Fragmented local normative orders, unresolved localizations, and the contesting of gender equality norms in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the localization process of the global gender equality norm in Turkey and argues that the normative contestations on this concern, among rival political blocs and activist groups, have not allowed any resolution. Accordingly, the global gender equality norm has undergone state-led secular localization as of the 1990s. In the post-2010 context under AKP rule, however, this process was disrupted by the proponents of the alternative conservative local norm of gender justice, who sought to replace the already localized norm of gender equality. Our study examines the contestations and rivalries regarding gender equality in the country with an emphasis on normative strategies utilised by the secular and conservative political blocs. Based on face-to-face interviews conducted with representatives of the main trade unions in the country, we also did a minor case study of the ongoing contestations regarding the adoption of gender equality norms, as manifested in trade union activism.

ABSTRACT IN TURKISH

Küresel toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliği normunun Türkiye’deki yerelleştirme deneyimine odaklanan çalışma, rakip siyasi blok ve activist gruplar arasındaki normatif mücadelenin ülkedeki yerelleştirme sürecini çözümsüz hale getirdiğini ileri sürmektedir. Bu kapsamda, küresel toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliği normu ülkede 1990”lar itibariyle devletçi ve laik bir şekilde yerelleştirilmiş olsa da, AKP iktidarı döneminde özellikle 2010 sonrası dönemde başlangıçtaki yerelleştirme deneyimi, toplumsal cinsiyet adaletinin ilk üretilen yerel normun yerini almaya çalışan alternatif muhafazakar yerel bir norm olarak üretilmesi ile kesintiye uğramıştır. Çalışma ülkede toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliğine dair çekişme ve rekabeti, temelde laik ve muhafazakar güç odakları tarafından kullanılan normatif stratejiler temelinde analiz etmektedir. Çalışma yerelde üretilen toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliği normları arasında devam eden çatışmanın, sendikal faaliyetlere yansımasına odaklanan küçük bir saha çalışması da sunmaktadır. Saha çalışması kapsamındaki tartışmalar, sendika temsilcileri ile yapılan yüz yüze görüşmelerde elde edilen veriler üzerine inşa edilmiştir.

KEYWORDS:

• Localization
• norm contestation
• gender equality
• gender justice
• Turkey
• trade unions

KEYWORDS:

• Yerelleştirme
• norm çekişmesi
• toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliği
• toplumsal cinsiyet adaleti
• türkiye
• sendika

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Such stabilizing efforts include, for instance, the ECOSOC (1997) on gender equality and the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document (WSOD) for the R2P (paragraphs 138-140).

2 See Tabak (2021, pp. 6–10) for a review of non-diffusionist understandings. Some examples of non-diffusionist accounts include other studies (Acharya, 2004, p. 2011; Wiener, 2007, p. 2014; Krook & True, 2012; Zwingel, 2012; Zarakol, 2014; Steinhilper, 2015; Großklaus, 2015; Bloomfield, 2016; Zimmermann, 2016; Dunford, 2017; Draude, 2017; Zimmermann et al., 2018).

3 Gender justice is promoted as an alternative localization model that fits well into other Islamic settings. The contacts and training activities of KADEM in Islamic countries such as Palestine or Somalia can be seen as attempts to export this localization path.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hüsrev Tabak

Hüsrev TABAK is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations at Recep Tayyip Erdogan University in Rize, Turkey. He has an MA in Politics and Sociology from University College London (UCL) (2011) and a PhD in Politics from the University of Manchester (2015). His research focuses on norm reception/diffusion, transnationalism, methodological cosmopolitanism, and ethno-politics. Some of his recent work has appeared in Journal of Asian and African Studies, Global Society, Peace Review, and Uluslararası İlişkiler/International Relations. He has also authored a monograph on foreign policy and norm diffusion (I.B.Tauris, 2016). Email: [email protected]

Seven Erdoğan

Seven ERDOĞAN is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations at Recep Tayyip Erdogan University in Rize, Turkey. She graduated from Boğaziçi University and did her MA from the Middle East Technical University. She did a PhD in European Studies from Ankara University. Her research and teaching activities primarily focus on the different aspects of the European Union, such as its external affairs, relations with accession and neighborhood countries, migration policy, and security and defense cooperation. Currently, she is interested in conducting studies related to gender by concentrating on Turkish case. Email: [email protected]

Muharrem Doğan

Muharrem DOĞAN is a research assistant in the Department of International Relations at Recep Tayyip Erdogan University in Rize, Turkey. He has a PhD in Politics from Ankara University and an MA in Global Studies from the University of Sussex. His research interests include gender studies, the UN gender regime, postcolonial studies, postcolonial norm research, norm dichotomies and hierarchies. His PhD thesis is entitled “Norm Hierarchies and Abjection: A Kristevian and Postcolonial Critique of the United Nations Gender Regime” and will be published soon. He is currently working on an edited book on the role of gender in IR studies. Email: [email protected]