Bloomsbury Activism and Women's NGOs in Turkey: Civil Society, Feminism and Politics (Library of Modern Turkey)

Review "This is an interesting, insightful and original contribution to the study of Turkish civil society and the women's movement in particular, applying feminist perspectives and discourse analysis. The empirical data is rich and robust, employed shrewdly in support of the key arguments."Markus Ketola, Research Director, Ulster University, Northern Ireland Product Description Civil society is often seen as male, structured in a way that excludes women from public and political life. Much feminist scholarship sees civil society and feminism as incompatible a result. But scholars and activists are currently trying to update this view by looking at womens positions in civil society and womens activism. This book contributes to this new research, arguing that civil society is a contested terrain where women can negotiate and successfully challenge dominant discourses in society. The book is based on 41 interviews with women activists from ten womens organizations in Turkey. Foregrounding the voices of women, the book answers the question How do womens NGOs contribute to civil society in the Middle East?. At a time when civil society is being promoted and institutionalised in Turkey, particularly by the EU, this book demonstrates that womens organisations can help achieve womens emancipation, even if there are important differences in their approaches and ideas. About the Author Asuman Özgür Keysan is an independent scholar. She is currently based at the Middle East Technical University in Turkey as an International Project Expert.