The Net Social Wage in Turkey , 1980–2019

This essay conceptualises the capitalist state’s taxation and expenditure activities in Marx’s circuit of capital. It also empirically shows how the net social wage has evolved in Turkey in the period 1980–2019 and in what direction it has influenced the rate of surplus-value. The essay’s empirical findings demonstrate the utter failure of the pseudo-welfare state of Turkey to ameliorate income distribution. Hence, the article contributes to demolishing the myth that the Islamist party AKP, in power since 2003, is pro-poor and pro-labour, and that its fiscal policies have been consistent with its glorified Islamic values and its self-ascribed image of an antipoverty stance.