Women’s Empowerment via Women’s Cooperatives: An Ethnographic Account from Turkey

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Çınar S. K., Aşık Akdemir K.

SOCIAL POLITICS, vol.1, no.1, pp.1-23, 2025 (SSCI, Scopus) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 1 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2025
  • Doi Number: 10.1093/sp/jxaf031
  • Journal Name: SOCIAL POLITICS
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Periodicals Index Online, American History and Life, Educational research abstracts (ERA), Gender Studies Database, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, PAIS International, Political Science Complete, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.1-23
  • Open Archive Collection: AVESIS Open Access Collection
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This article explores the potential of women’s cooperatives for women’s empowerment in patriarchal societies. The article is based on extensive ethnographic research

in Kastamonu, Turkey, where one of the researchers has become an active member of a women’s cooperative for a full year. The article underlines that women’s cooperatives

offer unique and valuable opportunities for the advancement of women’s rights and gender equality despite the patriarchal norms and social reproduction duties that

women face. However, as the article suggests, the gains and experiences of women from women’s cooperatives and their empowerment potential are contextdependent,

and are contingent upon the individual characteristics of their members based on their social class, educational background, and active participation in the cooperatives.