Perceptions of transformation, revolution, ideology and gender among members of the Turkish socialist movement in the 1907s

Official URL: http://192.168.1.20/record=b1505258 (Table of Contents)

This thesis attempts to examine the response of former leftist activists to the disintegration of their political movements and their integration into the rapidly liberalizing, capitalist order in Turkey after 1980. While previous research on the socialist movement in Turkey has mostly focused on the movement's historical background, internal dynamics or on memories of activists as portrayed in memoirs, an analytical approach to changes in leftists' socioeconomic status or ideology has remained either superficial or nonexistent. Based on open-ended interviews with over a dozen former activists, this thesis focuses on the ''transformations'' experienced by people who joined the leftist movement during the 1970s. How former activists consider their initial participation in different factions of the left; how their current socioeconomic status and quality of life affect their relationship to leftist ideology (faith in a socialist revolution, defining leftism, the idea of a capitalist society); and how they view the role of gender in the movement (feminism, intimate relationships, their manifestations and the effect of organizational structures) are some of the key questions that the thesis addresses. Throughout the thesis, the theme of ''transformation'', whether in society or at an individual level, is examined in terms of ideology, socio-economic status, and gender.