Diversifying feminism in Turkey in the 1990s
Author
Yüksel, Metin
Advisor
Erman, Tahire
Date
2003Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
This thesis attempts to diversify feminism in Turkey with a particular reference to
Kurdish women’s relationship with the feminist movement in Turkey in the 1990s. The thesis
argues that feminism in Turkey, to a large extent, has been ethnicity-blind as it has been
implicitly assumed that all women in Turkey are of Turkish ethnic origin. Yet it is claimed
that, of a different ethnic origin, Kurdish women undergo a dual oppression and subordination
due both to their gender and ethnic origin. In this context, a relationship will be constructed
between Black women’s experience in the West and that of Kurdish women in Turkey. These
arguments will be based on a review of the relevant literature in addition to in-depth
interviews carried out with nine politically active Kurdish women.
Furthermore, it will be argued that Kurdish women’s political activism in the 1990s’
Turkey as ‘Kurdish women’ emanates from the fact that they were not recognized as ‘Kurdish’ women by the feminist movement on the one hand, and not as ‘women’ by Kurdish
nationalism on the other. Despite these drawbacks of the two movements under consideration,
it will be indicated that, Kurdish women’s political activism might be considered as a
consequence of the configuration of these two movements. Moreover, this thesis argues that,
among the many strands of the feminist theories, Black feminism has important insights in
understanding and explaining the specific form of oppression and subordination of Kurdish
women in Turkey.