Women’s Politics in the AKP: Party, Party’s Women Branches and Women Electorates

Abstract

Research on feminization process shows women's political participation and representation as a sequential and relational process. However, especially, emerging analysis studies on conservative/right-wing parties and the political activism of women in these parties revealed that the increased presence of women in politics does not necessarily provide a feminist response to women's issues, nor does it necessarily help the representation of both women and these women's issues. With the curiosity on this situation, this article examines how feminization and anti-feminization processes have coexisted in the right-wing political party in Turkey the case of Justice and Development Party (AKP). It focuses on the political participation process of women through qualitative research on the party’s women’s branches and party’s women voters. My research findings show feminization and anti-feminism have coexist in the relationship between the party and women. While the party provides certain limits and boundries which are considered as anti-feminist conditions, women, on the other hand, strategize their political activism by conforming those limits. To that end, despite the number of women in politics, it does not bring a substantive transformation for women.

Keywords

• AKP’s Women Politics
• Feminization
• Anti-Feminism
• Women’s Branches
• Women Voters

AKP’de Kadınların Siyaseti: Parti, Parti Kadın Kolları, Kadın Seçmenler

Abstract

Siyasetin kadınlaşması (İngilizce kavramıyla feminization) üzerine yapılan araştırmalar, kadınların siyasi katılımını ve temsilini ardışık ve ilişkisel bir süreç olarak göstermektedir. Ancak, özellikle muhafazakâr-sağ partiler ve kadınların bu partilerdeki siyasal aktivizmi hakkında yapılan yeni analizler, siyasette giderek artan kadın varlığına, kadın sorunlarına ve bu sorunların temsiline feminist bir cevap verememektedir. Bu çıkarımların uyandırdığı merak ile bu makale, Türkiye’deki muhafazakâr-sağ siyasetin temsilcisi olan Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) örneği üzerinden siyasetin kadınlaşması ve toplumsal cinsiyet politikalarının anti-feminist doğasının nasıl bir arada olabildiğini incelemektedir. Araştırma, partiye bağlı kadın kolları ve partiye oy veren kadınlar üzerine nitel araştırma yoluyla gerçekleştirilmiş olup, kadınların siyasi katılım sürecine odaklanmaktadır. Araştırmanın ortaya çıkardığı temel bulgu ise AKP’de kadınlaşmanın ve anti-feminist politikaların birlikte var olabilmesidir. Parti, anti-feminist koşullar olarak kabul edilen belirli sınırlar ve kısıtlamalar sunarken, kadınlar bunlara uyum sağlayıp, siyasi aktivizmlerini kadın kollarına katılarak ve dünya görüşleriyle denk düştüğünü düşünüp partiye oy vererek stratejik bir şekilde sürdürmektedir. Bu bağlamda, kadınların siyasetteki varlığı, kadınlar için literatürün beklediği köklü ve etkin bir dönüşüm getirmemektedir.

Keywords

• AKP’nin kadın siyaseti
• Kadınlaşma
• Anti-feminizm
• Kadın kolları
• Kadın seçmen

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