The making of a makbul father : a socio-political exploration of heteronormative fatherhood in Turkey

Abstract

This dissertation critically analyzes the notion of heteronormative father-hood within the context of nationalism. Drawing upon thirty-six formal, semi-structured, and tape- recorded interviews with lower-middle class men who identify themselves as Turkish-Sunni-Muslim and have children be-tween the ages of eighteen to forty, in six cities in the Marmara, Central Anatolia and the Black Sea Regions, it examines the relationship between makbul citizenship and the construction and experiences of heteronormative fatherhood. For the interviewees, the social meaning of fatherhood goes beyond having children. It is the ability to shoulder financial responsibilities and differentiate makbul from non-makbul on behalf of their dependents, namely, their spouses, siblings, and children. Men ground their fatherly authority over their dependents on some of their qualities, such as being nationalistic and religious, that enable them to be included in formal and informal networks of solidarity. However, the difficulties they endured as a child motivated them to prevent their children from being socially and economically vulnerable in life as they were. Thus, they have created an environment for their children to dare to be demanding from their family in many senses. They invented new mild methods to sustain fatherly authority. But they also complain about being unappreciated. In this sense, they are fathers in-between.