duty of a state and implies that it is ready to assume 'some' of the state's responsibility. It is striking that the words 'broad' and 'some' are used together in the same statement of goal. Every year more than 1 million children in Turkey start trying to earn their living without being educated. Besides this, 29 percent of all girls do not have the chance to attend any school. Only 5 per cent of the total workforces are university graduates. (http://www.cev.org.tr/nedencev.php)

When we look at the amount of the scholarship provided by VAKSA and the number of students who are receiving support, it can easily be observed that only a very insignificant part of the requirement is being met 'partially'.

The Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV), founded in 1995 under the leadership of Suna Kıraç (second generation representative of Koç Holding), explains its reason of existence as follows: “To contribute to the basic education delivered by the state.” (http://www.tegv.org). The Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV) implements projects in the areas of personal development; social life; language, art, communication; history, geography, culture; science and technology for extracurricular time. For this purpose it uses volunteers to educate children between the ages of 7-16 who come to these well equipped education places of their own will. These activities are sustained thanks to the contributions of donors. It is declared that within the course of the projects implemented under the main sponsorship of private sector corporations such as Garanti Bank, Pfizer, Lafarge and Deniz Bank, three thousand children have been provided with extracurricular education during a period of eight years (www.dusleratolyesi.org/da0230.html).

The 'well equipped education places' created by The Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV) function as very small oases in a vast desert. The numbers of students who are able to benefit from these centers are so low that the overall help is inconsequential. Another point is that this kind of help becomes highly random and exclusive in that it can reach so few students. This leads to an unjust system where only a handful of students are helped, while the vast majority is excluded. It is thus that projects implemented are more of assistance to the promotion of the foundation itself than they are to the assistance given to Turkish students in general.

The Turkish Education Foundation (TEV), whose trustees include such well-known businessmen as Bülent Eczacıbaşı, Ömer DinçkÖk, Aydın Doğan, Ömer Koç, and Şarık Tara, states that it has provided 142,736 students with scholarships since its foundation in 1967. (http://www.tev.org.tr). When we divide this number by 39 years, it is understood that only approximately 3660 students are being reached every year. And now, let's have a look at the mini-table below to see the amount of money allocated to these scholarships explained for 2006:

Table 1. Money allocated to the scholarships in 2006

Primary-Secondary education	80 YTL/month
Undergraduate	200 YTL/month
Graduate	350 YTL/month
Postgraduate	600 YTL/month

1 USD = ~1,30 YTL (http://www.tev.org.tr)

The Ministry of Education declared that the number of students in primary and secondary schools for 2004-2005 academic year totaled 13,604,833, and based on the 2003-2004 academic year data, that the number was 2,073,428 in higher education. (http://sgb.meb.gov.tr/daireler/istatistik/istatistik.html)

In the light of these data we can observe the extent of the “generosity” of the foundation towards primary and secondary education where the student is population is concentrated. In parallel with the diminishing numbers of students, as the level of education rises, the level of 'generosity' rises as well.

The Turkish Education Foundation (TEV) defines the 'fortunate' students who can take this opportunity to win this 'great' scholarship in its goals as: “talented but economically disadvantaged.” The same sentence goes on like this: “To support the youth who will contribute to our country and humanity, and the educational systems working to educate such people.” (http://www.tev.org.tr/sayfa.asp?menu_id=76)

As if not knowing the catastrophic situation of Turkish education system today, hoping to succeed in such high goals with some symbolic scholarships provided to those talented but economically disadvantaged youngsters is incompatible with rational thinking.

The Association in Support of Contemporary Living (çYDD), which has recently been working in cooperation with TURKCELL in its frequently mentioned project “Contemporary Girls of Contemporary Turkey” aims to reach 5000 female students. It explains its objectives as follows: “To protect and develop the rights obtained by the reformation and principles of Atatürk, and to attain modern individuals and modern communities through modern education.” In accordance with this main objective The Association in Support of Contemporary Living (çYDD) states that it gives voluntary but professional support of education, organization and enlightening to the society in the issues that the state cannot reach or is not sufficient, with its experienced, hard working members adhering to its principles (www.cydd.org.tr).

Despite of its sincere efforts and its contributions to education in 81 provinces of Turkey and provision of scholarships to more than 16 thousand students of primary and secondary schools, the Association in Support of Contemporary Living (çYDD) is a long way off from contributing to a solution of the main infrastructure problems of education. “The issues that the state can not reach,” as stated in its foundational goal, should in fact be understood as the “issues not being met by the state due to its own political preference.”

Current Education Projects Conducted with the Collaboration of Private Sector and NGOs in Turkey

Neoliberal policies anticipate that NGOs, commonly termed the “third sector,” should fill in the gaps left by the diminishing state. “The first sector represents general and supplementary budgets and the public sector which fulfills the public services connected with the municipalities and other public budgets; and the second sector represents the profit making private sector which constitutes the base of economic power. In this respect, the third sector is composed of NGOs such as foundations, associations and civilian initiatives that contribute to voluntary participation of individuals to the realization of basic social services which constitutes the public sphere” (Acı, 2005:84).

As stated in the preceding chapter, the majority of Turkey's NGOs (VAKSA, TEGV, etc.) have been founded by the partners or managers of giant corporations representing the second sector. It is known that these kinds of NGOs have organic relationships with founding companies and a great portion of their resources comes from the companies of the groups in question. These kinds of NGOs, all of which have the legal right to collect donations, receive support by either going into project collaboration with other private sector corporations, or implementing campaigns for charitable citizens. On the other hand, some NGOs, such as the Association in Support of Contemporary Living (çYDD) founded by the intellectual opinion leaders, are supported by both private sector corporations and charitable citizens in project terms. One of the most important tools for prestige of private sector, social responsibility projects are conducted in collaboration with specialized NGOs.

In this respect, it will be useful to evaluate some of the contemporary social responsibility projects going on in collaboration with the second and third and sometimes even the first sectors by numbering them briefly:

a) The purpose of the education project termed 'Small Steps, Grand Future' being carried out in collaboration with Ministry of Education, Procter&Gamble and Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG) has been set forth as: “to enable the children at the age of primary and secondary education to grow up with an awareness of social responsibility.” (It will not be inappropriate to regard this as a project conducted in the aim of loading the social responsibility onto the children, instead of the state.)

b) Within the context of a group titled “2006,” in collaboration with Yürekli Education Consultancy, Mother Child Education Foundation (AçEV) and the main sponsor Yapı Kredi World (bank credit card provider), '2006' children are being provided with preschool education support. In addition, it is expected that people will donate to AçEV for the Project. (2006 children owe a great deal to the year 2006; there are 1000 children to be glad that we are not in the year of 1006 and to be sorry that we are not in the year of 3006.)

c) SIF Automotive, the Turkey representative of JCB brand machinery, gives scholarships to 50 vocational high school students selected with the collaboration of çYDD throughout their education life. (Remembering that vocational high schools offer an education span of two years!)

d) With the collaboration of HSBC, çYDD and Bogazici University Foundation, 1100 students of inadequate means are provided with scholarships. In this campaign it is stated that each 500 YTL donations will meet the scholarship need of a student with the slogan of “every donation received via e-mail will contribute to education” (http://www.kurumsalsosyal.com) (These donations may give the recipient some extra pocket money, but it does not ensure that these funds will contribute to education, which is the actual requirement of every school age child in Turkey. In addition to this, it is interesting that the donations must be made through a private bank, which charges fees for such services. That makes us ask: who is actually benefiting from this program, the few students who receive some financial aid, or HSBC, which is pocketing fees?)

e) Since the year 2000, a project called “Snow Flakes” has provided 10,000 students with scholarships; and beginning with the 2002-2003 academic year the project entered a second stage by providing scholarships to students who had passed the university entrance exam. In the third stage of the project, with an endeavor carried out by Turkcell jointly with TED College Istanbul and çYDD, after a series of exams, 26 'Successful Snow Flakes' were selected from the cities of Siirt, Şanlıurfa, Van, and Batman (relatively underdeveloped cities of Turkey) and the more developed Bolu and have been allowed to attend the private TED College Istanbul for three years. (While a great number of children are being sidelined because they do not have humane living conditions, a handful of miraculous successes are awarded!) In addition, getting scholarships will not guarantee that the “snow flakes” will be able to participate in the larger social life of the school. According to Bourdieu, education for sustainable development should also cultivate within students the 'need' to live in a sustainable fashion (cited in Karol, 2006:9). These children may also experience even greater class distinctions as they become isolated among their schoolmates who come from relatively wealthy families.

On the other hand, Law No: 4842 has enabled the benefactors to have 100% of their expenses regarded as tax-deductible expenditures. This situation significantly alleviates the tax burden of the corporations, while multiplying the loss of tax of the state to the same degree. (http://www.egitimedestek.meb.gov.tr).

The Role of Social Responsibility Projects in Solving the Problems of Education

Despite the fact that the Turkish Constitution guarantees universal rights of education, according to OECD research, among the youngsters between the ages of 15-19, 44.3 % of the girls and 22.6 % of the boys in Turkey are not attending a school. Nearly half of the girls and a quarter of the boys are being deprived of the right to education (“Gençler Ne çalışıyor, Ne Okuyor,” 2006).

This situation indicates that a great majority of children are not attending school, especially after completing only their elementary education. According to a report titled 'The Higher Education Strategies of Turkey' launched by Higher Education Institution (YÖK), though 50 students of every 100 nominees at the age of high school graduation take the university entrance exam, only ten out of those 50 pass the examination. In addition, seven students out of those ten can actually register for university; three of them can complete their university education and two of them can find a job. (Yüzak, 2006:13).

In practice, it is the social responsibility policies of the minimal state system that are causing the social exclusion. Social exclusion is defined in the Social Work Dictionary as the “marginalization of people or areas and the imposition of barriers that restrict them from access to opportunities to fully integrate with the larger society” (Barker, 2003:403). Thus it can be argued that the source of social exclusion lies in the structured inequality of the labor market and the state, which disadvantages particular groups in society (Morris, 1994, cited in Power 2006:2). Indeed, the majority of youth can be termed as 'disadvantageous unique groups' in Turkey. On the other hand, according to the human development indicators published by United Nations (UN) in the year 2006, Turkey ranked 92nd among 177 countries with medium human development level. Cuba as a socialist country ranked 50th in the same ranking by having a statue of high human development countries.(http://www.hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/pdfs/report/Human_development_indicators.pdf). Education indicators such as proportion of adult literacy, the percentage of registration to primary, secondary and high schools have been regarded as human development criteria. According to these numerical facts, it can be said that there are significant deficiencies in the field of education in Turkey. However; taking the data given in the table below into account, we see that the collaboration of non-governmental organizations and private sector are far, far from being able to fill in the gaps.

Table 2. Amount and Distribution of Education Expenditures in Turkey According to Sources of Financing in 2002

Sources of Financing	Total Amount of Expenditure	Percentage
Central Government	13,062,138,408,263,000	64.81
Local Administrations	141,042,192,628,948	0.70
Natural and Legal Persons and Establishments	313,006,080,551,370	1.55
Households	6,620,064,983,244,140	32.85
International Sources	18,956,004,037,845	0.09
Total	20,155,207,668,725,300	100.00

(http://www.tuik.gov.tr/PreIstatistikTablo.do?istab_id=106)

Despite their inconsiderable contributions (1.55%), natural and legal persons and establishments are making successful use of marketing communication techniques to create an illusion among the public as if they are playing a primary role in solving the education problems.

According to Yaman, “Social responsibility campaigns carried out by companies or brand names to achieve a social objective or to help solve a social problem actually function as strategic positioning and marketing tools” (Yaman,2005:73). An important part of the financial resources on which non-profit organizations rely for their existence comes from contributions made by corporate social responsibility projects. NGO's are required to rely on corporate support if they are to meet their organizational objectives. This requirement results in collaboration that ends up being beneficial to the supporting corporation. At the same time, the projects that are advanced prove to be insufficient to actually solving the problem at hand while they serve as significant promotional and marketing tools for the corporations involved. And, in order for the NGO's to implement the social projects, they have to assume a role of imploring the corporations to lend assistance.

The 'Snow Flakes Project' earned çYDD and Turkcell the prize of 'Excellence Awards' for the high social sensitivity it bears from Institute of Public Relations (IPR) which is one of the defenders of the neoliberal globalization policies. The fact that there are 480,000 girls not acquainted with education in Turkish Republic as it is stated in the official records (http://kardelenler.turkcell.com.tr), raises our doubts about the meaning of this prize. According to an old Turkish tradition, the one who helps the poor should conceal his identity! However; today those who make donations make their identities public on all occasions because they want to take the advantage of these donations.

From the Social Welfare State to the Corporate State

In today's climate which is led by the private sector working to maximize profits, these same companies try to gain public approval through their participation in social responsibility projects. In this same climate we see that globalization has weakened the society-directed mechanisms of the state. The growth of private corporations has served to create a new state model that is directed towards strong economic and political objectives, rather than social aims, thus overturning the concepts of social state or social welfare state that arose in the post-World War II period that was geared towards rebuilding and improving the domestic market.

The nation-state as defined in Keynesian economics has assumed the role of organizing the market on a national scale in the formation of distribution of income and aggregate demand.

“The arrangements of a state depending on demand management in many underdeveloped countries have included such forms of intervention as providing indirect incentive, encouraging private companies to make higher investments by playing with the interest rates, and if necessary making investments using public means. Furthermore, the state has animated the demand on one hand by redistributing the income through arrangements called social wage such as minimum wage, social security, union rights, education and health services free of charge and on the other has complied with the arrangements that bring about the integration of working class with the system.” (Acı, 2005:36)

As a result of the failure of Keynesian economic policies followed until the early 1970s, the system experienced a crisis that began with the developed countries. The crisis had an even more negative effect on underdeveloped countries; a shortage of foreign exchange and cash budget deficits caused a dramatic increase in the foreign debts. Organizations such as the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank, which were founded after the Second World War by the developed countries, put into effect new 'reform' policies for underdeveloped countries so as to collect the debts.

“These reforms will expand the economies of underdeveloped countries to foreign market starting the integration process with rapidly internationalizing financial, commercial and instrumental capital, and encompass a series of structural regulations, restricting union activities, reducing the wages, privatization, deregulation and cutting down social expenditures of the state holding the first place.” (Acı, 2005:73)

Underdeveloped countries have turned to export-oriented production policies leaving domestic market oriented import substitution for industrialization. Production directed towards external markets has been given priority and the demands of the internal market narrowed. As a result of structural adaptation and stability programs carried out in the name of austerity policies, the state has repressed worker wages as well.

The neoliberal approaches aiming at the reduction of government expenditures and the development of the private sector reshaped the state in order for it to make technological, economic, political and legislatives rearrangements which will ensure the free movement of capital. “Today, the reign of capital is more absolute than ever and in many parts of the world social conditions are reverting back to 'those of the 19th century'.”(Petras and Veltmeyer, 2001: 45).

The traditional role of the social state in public sphere was minimized in this world of companies. In the speech he made on the oath-taking ceremony in 1981, the former president of USA, Ronald Reagan, stated his attitude towards the social state with the following: “The state cannot solve our problem in the crisis we are passing through currently; the problem is the state itself” (Wu, 2005: 86).

The function of the market friendly minimal state is determined in accordance with corporate policies. Today, heads of states and government officials attend international meetings together with CEO's representing giant companies of their countries. Serving the companies' interests, the minimal state has deserted the policies for the wealth of wide masses of people. As August Bebel (1879) stated, “the spirit of social solidarity and mutual interest is destroyed by the present system.”

The minimal state system, which anticipates distribution of public duties among structures such as private sector and NGOs, affirms the idea that social responsibilities should be fulfilled with the principle of volunteerism rather than with a sense of responsibility. Imposing taxes on wide masses directly or indirectly, suppressing the domestic demand by determining wage policies in favor of private sector, the minimal state represents capitalist globalization.

“Globalization limits the capacity of nation-states to act for social protection. Global trends have been associated with a strong neo-liberal ideology, promoting inequality and representing social protection as the source of 'rigidity' in the labor market. International organizations like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have been selling a particular brand of economic and social policy to developing countries, and the countries of Eastern Europe, focused on limited government expenditure, selective social services and private provision”(Mishra, 2000:36).

The initiative role of social state related with its responsibility in the fields of health, education and art has been rendered obscure by being distributed to various actors in the companies system. The primary role of those actors who are carrying out corporate social responsibility projects with volunteerism principle consists merely of applying an 'alms-giving perspective' anticipated by companies for the citizens of the minimal state.

Conclusion

The reason why the state has reached a level that requires relief is that public resources have been transferred to companies via privatizations. The transformation of the social state into a minimal one has caused most citizens to become deprived of such fundamental human rights as education and health. The contribution of the private sector to these fields has been minimal. The IMF has been exerting intense pressure on Turkey to even further reduce the current public expenditures of the minimal state. The purpose of the projects carried out by NGOs and some other charitable projects supported by the government is not to undertake the duty of the state, but to contribute to it. In actual fact, the magnitude of the area that the state leaves empty trivializes the contributions made. The minimal state is forsaking its social responsibilities as it serves the private sector more than it does the public.

In this context, while such nominal contributions made by the name of social responsibility projects to education draw huge attention among the public, in actual fact they serve the maintenance of the prestige of the private companies which is the life insurance for them.

The NGOs, which are consciously or unconsciously adopted by the intellectuals of the neoliberal society, have become the means of confession for the capitalist system.The NGOs serve the capitalistic globalization process as actors that are actually more recessive than the social democratic parties that are the symbols of a social welfare state period. From the Second World War until 1970's, the social welfare state concept was one of the illusions that capitalism has used. However, today, in terms of the social responsibility projects that the companies carry out through the NGOs, capitalism has put forward the notion of governance as a new means of illusion. The NGOs, cooperating with the Ministry of National Education of the government applying the IMF policies, are indirectly supporting the transfer of the public resources to 'socially responsible' corporations. Consequently the tax loads of the companies who put their contributions in the loss section of their balance sheets have considerably been decreased. As a result, this kind of support legalizes social exclusion rather than ensuring equal opportunity in education.

[back to top]

---

Bibliography

Acı, E. Y. (2005). Kalkınma Sürecinin Yeni AktÖrleri Sivil Toplum Kuruluşları, Istanbul: Günizi Yayıncılık.

Argüden, Y. (2002). Kurumsal Sosyal Sorumluluk , Istanbul: Rota Yayınları.

Barker, R. (2003). The Social Work Dictionary, 5th ed., Washington: NASW Press.

Bebel, A. (1879). The Socialist System of Education, The Socialisation of Society, [Online], Available: http://www.marxists.org/archive/bebel/1879/women-socialism/ch25.htm [accessed 29 March 2007]

Friedman, M. (1970). The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits, The New York Times Magazine, September 13, [Online], Available: http://www.colarado.edu/studentgroup/libertanians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html [accessed 30 March 2007]

Gençler Ne çalışıyor, Ne Okuyor. (2006, October 9), Cumhuriyet Gazetesi, p.13.

Karol, J. (2006). Bourdieu and Education for Sustainable Development, [Online], Available: http://www.aare.edu.au/06pap/kar06523.pdf [accessed 31 March 2007]

Kitchen, P. J. (1997). Public Relations, Principles and Practice, London: Thomson Business Press.

L'Etang J. and Pieczka, M. (1999). Critical Perspectives in Public Relations, London: International Thomson Business Press.

Mishra, R. (2000). Globalization and the Welfare State, London: Macmillan.

Püsküllüoğlu, A. (Ed.). (1994). Arkadaş Türkçe SÖzlük, Ankara: Arkadaş Yayınevi.

Petras, J. and Veltmeyer, H. (2001). Globalization Unmasked: Imperialism in the 21st Century, New York: Zed Books.

Power, J. (2006). 'Why Not Education? The Necessity for Welfare to Education Programmes to Alleviate the Social Exclusion of Welfare Recipients in Ireland', Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 4(2),[Online], Available: http://www.jceps.com/?pagelD=article&articleID=79 [accessed 29 March 2007]

Selcuk, I. (2006, December 2). Papa'dan Bush'a, Cumhuriyet Gazetesi, p:2.

Sorumluluğun Kadar Kurumsun. (2003, January 15), Marketing Türkiye, 20, p:34.

The New Grolier Webster International Dictionary (1975). New York: Grolier Incorporated.

Türk Dil Kurumu Türkçe SÖzlük (Turkish Dictionary) (1988). Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi.

Wu, C.T. (2005). Kültürün Özelleştirilmesi: 1980'ler Sonrasında Şirketlerin Sanata Müdahalesi, (Privatising Culture: Corporate Art Intervention since the 1980s), (E. Sogancilar, Trans.) İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları. (Original work published in 2003)

Yaman,Y. (2005).“ Sosyal Sorumluluk Kampanyaları“,Sivil Toplum Kuruluşları İçinYÖnetim Rehberi,İstanbul:Kaknüs Yayınları.p.67-79.

Yüzak, Ö. (2006, October 11). 'Beyin Gücü' Cumhuriyet Gazetesi, p.13.

[back to top]

---

Author's Details

İlker C.Bıçakçı is an associate professor in the Department of Economics and Administrative Sciences at the Vocational School of Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey. His areas of interest include critical public relations, political analysis of social responsibility projects in education and arts within the context of globalization.

[back to top]

Correspondence

Yıldız Technical University

Vocational School,

Department of Economics and Administrative Sciences

Maslak Campus-34398 Maslak

Istanbul-Turkey.

ibicak@yildiz.edu.tr

[back to top]

This article has been accessed  3785  times