Gendered Subjectivity and Intersectional Political Agency in Transnational Space: The Case of Turkish and Kurdish Women’s NGO Activists

Abstract

Emerging as the first oppositional social movement in Turkish public sphere in the aftermath of Coup D’etat in 1980, second wave feminism has undergone an important transformation process in recent decades. Alongside the ideological differentiation between radical and socialist feminists toward the end of 1980s, starting with the 1990s, we can observe the widespread institutionalization and “NGOization” of the movement. The transformation can also be seen in the extensive pluralization of women’s groups and organizations. The variety and multiplicity of women’s organizations is accompanied by the diversification of ideologies, positions, perspectives, and traditions. In addition to ideological and organizational diversification, the 1990s witnessed the geographical diffusion of feminist movement. Thus what began in consciousness raising meetings of small groups of feminist women in the cities of Turkey (Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir) has spread to the other places such as Diyarbakir, Bursa, Adana, Mersin, Van, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, and Samsun (Kerestecioglu, 2004, 75). This transitional period also saw the rise of local/regional feminisms. To sum up, the women’s groups that are active in feminism today in Turkey include radical, socialist, egalitarian, secular or kemalist feminists, and Islamic women’s groups, Kurdish women, minority women, human rights activists, as well as autonomous and institutionalized feminists and, more recently, third wave feminists.