A Study Of Feminism In Turkey Since 1980s

The issue of women is a complicated and sensitive research topic in the Middle East Islamic world.As an Islamic country with the highest degree of secularization and democratization in the Middle East,Turkey has a typical development of feminism.The Republic of Turkey,born out of the Ottoman Empire,endowed women with civil rights and promoted their social status through modernization reform.With the advancement of democratization,feminism shows the trend of synchronous development of theory and practice,and the headscarf ban is the carrier to show the distinction between secular feminism and Islamic feminism.Since the 21 st century,some controversial policies issued by the Justice and Development Party,such as banning abortion,abolishing the headscarf ban,advocating fertility and women’s traditional gender roles by party leaders,and Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention in 2021,have attracted more and more attention.Taking Turkish feminism since 1980 s as a case study,this paper illustrates the important significance and influence of feminist thoughts and movements on Turkish society by explaining the development process and realistic performance of feminism.Besides the introduction and conclusion,the text is divided into four chapters.The first chapter mainly analyzes the development and changes of feminism between the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and the military coup in1980.Turkey’s secularization reform aims to build a modern nation-state,and the six principles of Kemalism are written into the constitution as the foundation of the country.Secular reform gave women equal legal status,and Turkish women gained the right to vote and stand for election in 1930 s.After the start of multi-party democracy,the rise of Islamism and the appearance of religious discourse have greatly threatened the rights and living space of secular women.Coupled with the strict electoral system and political party system,the number of women participating in politics has been greatly reduced,which has affected women’s political and social status.The second chapter mainly discusses the changing track of Turkish feminism from1980 s to 2002 before AKP came to power.The military coup in 1980 reshaped the national political order and diversified ideology,which led to the revival of Turkish feminism.Secular women are deeply influenced by western feminist thoughts,forming liberal feminism,radical feminism,socialist feminism and other schools of thought.The women’s movement has gradually developed from demonstrations to protest against violence to institutionalization,resulting in a series of women’s protection organizations and feminist academic research institutions,marking the rapid development of Turkish feminism.With the revival of political Islamic movement and the high development of urbanization,there is a division between secular feminism and Islamic feminism,and the two argue about headscarves and human rights,which constitutes a unique phenomenon in the development of Turkish feminism.The third chapter mainly describes the new changes of feminism since the Turkish Justice and Development Party came to power in 2002.After the AKP came to power,a series of policies and principles of AKP significantly improved women’s rights for the sake of consolidating political power and joining the European Union.With the authoritarian populist tendency of the AKP government and Erdogan’s belittling of gender equality,gender justice and gender complementarity have gradually become the theme of Turkish gender system.The lifting of the headscarf ban and the withdrawal of the Istanbul Convention by the Justice and Development Party reflect the retrogression of the official protection of women’s rights and interests.The fourth chapter is a multi-perspective review of Turkish feminism since 1980 s.The distinctive feature of Turkish feminism stems from Turkey’s specific historical evolution process and social and cultural background.Turkey has given women equal legal rights through "top-down" modernization reform.However,the binary opposition between the elite and the people in the modernization process has prevented the smooth development of women’s liberation movement,and the idea of gender equality has not really penetrated into people’s thoughts.Therefore,feminism exists as an accessory of other ideological trends.After the military coup in 1980,the rise of the women’s movement was related to the background of globalization and the changes in Turkey’s domestic situation.As the main body of life,women were able to translate their demands into action.The combination of neo-liberalism,nationalism and religious politics with the Justice Development Party has brought a new patriarchal model,which hinders women’s social participation and is not conducive to the protection of women’s rights and interests and the improvement of women’s status.Therefore,the future development of Turkish feminism faces many challenges.