This study analyzes Turkey’s 2023 earthquake recovery through a "Polanyian" lens, arguing that the state treated relief and land as commodities. This market-driven approach triggered a "double movement"—a societal counter-push where local communities in Hatay used solidarity and "commoning" to defend their lives and nature against neoliberal exploitation.

This paper examines the interplay between populism and neoliberalism in Turkey’s post-disaster context following the 2023 earthquakes. The methodology of the study is based on an extensive analysis of media reports and empirical research conducted in the Samandağ district of Hatay province.  Drawing from the critical examination of neoliberal populism and Karl Polanyi’s theory of “double movement" in market societies, the paper argues that the neoliberal populist state-capital nexus shaped disaster recovery and rebuilding processes often causing the commodification and marketization of emergency response, relief efforts, and properties such as housing, land, and nature. The study also shows that  in response to commodification, a societal counter-movement emerges as self-defense of society. The study contributes to the critical disaster and political economy literatures by examining commodification processes triggered by disaster politics as well as societal responses through communing and solidarity.