Negotiating diversity, reciprocity and civility: an example of a woman's coalition in Turkey

Official URL: http://192.168.1.20/record=b1505265 (Table of Contents)

This dissertation is based on the analysis of a women's coalition in Turkey called ''Birbirimize Sahip Çıkıyoruz''. The coalition is composed of women who are pitted against each other in popular depictions, namely feminists and religious women. This coalition is the first attempt to bridge different factions within the larger women's movement. The dissertation aims to answer three interrelated questions with respect to this coalition. The first task is to answer how women with different views on gender relations arrive at a consensus on the topic. The second task is to answer how coalitions can be sustainable in the absence of a common unifying identity. The third task is on how coalitions can alter social orientations of actors. Through a careful analysis of internal deliberations of the coalition and in-depth interviews with coalition members, dynamics of this interaction as well as points of consensus and disagreement are depicted. The analyses reveal that as long as the coalition defines its motivation as questioning male privileges in society, it is able to function cohesively. The analyses also reveal that in the absence of a unifying identity, the coalition became more reliant on acts of reciprocity that demonstrated a willingness to embrace others' life style concerns. Lastly, by facilitating a debate between different enclave women, the coalition altered conceptions of its members on discrimination and disadvantage which in turn modified their social orientations vis-a-vis other groups. The dissertation evaluates the importance of these findings for multiculturalism, civil society and gender studies.