Engendering Democracy in Turkey. Participation and Inclusion of Women's Civil Society Organizations under AKP Rule

Abstract

This dissertation examines the relationship between women’s rights organizations as an essential part of civil society and the democratic consolidation process under the ruling Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) in Turkey. In doing so, it specifically focuses on the gendered dimension of the democratic consolidation process and interrogates if, and to what extent women’s civil society organizations have engendered Turkish democracy under the rule of the AKP. The thesis combines the main assumptions of both democratization, and gender and politics literature, and understands “engendering democracy” as strengthening democracy in its two core dimensions: a) participation, and b) inclusion with respect to the specific demands, needs, and interests of women, which are explicitly recognized by political decision-making in all relevant policy areas. The integration of the gender perspective into the analysis of democratic consolidation highlights how women participate in the political and civil society sphere with their gendered identity. In examining the role of women’s civil society organizations in the consolidation period, the thesis examines not only how and to what extent they articulate their gendered interests and influence public discourse on gender issues, but also their impact in formulating and enacting laws, regulations, and policies that are passed to improve women’s lives. In the light of this theoretical background, the thesis analyzes the role of four main groups of women’s civil society organizations in the democratic consolidation process in Turkey: feminist, Islamist, Kurdish, and Kemalist women’s organizations. Based on in-depth and semi-structured interviews with the representatives of the women’s organizations, women rights lawyers, and academics, the thesis delineates the motives, strategies, and advocacy efforts of these organizations to improve the legal gender rights regime, and their interactions with state institutions in three issue areas: violence against women, women’s rights and gender equality, and discrimination against women. Drawing upon the state reports and national and international surveys, it also presents the positive gender outcomes in laws and policies. The dissertation concludes that all four groups of organized women in Turkey effectively put their demands on the political agenda of the democratic consolidation process and translated them into progressive gender outcomes, and thus are the ‘key actors’ in engendering democracy under AKP rule. They thereby played a highly crucial role in political change reflected in the Turkish democratic consolidation process.