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Journals / Insight Turkey / 2022 / Cilt: 24 - Sayı: 01

Political Climate and the Headscarf Issue in Turkey: A Perspective from the Labor Market

Nigar TUĞSUZ
Hatice KARAHAN
Pages
211–227
Publication Date
2022-10-19
DOI
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

This study contributes to the vast literature on women’s social and economic rights by addressing a decades-long, divisive issue that concerns a substantial segment of Turkish society

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This article focuses on the relationship between the socioeconomic rights of headscarved women and the political attitude of governments towards the headscarf in Turkey.
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Key Findings & Data:Taking the 2013 removal of bans against the headscarf in the public sphere as the reference point, we attempt to provide a before-and-after comparison of the status of headscarved professionals in the Turkish labor market, based on factors in the political climate.
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Conclusion & Impact:This study contributes to the vast literature on women’s social and economic rights by addressing a decades-long, divisive issue that concerns a substantial segment of Turkish society
🔬Design:Research Article
📍Scope:2013 Verileri
⚙️Variables:Domain Parameters

Abstract

This article focuses on the relationship between the socioeconomic rights of headscarved women and the political attitude of governments towards the headscarf in Turkey. Taking the 2013 removal of bans against the headscarf in the public sphere as the reference point, we attempt to provide a before-and-after comparison of the status of headscarved professionals in the Turkish labor market, based on factors in the political climate. While focusing mainly on the changing outlook in the public sector, we also examine the consequences of this liberalizing move on the private sector and explore the likely futures of the headscarf issue from a labor market perspective. Findings from the qualitative research reveal the strong influence political attitude has on the headscarf issue, as evident in the employment of headscarved women in white-collar occupations. We discovered that the political climate is still expected to be the key dynamic in Turkey that shapes the future for professionals wearing the headscarf, primarily through the channel of the state job market. This study contributes to the vast literature on women’s social and economic rights by addressing a decades-long, divisive issue that concerns a substantial segment of Turkish society

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Cite This Article

TUĞSUZ, N., KARAHAN, H. (2022). Political Climate and the Headscarf Issue in Turkey: A Perspective from the Labor Market. Insight Turkey, Cilt: 24 - Sayı: 01, 211–227. https://ajindex.com/articles/539157

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References (10)

  1. Hatice Karahan, “Postmodern Bir Finansal Darbe,” in Abdurrahman Babacan (ed.), Bin Yılın Sonu: 28 Şubat, (İstanbul: Pınar Yayınları, 2012)
  2. Women wearing a headscarf were allowed to work at blue-collar jobs in the past, but not white-collar jobs. Thus, this study focuses on the status of white-collar female employees only 3. Bekir Berat Özipek, “İnsan Hakları ve İhlaller Ekseninde Bir Örnek: Türkiye’de Başörtüsü Yasağı Sorunu,” in Neslihan Akbulut (ed.), Örtülemeyen Sorun Başörtüsü: Temel Boyutları ile Türkiye’de Başörtüsü Yasağı Sorunu, (İstanbul: AKDER Yayınları, 2008); Fatma Benli, 1964-2011 Türkiye’de ve Dünyada Başörtüsü Yasağı Kronolojisi, (İstanbul, 2011)
  3. Dilek Cindoğlu, Headscarf Ban and Discrimination: Professional Headscarved Women in the Labor Market, (İstanbul: TESEV Publications, 2011)
  4. Ali Murat Yel, “Islamophobia as Cultural Racism: The Case of Islamic Attire in Turkey,” Insight Turkey, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Spring 2021), pp. 169-189
  5. S. Sema Akboğa, “Turkish Civil Society Divided by the Headscarf Ban,” Democratization, Vol. 21, No. 4 (2014), pp. 610-633
  6. It should be underlined here that the AK Party governments not only dealt with the headscarf issue but also attempted to solve other deep-rooted social problems in Turkey. The National Unity and Fraternity Project initiated in 2009 (also known as the Demoratic Initiative Process) aimed to strengthen the status of ethnic and/or religious minority groups in the society, including Kurdish and Alevi citizens. Considering this broad initiative, the liberalization of the headscarf came at a relatively later stage. During this process, the increasing pressures exerted by headscarved women for their freedom played an important role. A noteworthy example is the 2011 campaign, “No Votes if No Headscarved Candidates (in the Parliament).
  7. Ayşe Saktanber and Gül Çorbacıoğlu, “Veiling and Headscarf-Skepticism in Turkey,” Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society, Vol. 15, No. 4 (2009), pp. 514-538
  8. An additional regulation published in the Official Gazette in August 2016 allowed policewomen to wear a headscarf, retrieved from
  9. Interviews conducted were approved by İstanbul Medipol University Ethical Committee, decision number: E-43037191-604.01.01-74436, (December 27, 2021)
  10. Hatice Karahan and Nigar Tugsuz, “The Silent Discrimination against Headscarved Professionals in the Turkish Labor Mar