Varieties of Anti-gender Mobilizations in Turkey

• In Event: Civil society and gender

Abstract

This paper explores the varieties of anti-gender politics in Turkey and its connection to the transnational anti-gender movement and dynamics. Recent studies have demonstrated the rise of anti-gender movements across many countries. Over the last decade, Turkey and pro-gender activists have experienced cycles of attacks and protests against gender equality. The paper maps these oppositional actors' issue areas, coalitions, strategies, and frames. Anti-gender actors consist of various sets of actors, institutionalized and non-institutionalized, who instrumentalize different tactics. Yet, these actors unite their opposition based on the claims of the disintegration of families, anti-feminism, and LGBTI rights and mobilize to attack the Istanbul Convention.
Interestingly, these attacks also exemplify de-Europeanization and the regression of rights and democracy. Within this context, the study demonstrates that instrumentalizing anti-gender campaigns and discourses harms democracy. In particular, mapping anti-gender movements and networks will allow us to understand the contestation issues and the oppositional actors' role in shaping gender politics in contemporary Turkey and the distinctive national features and transnational aspects of such mobilizations.
My methodology utilizes process tracing, critical frame analysis, and extensive fieldwork, particularly in-depth interviews. It carefully traces the policy field to understand anti-gender discussions, coalitions, and tactics. Critical frame analysis, a feminist methodology, will analyze the policy texts and interviews. In conclusion, this project contends that the Turkish offers a blueprint for anti-gender mobilizations and its connection to de-democratization.

References

No references

Author

• Büke Boşnak, Istanbul Bilgi University