The political economy of women's cooperatives in Turkey: A social reproduction perspective

Creative Commons License

Uğur-Çınar M., Çınar S. K., Öncüler-Yayalar E., Akyüz S.

Gender, Work and Organization, cilt.31, sa.4, ss.1268-1289, 2024 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 31 Sayı: 4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1111/gwao.12925
  • Dergi Adı: Gender, Work and Organization
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, ABI/INFORM, Business Source Elite, Business Source Premier, EBSCO Legal Collection, EBSCO Legal Source, Educational research abstracts (ERA), Gender Studies Database, Geobase, Index Islamicus, Psycinfo, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, DIALNET
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1268-1289
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: familial constraints, social class, social reproduction, the state, Turkey, women's cooperatives, FEMALE EMPLOYMENT, EMPOWERMENT, GENDER, POLICY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, PATRIARCHY, STRATEGIES, AGENCY, REGIME
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The article analyzes the viability of women's participation in women's cooperatives in Turkey. The prospects are evaluated by focusing on the sustainability of the cooperatives' economic activities as well as the recruitment and continued participation of individual women members. Taking a feminist social reproduction perspective, the article seeks to understand the underlying dynamics of women's participation in cooperatives, as this perspective enables us to analyze this participation as a process and captures the permeability between women's social reproduction duties, women's relationship with the state, and the economic market. Based on countrywide, semi-structured in-depth interviews with members of women's cooperatives in Turkey, we find that familial constraints as well as governmental policies and practices challenge women's economic development aspirations in the cooperatives, while social class deeply informs the challenges faced as well as the resources available to and strategies developed by women. The resulting analysis demonstrates that familial, social, and political issues related to social reproduction need to be addressed prior to focusing on the impact of cooperatives on women's empowerment. This is essential to ensuring the success of women's cooperatives and the continued provision of meaningful opportunities for women's participation.