Family, Gender, and Law in a Globalizing Middle East and South Asia

5. Institutions and Women’s Rights: Religion, the State, and Family in Turkey

79 5. InstitutionsandWomen’sRights Religion, the State, and Family in Turkey Zehra F. K abasakal Ar at The United Nations defines globalization as shrinking space, shrinking time, and the disappearance of borders (Human Development Report, 1999 1999). We can clarify this description by noting that it involves increased human mobility and interaction, the creation of an integrated single market , and development of common norms and values. Defined as such, globalization appears to be a process that is age-old (dating from ancient times), continuous, and irreversible. Facilitated by technological developments in transportation and communication, as well as by some sociopolitical changes (for example, capitalism and colonization), this gradual process can peak at certain junctures (Z. Arat 2005). Turkey has been an outward-looking country and active participant in the globalization process. The Ottoman Empire, ruling in three continents for six hundred years, not only integrated markets but also allowed for the coexistence of different religious and ethnic groups and their interaction. Various policies of modernization, which gained momentum in the midnineteenth century and were augmented by the nationalist leadership that established the Republic of Turkey in 1923, involved a deliberate effort to integrate Turkey into the Western world. Such efforts of integration and reform had important implications for women and intensified again in the period that followed the military coup of 1980. In this chapter I focus on three institutions—religion, the state, and family—that have been crucial to defining and maintaining gender roles 80 . Religion, Custom, the State, and Patriarchy in all societies. I assess how patriarchal norms have been reproduced, transmitted, and enforced through these three institutions, especially by the state, in the Republic of Turkey. I contend that although the secularization goal of the Kemalist leadership made the state a counterforce of religion and allowed it to create some opportunities for women after the establishment of the republic, the policies followed gender norms that were not much different from the ones promulgated by conservative religious interpretations; in fact, the state and religion, together, supported a culture and family model that reinforced the power of men over women. After examining the impact of these norms on women’s lives, I address some important developments that have taken place since the late 1980s and summarize the gender-related aspects of the recent legal reforms. I argue that the provisions favorable to women have been adopted by the parliament rather reluctantly, mainly to meet the conditions set by the European Union, which Turkey aspires to join, but also as a response to the pressure asserted by increasingly active women’s groups. Religion As a legacy of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey encompasses a diverse population. Nevertheless, as the religion of 98 percent of the citizens, Islam has been paramount in shaping the culture. As a world religion, Islam cannot be defined in singular terms, and its gender ideology is open to interpretation as well. Moreover, the subordination and hardship of Muslim women are caused and reinforced by many factors and cannot be reduced to patriarchal religious norms. Nevertheless, the popular interpretations of the religion have placed women in a secondary position. Here, I will highlight only a few important references frequently invoked as proof of men’s superiority over women, rather than providing a comprehensive analysis of the gender ideology of Islam.1 The Koran grants women property rights to be held under their own names, even after entering into a marital contract, but establishes an imbalance by assigning men inheritance rights that are twice the rights 1. For an assessment of women’s rights in the Koran, see Z. Arat 2000. Institutions and Women’s Rights . 81 of women (4:11). This element of inequality is often justified by Islamic jurists as enabling men to meet their Koranic responsibility of serving as the providers of their families (65:6–7). This sexual division of labor creates and maintains other gender roles that subordinate women, which are most profoundly expressed in verses that put men in charge of managing and disciplining women: Men are managers of the affairs of women for that God has preferred in bounty one of them over another, and for that they have expended of their property. Righteous women are therefore obedient, guarding the secret for God’s guarding. And those you fear may be rebellious admonish; banish them to their couches, and beat them. If they then obey you, look...