Abstract
Women in Turkey received the right to vote and run for office in local elections in 1930 and in national elections in 1934. While Republican modernizing reforms improved the status of women, there was a 10-year gap between recognizing women’s rights to education and to divorce and extending women the right to vote. This chapter argues that the extension of political rights to women was a product of both national and international factors. The modernization/Westernization and nation-building projects of the Republican elites, which emphasized women’s emancipation, provided an opportunity structure for women to organize and push for their political rights. At the international level, Republican elites granted women their political rights to show Turkey’s commitment to the project of modernization and to women’s rights.
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Bodur Ün, M. (2019). Turkey: From Symbols to Actors in the Struggle for Women’s Political Rights. In: Franceschet, S., Krook, M.L., Tan, N. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Women’s Political Rights. Gender and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59074-9_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59074-9_16
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