Interplay of gender subtext and local culture in the organizational logic: the case of a textile factory in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This paper examines gender as a constitutive element of inequality regimes in the workplace. The organizational logic of workplace is reproduced through accepted but unequal policies and principles. The organizational dynamics of the gendered workplace are embedded in the articulation of global and local markets. The article elaborates on the nature of the organizational logic by focusing on the local dynamics of a Central Anatolian city, Çorum, based on a case study conducted in Turkey. We observe how capitalist organizational logic and gender subtext operate in and through the conservative culture specific to this locality. Through the interactions between employers and employees, the engagement between the capitalist organization and gender subtext constructs the realities of workplace. Workers’ responses to the structural, cultural, interactional and identity dynamics of the organization are to be understood within the triangle of skill, care and honour in capitalist organizational logic. Embedded in all these responses is a specific emphasis on virtuous female worker. Such an ideal worker fits both the capitalist organizational logic and patriarchal system.

RÉSUMÉ

Cet article examine le sexospécifité comme un élément constitutif des régimes d’inégalité en milieu de travail. La logique organisationnelle du milieu de travail est reproduite à travers des politiques et des principes acceptés et qui sont cependant inégaux. La dynamique organisationnelle du milieu de travail lié au sexospécifité est intégrée à l’articulation des marchés mondiaux et locaux. À partir d’une étude de cas réalisée en Turquie, l’article évalue la nature de la logique organisationnelle en se concentrant sur la dynamique locale d’une ville d’Anatolie centrale, Çorum. Nous observons comment la logique organisationnelle capitaliste et le sous-texte sexopécifique opèrent dans et à travers la culture conservatrice spécifique à cette localité. L’engagement entre l’organisation capitaliste et le sous-texte sexospécifique construit les réalités du milieu de travail à travers les interactions entre employeurs et employé(e)s. Dans la logique organisationnelle, les réactions des employé(e)s aux dynamiques structurelles, culturelles et identitaires doivent être entendues au sein du triangle compétence-soin-honneur. Dans toutes ces réactions l’accent est mis notamment sur l’employée vertueuse. Une telle employée idéale correspond à la fois à la logique organisationnelle capitaliste et au système patriarcal.

KEYWORDS:

• Organizational logic
• gender subtext
• conservative local culture
• workplace
• Turkey

MOTS CLÉS:

• logique organisationnelle
• sous-texte sexospécifique
• culture locale conservatrice
• milieu de travail
• la Turquie

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Fatma Umut Bespinar is a teacher in the Department of Sociology at Middle East Technical University, Ankara. Her research interests include sociology of work, historical and comparative sociology, and gender studies.

Cagatay Topal is a teacher in the Department of Sociology at Middle East Technical University, Ankara. His research interests include surveillance, communication and information technologies, and sociological theory.

Notes

1 According to a recent study conducted by Kadir Has University (2016), 20.7% of the participants identify their political stand as conservative, 16.3% as nationalist and 14.7% as religious, which amounts to 51.7% in total for the conservative, nationalistic and religious identification.

2 Women's access to public spaces is controlled and restricted by male members of the family, fathers, elderly brothers and husbands. This restriction is seen significant specifically with respect to the issues of family honour, which is defined primarily through women’s behaviours, attitudes, manners and even postures. Researches on women’s participation in public life primarily examine the fields of education and employment. According to the 2014 Report of Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies on Domestic Violence against Women in Turkey (2014), 32% of women indicate that they have been prevented from attending schools. In rural areas, this rate rises to 39%. Eleven per cent of women older than 15 mention that they are prevented from participating in the labour market or they are forced to leave work.

3 In this article, our focus is on gender dynamics in the workplace. From the same data set, we observed control and consent issues in the workplace environment (see Beşpınar et al., 2014).

Additional information

Funding

This article was based on a project and related field work that were supported by the Middle East Technical University, the Office of Scientific Research Projects, with the project number BAP-01-02-2010-01.