Rethinking the History of the Women's Movement on the Centenary of the Republic

In celebration of the centenary of the Republic, the Faculty of Social Sciences at Özyeğin University is organizing a conference titled "Rethinking the History of the Women's Movement on the Centenary of the Republic” on October 21, 2023 to explore the history of the women's movement from various perspectives, with speakers representing different disciplines.

From the final years of the Ottoman Empire to the present day, the struggle for women's rights and social activism have been accentuated during specific historical periods. Studies on the history of the women's movement also generally focus on these periods. However, the struggle for women's rights, their organization, and their political agendas show both variations and continuities across different periods. We wanted to organize a conference where we can underscore these variations and continuities, and revisit lesser-known periods and aspects in the history of the women's movement.

This way, we believe that the “wave” narrative of the women's movement will be enriched with the contributions of the perpetual “deep surge” of feminism’s intellectual bedrock. Moreover, we posit that an examination of the interplay between intellectual accumulation and organization will unveil fresh perspectives in documenting the history of the women's movement.

We planned the conference in three sessions. During the first session, our speakers will focus on a period that remains to be lesser known, albeit witnessing a notable surge in the formation of women's associations, namely the first fifteen years of the Cold War. This session will delve into the intellectual contributions of women of this period, including Suat Derviş, Neriman Hikmet, and Mediha Esenel (Berkes).

The second session will put the spotlight on the period between 1960 and 1980, characterized by the impact of military coups and a significant presence of the leftist movement. This session will examine the history of women organized within the leftist movement and the Progressive Women's Association. The writings of Sabiha Sertel, Sevgi Soysal, and Leyla Erbil and their contributions to the women's struggle will also be analyzed. Our third session will consist of discussions on the intellectual basis, organizational strategies, agendas, and discourses of the women's movement influenced by post-1980 neoliberal economic policies.

You may find the conference program below.

>>Shuttles will depart from the Çekmeköy Metro station at 9:30 am.