Diyâr. Journal of Ottoman, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies (Web)

Proposals by: 28.02.2022

A special issue of the special series on „100 Years of the Republic of Turkey and the Engineering of a Nation“; Editors: Elife Biçer-Deveci (ETH Zurich) and Selin Çagatay (CEU Vienna/Budapest) (Web)

October 2023 will witness the centenary of the Republic of Turkey. On this occasion, the editors invite young scholars and established historians to revisit feminist history and reflect on the hundred years of modern Turkish history from the perspective of gender equality struggles. With this special issue, they wish to present novel research, cutting edge perspectives, and conceptual advances in feminist historiography of Turkey. Drawing on recent developments in women’s and gender studies towards more inclusive, de-centred and transnational accounts of feminist and LGBTI+ activism (Canning 2006; Cobble 2005; de Haan 2018; Hunt 2009; Laughlin et al. 2010; Motta et al. 2011; Orr and Braithwaite 2011; Roy 2016; Sangster and Luxton 2013), the editors seek contributions that examine gender equality struggles from a long-term perspective or with a focus on a specific period, and those that inquire into the interaction between national, sub-national and supra-national processes in gender politics.

With the term ‘gender equality struggles,’ the editors refer to all kinds of social and political activism (formal and informal, collective and individual) with an agenda of equal access of women and LGBTI+ people to the realms of economy, society, politics as well as cultural practices. At the same time, they set out to explore how the contested notion of ‘gender equality’ was shaped by various actors over time and different political projects existing side by side, such as feminist and antifeminist movements, competing over its definition (Kandiyoti 2011; Özcan 2020). Similarly, the editors have a broad understanding of activism that include not only collective, institutionalized, and contentious forms of activism and/or women-only organising, but also mix-gender organising, community-oriented efforts, and minor strategies of resistance for equality and liberation.

In recent years, significant contributions in women’s and gender history in Turkey investigated previously unexplored topics, destabilised established paradigms, and utilised new sources and methodologies … read more (PDF)