Headscarf Politics in Turkey: A Postcolonial Reading

by M. Kavakci Islam, Kenneth A. Loparo (Contribution by), Kenneth A. Loparo

Overview

This book questions the 'role model' status of the Turkish Republic with respect to the advancement of female agency in a secular context by using the study of women with headscarves as a case in point. Turkey's commitment to modernization depends heavily on secularism which involves, among other things, the westernization of women's appearance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780230106659
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	11/17/2010
Edition description:	2010
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Merve Kavakci is Lecturer of Political Science at Howard University, USA. She was elected to the Turkish Parliament, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in 1999. However she was prevented from serving her term by the secularists because she wears a headscarf. Kavakci's political party was closed down and her Turkish citizenship was revoked, banning her from politics for a period of five years. She took her case to European Court of Human Rights and won in 2007.

Table of Contents

List of Figures ix

Acknowledgments xi

Foreword John L. Esposito xiii

List of Abbreviations of Political Parties in the Study xvii

Chronology of Significant Events xix

1 Introduction 1

2 Women in Nation-Building 13

3 Politics of Religion (1938-2000s) 41

4 Social and Political Implications of the Ban on Headscarf 99

5 In search of Education, Employment, and More 131

6 Conclusion: The Road Ahead: What's in Store for Basörtülü Kadinlar" 145

Afterword Lord Eric Avebury 155

Notes 157

Bibliography 179

Index 193

Editorial Reviews

"Kavakci Islam's sensitive, deeply informed, and courageous investigation of formation of national identity provides great insight into the complex problems confronting Turkey in the post-Ottoman period of modernization, and particularly the role of women as symbols, victims, and agents. Though the focus is on Turkey and the politics of women's attire, the implications reach well beyond. It is a most timely and valuable contribution to understanding of difficult issues that arise in some form throughout today's world." - Noam Chomsky

"A triumphant story of the discrimination against headscarved women, one which academically challenges the existing representations and challenges the reader to question easy assumptions. Written by a key member in the debate, Headscarf Politics in Turkey sheds light on one of the most highly disputed issues on the Turkish political agenda in the last decade: headscarf policy. Religious tolerance, women's rights, and modernity are all important components in this fascinating book by Merve Kavakci Islam, who looks at the topic from a unique combination of scholarly distance and personal involvement. This will be essential reading for scholars and students of comparative secular and religious ideologies, political science, and women's studies." - Ambassador Swanee Hunt, Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government

"Merve Kavakci Islam has provided a major and valuable contribution to knowledge about Turkey, providing an inside yet analytical and historical perspective to this key issue. Considering how the West is challenged to understand effectively the role of Islam in the Middle East, and the potential role to be played by Turkey as a member of the European Union, this an important work." - Umit Cizre, Professor, Department of Political Science, Bilkent University, Turkey

From the Publisher