Faces and phases of female empowerment: Women's cooperatives in Turkey

Abstract

This article provides an in-depth look at women’s empowerment through women’s cooperatives. Drawing on evidence from a diverse set of women’s cooperatives in Turkey, the article investigates the prospects and constraints of women’s empowerment in contexts lacking an enabling macro-institutional framework and societal structure. Listening to the real-life stories of women from different socioeconomic and political backgrounds, we explore how and to what extent members experience empowerment in their lives after joining the cooperatives. We find that, even under political and societal constraints, women experience economic, psychological, social, and organizational empowerment, though the extent of such empowerment varies across cases.