This article presents a transnational history of left feminism in Turkey between 1974–1979 when i... more This article presents a transnational history of left feminism in Turkey between 1974–1979 when international women’s movements gained momentum on a global scale with the designation of 1975 as International Women’s Year (IWY). With this article, my aim is to go beyond methodological nationalism in the established historiography on women’s movements in Turkey. I study in particular the local and international activities of the international activities of the Progressive Women’s Association (İlerici Kadınlar Derneği, IKD), the mass left-feminist organisation between 1975 and 1980 that engaged in left-wing women’s activism all around Turkey. I explore the bilateral relations, connections, exchange, interaction, and collaboration between the IKD and international women’s movements, particularly the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF), which was a global coalition of women of the anti-fascist, pro-communist left. I use the term left feminism that, in my opinion, expands t...
This chapter is a biographical study of Behice Boran (1910–1987), the most prominent communist wo... more This chapter is a biographical study of Behice Boran (1910–1987), the most prominent communist woman in the history of modern Turkey, from a feminist revisionist perspective. The chapter shows that Boran’s strong presence at the forefront of socialist politics provided a political trajectory for left-feminist women’s organizing in Turkey during the 1960s and 1970s. As the leader of Türkiye İşçi Partisi (the Workers’ Party of Turkey, TIP) and the first woman to lead an officially registered political party in the history of Turkey, she had a stimulating influence on women’s participation and political socialization in the socialist movement as many women first joined the ranks of the TIP and became political actors in the momentum of political enthusiasm for a radical social change. This eventually proliferated women’s experiences in political activism, which were soon converted into political organizing of left-feminist women in the 1970s.
Gender, Generations, and Communism in Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond
The chapter attempts to shed light on the history of Turkish migrant women’s left feminism in Wes... more The chapter attempts to shed light on the history of Turkish migrant women’s left feminism in West Germany, particularly focusing on the case of Women’s Union in the Ruhr-Gelsenkirchen (GKB), which was active from the mid-1970s until the beginning of the 1990s. The chapter analyzes how Turkish migrant left feminism in West Germany contributed to women’s activism in Europe and Turkey, and how including migrant women’s organizations in the research changes the understanding of women’s transnational activism in the Cold War context in general. The historical analysis of Turkish migrant feminism is framed by the concept of “political generations.” “Generation” is adopted as an analytical category that does not essentially rest on fixed entities such as age; instead, it is used as a historical concept that corresponds to the effects of wider social, cultural, and political processes on the political organizing of Turkish migrant women in the European Cold War context.
Gender, Generations, and Communism in Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond, ed. Anna Artwińska and Agnieszka Mrozik, 2020
The chapter attempts to shed light on the history of Turkish migrant women’s left feminism in Wes... more The chapter attempts to shed light on the history of Turkish migrant women’s left feminism in West Germany, particularly focusing on the case of Women’s Union in the Ruhr-Gelsenkirchen (GKB), which was active from the mid-1970s until the beginning of the 1990s. The chapter analyzes how Turkish migrant left feminism in West Germany contributed to women’s activism in Europe and Turkey, and how including migrant women’s organizations in the research changes the understanding of women’s transnational activism in the Cold War context in general. The historical analysis of Turkish migrant feminism is framed by the concept of “political generations.” “Generation” is adopted as an analytical category that does not essentially rest on fixed entities such as age; instead, it is used as a historical concept that corresponds to the effects of wider social, cultural, and political processes on the political organizing of Turkish migrant women in the European Cold War context.
In this episode, I am hosting Sercan Çınar. We will talk about the construction of socialist masc... more In this episode, I am hosting Sercan Çınar. We will talk about the construction of socialist masculinities in the 1970s at the height of socialist-Marxist political mobilization in Turkey. Sercan asks a very powerful question: how could socialist-Marxist men justify and reproduce gender inequalities and power relations as natural while, at the same time, remaining extremely critical of the naturalization of, for example, property relations?
In this episode, I am hosting Sercan Çınar again. Back in the fourth episode, we discussed the hi... more In this episode, I am hosting Sercan Çınar again. Back in the fourth episode, we discussed the historical, political and social dynamics that played an important role in constructing, what Sercan calls, socialist masculinities. Sercan detailed how the political violence of the 1970s in Turkey was utilized by the socialist-Marxist movement to reproduce the dichotomy of man/woman and masculinity and femininity. He also pointed out two important factors that differentiate socialist masculinities from hegemonic masculinities. Please take a listen to episode four for a detailed discussion. In this latest episode, we shift our focus to the legacies of the political violence of the 1970s, specifically in relation to the current socialist-Marxist movement in Turkey and the configurations of socialist masculinities. One of the legacies is a lingering conservative politics of sexuality amongst the socialist-Marxist movement. Drawing upon his own experiences with the current socialist-Marxist movement as well as his research, Sercan will argue that sexuality is still considered as a matter for the private sphere and, whenever it is politically voiced in public sphere, it can receive backlash from men performing socialist masculinities. Some within the socialist-Marxist movement also fear being replaced by the feminist and LGBT movements as the main source of oppositional power. Since the political violence of the 1970s and the coup d’état of 1980 weakened the socialist-Marxist movement in Turkey, the increasing influence of feminist and LGBT movement in Turkey posed a threat to the position of men who perform socialist masculinities. Sercan will note that although we can observe socialist-Marxist movement aligning with the feminist and LGBT movements, there are still tendencies to consider these movements as “separatist” or “products" of capitalism or post-modernist academia. You can access the full episode from here of via this link; https://podcasts.ceu.edu/content/legacies-socialist-masculinities-contemporary-oppositional-politics-turkey
The Palgrave Handbook of Communist Women Activists around the World, 2023
This chapter is a biographical study of Behice Boran (1910–1987), the most prominent communist wo... more This chapter is a biographical study of Behice Boran (1910–1987), the most prominent communist woman in the history of modern Turkey, from a feminist revisionist perspective. The chapter shows that Boran’s strong presence at the forefront of socialist politics provided a political trajectory for left-feminist women’s organizing in Turkey during the 1960s and 1970s. As the leader of Türkiye İşçi Partisi (the Workers’ Party of Turkey, TIP) and the first woman to lead an officially registered political party in the history of Turkey, she had a stimulating influence on women’s participation and political socialization in the socialist movement as many women first joined the ranks of the TIP and became political actors in the momentum of political enthusiasm for a radical social change. This eventually proliferated women’s experiences in political activism, which were soon converted into political organizing of left-feminist women in the 1970s.
Communism in twentieth-century Europe is predominantly narrated as a totalitarian movement and/or... more Communism in twentieth-century Europe is predominantly narrated as a totalitarian movement and/or regime. This book aims to go beyond this narrative and provide an alternative framework to describe the communist past. This reframing is possible thanks to the concepts of generation and gender, which are used in the book as analytical categories in an intersectional overlap. The publication covers twentieth-century Poland, Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic, the Soviet Union/Russia, former Yugoslavia, Turkish communities in West Germany, Italy, and Cuba (as a comparative point of reference). It provides a theoretical frame and overview chapters on several important gender and generation narratives about communism, anticommunism, and postcommunism. Its starting point is the belief that although methodological reflection on communism, as well as on generations and gender, is conducted extensively in contemporary research, the overlapping of these three terms is still rare. The main focus in the first part is on methodological issues. The second part features studies which depict the possibility of generational-gender interpretations of history. The third part is informed by biographical perspectives. The last part shows how the problem of generations and gender is staged via the medium of literature and how it can be narrated.
This article presents a transnational history of left feminism in Turkey between 1974–1979 when i... more This article presents a transnational history of left feminism in Turkey between 1974–1979 when international women’s movements gained momentum on a global scale with the designation of 1975 as International Women’s Year (IWY). With this article, my aim is to go beyond methodological nationalism in the established historiography on women’s movements in Turkey. I study in particular the local and international activities of the international activities of the Progressive Women’s Association (İlerici Kadınlar Derneği, IKD), the mass left-feminist organisation between 1975 and 1980 that engaged in left-wing women’s activism all around Turkey. I explore the bilateral relations, connections, exchange, interaction, and collaboration between the IKD and international women’s movements, particularly the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF), which was a global coalition of women of the anti-fascist, pro-communist left. I use the term left feminism that, in my opinion, expands t...
This chapter is a biographical study of Behice Boran (1910–1987), the most prominent communist wo... more This chapter is a biographical study of Behice Boran (1910–1987), the most prominent communist woman in the history of modern Turkey, from a feminist revisionist perspective. The chapter shows that Boran’s strong presence at the forefront of socialist politics provided a political trajectory for left-feminist women’s organizing in Turkey during the 1960s and 1970s. As the leader of Türkiye İşçi Partisi (the Workers’ Party of Turkey, TIP) and the first woman to lead an officially registered political party in the history of Turkey, she had a stimulating influence on women’s participation and political socialization in the socialist movement as many women first joined the ranks of the TIP and became political actors in the momentum of political enthusiasm for a radical social change. This eventually proliferated women’s experiences in political activism, which were soon converted into political organizing of left-feminist women in the 1970s.
Gender, Generations, and Communism in Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond
The chapter attempts to shed light on the history of Turkish migrant women’s left feminism in Wes... more The chapter attempts to shed light on the history of Turkish migrant women’s left feminism in West Germany, particularly focusing on the case of Women’s Union in the Ruhr-Gelsenkirchen (GKB), which was active from the mid-1970s until the beginning of the 1990s. The chapter analyzes how Turkish migrant left feminism in West Germany contributed to women’s activism in Europe and Turkey, and how including migrant women’s organizations in the research changes the understanding of women’s transnational activism in the Cold War context in general. The historical analysis of Turkish migrant feminism is framed by the concept of “political generations.” “Generation” is adopted as an analytical category that does not essentially rest on fixed entities such as age; instead, it is used as a historical concept that corresponds to the effects of wider social, cultural, and political processes on the political organizing of Turkish migrant women in the European Cold War context.
Gender, Generations, and Communism in Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond, ed. Anna Artwińska and Agnieszka Mrozik, 2020
The chapter attempts to shed light on the history of Turkish migrant women’s left feminism in Wes... more The chapter attempts to shed light on the history of Turkish migrant women’s left feminism in West Germany, particularly focusing on the case of Women’s Union in the Ruhr-Gelsenkirchen (GKB), which was active from the mid-1970s until the beginning of the 1990s. The chapter analyzes how Turkish migrant left feminism in West Germany contributed to women’s activism in Europe and Turkey, and how including migrant women’s organizations in the research changes the understanding of women’s transnational activism in the Cold War context in general. The historical analysis of Turkish migrant feminism is framed by the concept of “political generations.” “Generation” is adopted as an analytical category that does not essentially rest on fixed entities such as age; instead, it is used as a historical concept that corresponds to the effects of wider social, cultural, and political processes on the political organizing of Turkish migrant women in the European Cold War context.
In this episode, I am hosting Sercan Çınar. We will talk about the construction of socialist masc... more In this episode, I am hosting Sercan Çınar. We will talk about the construction of socialist masculinities in the 1970s at the height of socialist-Marxist political mobilization in Turkey. Sercan asks a very powerful question: how could socialist-Marxist men justify and reproduce gender inequalities and power relations as natural while, at the same time, remaining extremely critical of the naturalization of, for example, property relations?
In this episode, I am hosting Sercan Çınar again. Back in the fourth episode, we discussed the hi... more In this episode, I am hosting Sercan Çınar again. Back in the fourth episode, we discussed the historical, political and social dynamics that played an important role in constructing, what Sercan calls, socialist masculinities. Sercan detailed how the political violence of the 1970s in Turkey was utilized by the socialist-Marxist movement to reproduce the dichotomy of man/woman and masculinity and femininity. He also pointed out two important factors that differentiate socialist masculinities from hegemonic masculinities. Please take a listen to episode four for a detailed discussion. In this latest episode, we shift our focus to the legacies of the political violence of the 1970s, specifically in relation to the current socialist-Marxist movement in Turkey and the configurations of socialist masculinities. One of the legacies is a lingering conservative politics of sexuality amongst the socialist-Marxist movement. Drawing upon his own experiences with the current socialist-Marxist movement as well as his research, Sercan will argue that sexuality is still considered as a matter for the private sphere and, whenever it is politically voiced in public sphere, it can receive backlash from men performing socialist masculinities. Some within the socialist-Marxist movement also fear being replaced by the feminist and LGBT movements as the main source of oppositional power. Since the political violence of the 1970s and the coup d’état of 1980 weakened the socialist-Marxist movement in Turkey, the increasing influence of feminist and LGBT movement in Turkey posed a threat to the position of men who perform socialist masculinities. Sercan will note that although we can observe socialist-Marxist movement aligning with the feminist and LGBT movements, there are still tendencies to consider these movements as “separatist” or “products" of capitalism or post-modernist academia. You can access the full episode from here of via this link; https://podcasts.ceu.edu/content/legacies-socialist-masculinities-contemporary-oppositional-politics-turkey
The Palgrave Handbook of Communist Women Activists around the World, 2023
This chapter is a biographical study of Behice Boran (1910–1987), the most prominent communist wo... more This chapter is a biographical study of Behice Boran (1910–1987), the most prominent communist woman in the history of modern Turkey, from a feminist revisionist perspective. The chapter shows that Boran’s strong presence at the forefront of socialist politics provided a political trajectory for left-feminist women’s organizing in Turkey during the 1960s and 1970s. As the leader of Türkiye İşçi Partisi (the Workers’ Party of Turkey, TIP) and the first woman to lead an officially registered political party in the history of Turkey, she had a stimulating influence on women’s participation and political socialization in the socialist movement as many women first joined the ranks of the TIP and became political actors in the momentum of political enthusiasm for a radical social change. This eventually proliferated women’s experiences in political activism, which were soon converted into political organizing of left-feminist women in the 1970s.
Communism in twentieth-century Europe is predominantly narrated as a totalitarian movement and/or... more Communism in twentieth-century Europe is predominantly narrated as a totalitarian movement and/or regime. This book aims to go beyond this narrative and provide an alternative framework to describe the communist past. This reframing is possible thanks to the concepts of generation and gender, which are used in the book as analytical categories in an intersectional overlap. The publication covers twentieth-century Poland, Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic, the Soviet Union/Russia, former Yugoslavia, Turkish communities in West Germany, Italy, and Cuba (as a comparative point of reference). It provides a theoretical frame and overview chapters on several important gender and generation narratives about communism, anticommunism, and postcommunism. Its starting point is the belief that although methodological reflection on communism, as well as on generations and gender, is conducted extensively in contemporary research, the overlapping of these three terms is still rare. The main focus in the first part is on methodological issues. The second part features studies which depict the possibility of generational-gender interpretations of history. The third part is informed by biographical perspectives. The last part shows how the problem of generations and gender is staged via the medium of literature and how it can be narrated.
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https://podcasts.ceu.edu/content/socialist-masculinities-turkey-intersection-local-political-violence-1970s-and-global-cold
In this latest episode, we shift our focus to the legacies of the political violence of the 1970s, specifically in relation to the current socialist-Marxist movement in Turkey and the configurations of socialist masculinities.
One of the legacies is a lingering conservative politics of sexuality amongst the socialist-Marxist movement. Drawing upon his own experiences with the current socialist-Marxist movement as well as his research, Sercan will argue that sexuality is still considered as a matter for the private sphere and, whenever it is politically voiced in public sphere, it can receive backlash from men performing socialist masculinities.
Some within the socialist-Marxist movement also fear being replaced by the feminist and LGBT movements as the main source of oppositional power. Since the political violence of the 1970s and the coup d’état of 1980 weakened the socialist-Marxist movement in Turkey, the increasing influence of feminist and LGBT movement in Turkey posed a threat to the position of men who perform socialist masculinities. Sercan will note that although we can observe socialist-Marxist movement aligning with the feminist and LGBT movements, there are still tendencies to consider these movements as “separatist” or “products" of capitalism or post-modernist academia.
You can access the full episode from here of via this link;
https://podcasts.ceu.edu/content/legacies-socialist-masculinities-contemporary-oppositional-politics-turkey
More information: https://www.routledge.com/Gender-Generations-and-Communism-in-Central-and-Eastern-Europe-and-Beyond/Artwinska-Mrozik/p/book/9780367423230
https://podcasts.ceu.edu/content/socialist-masculinities-turkey-intersection-local-political-violence-1970s-and-global-cold
In this latest episode, we shift our focus to the legacies of the political violence of the 1970s, specifically in relation to the current socialist-Marxist movement in Turkey and the configurations of socialist masculinities.
One of the legacies is a lingering conservative politics of sexuality amongst the socialist-Marxist movement. Drawing upon his own experiences with the current socialist-Marxist movement as well as his research, Sercan will argue that sexuality is still considered as a matter for the private sphere and, whenever it is politically voiced in public sphere, it can receive backlash from men performing socialist masculinities.
Some within the socialist-Marxist movement also fear being replaced by the feminist and LGBT movements as the main source of oppositional power. Since the political violence of the 1970s and the coup d’état of 1980 weakened the socialist-Marxist movement in Turkey, the increasing influence of feminist and LGBT movement in Turkey posed a threat to the position of men who perform socialist masculinities. Sercan will note that although we can observe socialist-Marxist movement aligning with the feminist and LGBT movements, there are still tendencies to consider these movements as “separatist” or “products" of capitalism or post-modernist academia.
You can access the full episode from here of via this link;
https://podcasts.ceu.edu/content/legacies-socialist-masculinities-contemporary-oppositional-politics-turkey
More information: https://www.routledge.com/Gender-Generations-and-Communism-in-Central-and-Eastern-Europe-and-Beyond/Artwinska-Mrozik/p/book/9780367423230