From Kawa the Blacksmith to Ishtar the Goddess: Gender Constructions in Ideological-Political Discourses of the Kurdish Movement in post-1980 Turkey

Çağlayan, Handan

doi:10.4000/ejts.4657

Cited by 31 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Marginalised and estranged by the Kemalist modernisation project in Turkey (Yuksel ), Kurdish women became initially politicised in leftist movements during the 1960s and 1970s, followed by larger scale mobilisation through the PKK in the second half of the 1980s and throughout the 1990s. The PKK's strategy of a long‐term ‘people's war’ required the mobilisation and active participation of women (Çağlayan , ; Şahin‐Mencutek ). Within the first decade of the establishment of the PKK, women's participation in armed struggle increased rapidly from one per cent in 1987 to 15–20 per cent in 1993, which translated into about 2,000 women fighters (Kutschera ).…”

Section: Kurdish Women's Double Strugglementioning

confidence: 99%

Reconsidering nationalism and feminism: the Kurdish political movement in Turkey

Al-Ali

Taş

2018

Nations and Nationalism

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Feminist scholars have documented with reference to multiple empirical contexts that feminist claims within nationalist movements are often side‐lined, constructed as ‘inauthentic’ and frequently discredited for imitating supposedly western notions of gender‐based equality. Despite these historical precedents, some feminist scholars have pointed to the positive aspects of nationalist movements, which frequently open up spaces for gender‐based claims. Our research is based on the recognition that we cannot discuss and evaluate the fraught relationship in the abstract but that we need to look at the specific historical and empirical contexts and articulations of nationalism and feminism. The specific case study we draw from is the relationship between the Kurdish women's movement and the wider Kurdish political movement in Turkey. We are exploring the ways that the Kurdish movement in Turkey has politicised Kurdish women's rights activists and examine how Kurdish women activists have reacted to patriarchal tendencies within the Kurdish movement.

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Section: Kurdish Women's Double Strugglementioning

confidence: 99%

Reconsidering nationalism and feminism: the Kurdish political movement in Turkey

Al-Ali

Taş

2018

Nations and Nationalism

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“…This generation is influenced by transnational feminist politics and solidarities that recognise the connection of struggles of marginalized and oppressed peoples, for example with feminist organizations and campaigns in neighbouring countries. 9 All generations of Turkish feminists increasingly credit their Kurdish counter-parts for their critique of authoritarian and nationalist politics and their radical approaches against gender-based violence. Yet, tensions and differences persist amongst and within both Kurdish and Turkish feminist organizations.…”

Section: Kurdish Feminist Organizations Emerged Both As a Reaction Tomentioning

confidence: 99%

Clashes, collaborations and convergences: evolving relations of Turkish and Kurdish women’s rights activists

Al-Ali

Taş

2018

Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies

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This article discusses the various ways the Kurdish women's movement has impacted feminism in the Turkish context. Against the background of the problematic historical relationship between Turkish and Kurdish women's rights activists, we will explore the shift in perceptions of, attitudes towards and relations of feminists in Turkey with the Kurdish women's movement. Our article will show that a "new generation of feminists" in Turkey appreciates and is inspired by the Kurdish women's movement, and rejects the Kemalist and nationalist undertones of earlier generations. Without wanting to belittle ongoing nationalism and the rise of women cadres linked to the authoritarian Turkish regime, our article analyses the various ways the intersectional long-term struggle of Kurdish women is being perceived, recognised as well as critically engaged with by many Turkish feminist activists.

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“…With the rise of the PKK in the late 1970s and the ensuing armed conflict in the 1980s, gender issues became a key aspect of Kurdish rebellion. One key feature that separates the PKK from earlier rebellions is its successful mass mobilization of women and the subsequent break with traditional gender roles (Caglayan 2012).…”

Section: War and Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The push for women's representation and women's social and political empowerment has been transformative for both the movement and for women. It has produced significant positive changes in a region sometimes referred to as "the patriarchal belt" characterized by strict control over women's behavior (Caglayan 2012).…”

Section: War and Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anatomy of a Civil War

Gürses¹

2018

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Anatomy of a Civil War demonstrates the destructive nature of war, ranging from the physical destruction to a range of psychosocial problems to the detrimental effects on the environment. Despite such horrific aspects of war, evidence suggests that civil war is likely to generate multilayered outcomes. To examine the transformative aspects of civil war, Mehmet Gurses draws on an original survey conducted in Turkey, where a Kurdish armed group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), has been waging an intermittent insurgency for Kurdish self-rule since 1984. Findings from a probability sample of 2,100 individuals randomly selected from three major Kurdish-populated provinces in the eastern part of Turkey, coupled with insights from face-to-face in-depth interviews with dozens of individuals affected by violence, provide evidence for the multifaceted nature of exposure to violence during civil war. Just as the destructive nature of war manifests itself in various forms and shapes, wartime experiences can engender positive attitudes toward women, create a culture of political activism, and develop secular values at the individual level. Nonetheless, changes in gender relations and the rise of a secular political culture appear to be primarily shaped by wartime experiences interacting with insurgent ideology.

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From Kawa the Blacksmith to Ishtar the Goddess: Gender Constructions in Ideological-Political Discourses of the Kurdish Movement in post-1980 Turkey

Cited by 31 publications

References 13 publications

Reconsidering nationalism and feminism: the Kurdish political movement in Turkey

Reconsidering nationalism and feminism: the Kurdish political movement in Turkey

Clashes, collaborations and convergences: evolving relations of Turkish and Kurdish women’s rights activists

Anatomy of a Civil War

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