Headscarf Politics In Turkey

This book questions the 'role model' status of the Turkish Republic with respect to the advancement of female agency in a secular context by using the study of women with headscarves as a case in point. Turkey's commitment to modernization depends heavily on secularism which involves, among other things, the westernization of women's appearance.

With the rise to power of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the early 2000s in Turkey, the headscarf that used be looked down upon by the secular middle and upper classes moved to the mainstream. It has since become a symbol of desirable womanhood. This development has pushed Turkey's secular feminists, who had been critical of the headscarf ban, to the margins. This book is the first to trace this new phase of conservative gender politics by examining the images of women's headscarves across secular and Islamic news media. Based on the analysis of photographs and the columns of conservative women journalists, the book sheds light on how the AKP is transforming the image of womanhood. It also identifies the rise of the conservative female journalist as an important phenomenon in the country. Esra Özcan problematizes designators such as “Islamist women” or “Islamic feminists” and instead aims to understand these women in terms of their commitment to right-wing activism and politics, which has so far been ignored. An original contribution to feminist scholarship on Muslim women, this book draws on the unique perspectives of Visual Culture and Communication Studies.

On May 2nd 1999, Merve Kavakçı walked into the Turkish Grand National Assembly to take her oath of office as a member of Turkish Parliament, wearing her Islamic headscarf (hijab), which is banned for civil servants in secular Turkey. A near riot ensued, and the Prime Minister told the crowd to 'put this woman in her place'. Since then, Kavakci has become an outspoken critic of Turkey's secularization policy, travelling the globe in support of Muslim women's rights, especially regarding the hijab, which she promotes as a symbol of female empowerment. The Day Turkey Stood Still is a unique behind-the-scenes story of the first headscarved woman to be elected into the Turkish Parliament, and the harsh reaction against her election. It reveals for the first time what happened behind closed doors to prevent Merve Kavakçı from taking her oath of office, and deconstructs her vilification by the government, military, media and political parties.

The headscarf issue draws a great deal of public and academic attention in Turkey, yet the debate largely unfolds within the contours of the discussions over modernization, Westernization, and the Islamic / secular divide. Rarely is there a discussion about how the connotations of the headscarf shift across cleavages of class and status among women wearing it. Instead, the headscarf is typically portrayed as a symbol of Islamic identity, a 'cover' that brackets social inequalities other than those based on a supposed 'clash of identities.' This study looks beyond these contours by contextualizing the headscarf discussion in an insecure and low-status private sector labor market – namely, retail sales. Based on in-depth interviews, focus groups with lower-middle-class saleswomen with headscarves, and ethnographic study in five cities of Turkey, this book argues that the meanings of the headscarf are continuously negotiated within the quest for social and economic security.

This book explores educational and cultural experiences of 'part-time' unveilers during their undergraduate degree programs in public institutions in Turkey. The term 'part-time unveiler' refers to undergraduate female students who cover their hair in their private lives but who remove the headscarf while at a Turkish university.

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: 5 (CH), University of Bern (Insitut für Politikwissenschaft), course: Deliberative Democracy, language: English, abstract: The victory of the conservative AKP (Justice and Development Party) in November, 2002 elections has brought the issue of turban1 back on the agenda, so much so that the tension between Islamists and Kemalists has again increased. This controversial debate has divided the Turkish society into different camps. Secularists claim that the turban is a political symbol and has nothing to do with basic individual rights. Islamists, on the other hand, treat it mainly as an issue of religious freedom. The basic goal of this paper is to answer the question of whether deliberative democracy can contribute to creating a healthy dialogue between Islamists and Kemalists in Turkey. Special emphasis has been given to deliberative concepts such as social learning and mutual understanding, because they may enhance the possibility that an adequate atmosphere of dialogue can be created. First, the theoretical framework will be discussed: After handling the general considerations of deliberative democracy, a more specific model of John Dryzek will be dealt with which analyses the decision making and social learning levels of deliberation separately. Then, Seyla Benhabibs work "Claims of Culture" (2002) will be examined. Benhabib focuses on the less restricted, informal phases of deliberation in her book. By focusing on Dryzek and Benhabib, this paper aims to establish an analytical framework that shows deliberation as an opinion formation process oriented to learning alongside the decision making process. The third chapter focuses on the headscarf debate in Turkey by considering its historical roots and legal framework. In the fourth chapter, a survey conducted in 2007 by the Konda Research Institute regarding the perceptions and practices of

In the Turkish elections of December 1995, the Islamic Welfare Party became the biggest Party in parliament and for the first time in history, an Islamic party had come to power by means of free elections. The rise to power of the Turkish Islamists is a result of several decades of revivalism. In this process the veil has been a prominent symbol of the new religious puritanism, causing resentment among those who regard the bare-headed woman as the symbol of progress and emancipation. In the light of a century-long conflict between secularism and popular Islam, the present study describes the conflict over the veil as it became a burning issue in the decade following the military intervention of 1980 and remains to this day a matter of controversy. While focusing on the issue of veiling, the author also considers the wider picture of tension between official secularism and popular Islam in present-day Turkey. Although this tension is not discounted, the author argues that the fact that the Islamic movement is on the rise does not mean that it threatens the very foundations of modern Turkish society. Whereas the controversies of the nineteenth century could be described as a 'clash of civilizations' (between Islam and the West), those of today have shrunk into conflicts over certain cultural symbols that are part of the same globally-expanding technological civilization.

Over the past few years, secularism has become an intrinsic component of discussions on religious freedom and religious governance. The question of whether states should restrict the wearing of headscarves and other religious symbols has been particularly critical in guiding this thought process. Refashioning Secularisms in France and Turkey documents how, in both countries, devout women have contested bans on headscarves, pointing to how these are inconsistent with the ‘real’ spirit of secularism. These activists argue that it is possible to be simultaneously secular and religious; to believe in the values conveyed by secularism, while still remaining devoted to their faith. Through this examination, the book highlights how activists locate their claims within the frame of secularism, while at the same time revisiting it to craft a space for their religiosity. Addressing the lacuna in literature on the discourse of devout Muslims affected by these restrictions, this book offers a topical analysis on an understudied dimension of secularism and is a valuable resource for students and researchers with an interest in Religion, Gender Studies, Human Rights and Political Science.