On resilience and response beyond value change: Transformation of women's movement in post-1980 Turkey

Özçürümez, Saime; Cengiz, Feyda Sayan

doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2010.09.015

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The ratio of female-to-male tertiary enrolment increased from 66 per cent in 1999 to 84 per cent in 2012. 2 Women’s movements have been important in opening up political space for women since the mid-1980s (Ozcurumez and Sayan-Cengiz, 2011; Tekeli, 1986). These transformed into women’s organisations in the 1990s to work as pressure groups and give assistance to those in political power (Yelsalı Parmaksız, 2003).…”

Section: Women’s Representation In Turkeymentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong in the Movement, Strong in the Party: Women’s Representation in the Kurdish Party of Turkey

Mencütek

2015

Political Studies

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This article shows how extant theories on women's representation in parties can only partially explain the Kurdish ethno-nationalist party's exceptional level of women's descriptive representation vis-à-vis the Turkish average. It demonstrates that women's very high level of representation in the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) can be better understood by examining the interaction between party-related and movement-related factors. Drawing on extensive empirical research, the study demonstrates that the party's leftist ideology, along with the mobilisation strategies and needs of the movement, have had a decisive impact in creating the conditions for women's self-assertion and their taking positions of power within the party, including the adoption and scrupulous implementation of a voluntary party gender quota. The study suggests that, in the case of parties closely tied to broader social movements, it is the relationship between the two organisations (party and movement), rather than just the former, that should be analysed. This is particularly evident in the case of ethno-nationalist parties that emanate from highly mobilised or even armed movements.Women continue to be under-represented as voters, elected officials and political leaders in many countries in spite of a rising global trend in the last two decades. Studying the various factors and mechanisms that affect women's representation in political institutions remains crucial for understanding and perhaps for improving contemporary democracies. The growing scholarship on gender and politics demonstrates that women's political representation varies dramatically across countries and often in parties within the same country. This article aims to contribute to the debate on women and politics, with particular reference to the role of political parties regarding intra-country variations in women's descriptive representation. Focusing on the case of the Kurdish ethno-nationalist party in Turkey, currently called the 'Peace and Democracy Party' (BDP, Barış ve Demokrasi Partisi), 1 this article shows how extant theories can only partially explain this party's exceptional level of women's descriptive representation vis-à-vis the Turkish average. This case is particularly puzzling for two reasons. First, scholars working on gender and nationalism have largely regarded the latter to be an ideology at odds with gender balance and women's emancipation in the political sphere (EnloeArticle Sahin-Mencutek 471 representation in the BDP can be fully understood by examining the interaction between party ideology and the mobilisation strategies of the ethno-nationalist movement. Combining with the fertile ground provided by the party's leftist ideology, the mobilisation strategies and needs of the broader ethno-nationalist Kurdish movement have had a decisive impact in creating the conditions for women's self-assertiveness and their taking positions of power within the party, including the adoption and scrupulous implementation of a voluntary party gender quota.This case ...

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Section: Women’s Representation In Turkeymentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong in the Movement, Strong in the Party: Women’s Representation in the Kurdish Party of Turkey

Mencütek

2015

Political Studies

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“…(as cited in Ozcurumez & Cengiz, 2011, p. 25) İKD references to everyday women's problems were limited to demanding kindergartens in factories. Such demands have led to accusations of "feminism" and weakening the socialist front, something İKD members naturally tried to avoid (as cited in Ozcurumez & Cengiz, 2011). Within the ideological pressure of the orthodox left, feminism was branded a bourgeois deviation (Sirman, 1989).…”

Section: Redistributive Social Justice Claims: Women and The Turkish mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the post-coup period women's organizations defined themselves as "feminist" for the first time (as cited in Ozcurumez & Cengiz, 2011). The number of women's organizations rose from ten in the late 1970s to 64 in the 1980s and early 1990s (Diner & Toktaş, 2010, p. 47).…”

Section: Redistributive Social Justice Claims: Women and The Turkish mentioning

confidence: 99%

Women in Transnational Migrant Activism: Supporting Social Justice Claims of Homeland Political Organizations

Mügge

2012

SSJ

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“…Paradoxically, the 1980 coup opened a window of opportunity for paradigmatic shifts in consciousness and strategy among women's organizations. Saime Ozcurumez and Feyda Sayan Cengiz stress that the "structural shock" inflicted by the military's ban on all right/left associations and parties reconfigured the institutional setting that had long dictated how women's groups were required to act to ensure their own survival within the system (Ozcurumez and Sayan-Cengiz 2011).…”

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confidence: 99%

Civil Society and Gender Relations in Authoritarian and Hybrid Regimes

2018

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An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access for the public good. The Open Access ISBN for this book is 978-3-8474-0874-1. More information about the initiative and links to the Open Access version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org

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On resilience and response beyond value change: Transformation of women's movement in post-1980 Turkey

Cited by 7 publications

References 29 publications

Strong in the Movement, Strong in the Party: Women’s Representation in the Kurdish Party of Turkey

Strong in the Movement, Strong in the Party: Women’s Representation in the Kurdish Party of Turkey

Women in Transnational Migrant Activism: Supporting Social Justice Claims of Homeland Political Organizations

Civil Society and Gender Relations in Authoritarian and Hybrid Regimes

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