Core theoretical debates in the post-1980 feminist movement in Turkey: The subject of feminism and the (Im)possibilities of feminist politics

Abstract

This thesis examines the transformation of feminist and women‟s movements in Turkey in the post-1980 period in relation with the existing theoretical debates among scholars of feminism and gender studies. It has been discussed how feminist and women‟s movements in Turkey can be conceptualized through the debates of four main political theorists, namely Iris Marion Young, Seyla Benhabib, Judith Butler and Nancy Fraser. To that end, this thesis examines the brief history of feminist and women‟s movements in Turkey prior to the 1980s and later on attempts to understand how these movements were transformed in relation to such theoretical discussions. In order to analyze this issue, this thesis concentrates on three distinct movements and reactions of feminist and women‟s organizations to these political movements. The movements analyzed in post-1980 context of Turkey are Kurdish women‟s and feminist movement, Islamist women‟s movement, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) movement.