Democracy and Women in Turkey: In Defense of Liberalism (original) (raw)

This article examines how different groups of women, including feminists and Islamists, contributed to the process of democratization since the 1980s in Turkey. It is argued that as women sought their rights, they liberalized the polity. To the extent that liberalization protects democracies from degenerating into mere formalism, women expanded the parameters of "substantive" democracy. In the Turkish case where a strong state has traditionally stifled claims for individual civic rights, the process of liberalization women cultivated was particularly important for democratization. This article aims to explore how women in Turkey contributed to the process of democratization since the 1980 military intervention in the country. Different women's groups, feminists, Islamists, and others expanded the parameters of democratic participation as they demanded substantive rather than formal democracy. Women's activism took place in the context of a representative democracy that was struggling to liberalize itself. The critical relationship between democracy and liberalization has long been emphasized. Liberalization 1 secures civil liberties and rights to individuals and groups and protects democracy from degen-Social Politics Fall 1999