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Theorising the relationship between patriarchies and capitalisms : the case of Turkey

This thesis contributes to analyses on varieties of patriarchy by developing a theory of premodern domestic patriarchy. Building on existing analyses that associate gender-based segregationist strategies with public patriarchy and gender-based exclusionary strategies with domestic patriarchy, I propose that domestic patriarchy has two forms: In the modern form, men sustain their exploitation of women’s labour within the home by excluding women from free wage labour; in the premodern form, they exclude women from landownership to maintain patriarchal exploitation of labour in agriculture. I also contribute to theories on the relationship between patriarchies and capitalisms by demonstrating the implications of premodern domestic patriarchy for capitalist transformation in Turkey. I use the method of comparative analysis to assess if male dominance in landownership has the consequence of excluding women from free wage labour. The historical-sociology based case study method is also used to examine how male peasants constitute a patriarchal collective subject and exclude women from landownership. Both methods are required and complement each other in terms of identifying the implications of gendered landownership and free wage labour for varieties of patriarchy and capitalism. Premodern domestic patriarchy in Turkey enabled production of the agrarian surplus necessary for initial industrialisation yet prevented expansion of capitalism in agriculture by shielding peasants’ landownership from market-led dispossession of land. It also led to a shortage of free wage labour and obstructed industrial quality. The premodern form slowed transition to public patriarchy by limiting women's access to education, establishing gendered patterns of rural to urban migration and excluding women from free wage labour. In such conditions, women are divided: women living under the conditions of premodern domestic patriarchy experience gender-based exclusion and women in public patriarchy confront gender-based segregation. A lack of alignment in their feminist strategies weakens women's overall capacity to achieve significant advances in gender equality.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:732702
Date January 2017
CreatorsKocabicak, Ece
PublisherLancaster University
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

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