IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/gender/v31y2024i4p1268-1289.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The political economy of women's cooperatives in Turkey: A social reproduction perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Meral Ugur‐Cinar
  • Kursat Cinar
  • Emine Onculer‐Yayalar
  • Selin Akyuz

Abstract

The article analyzes the viability of women's participation in women's cooperatives in Turkey. The prospects are evaluated by focusing on the sustainability of the cooperatives' economic activities as well as the recruitment and continued participation of individual women members. Taking a feminist social reproduction perspective, the article seeks to understand the underlying dynamics of women's participation in cooperatives, as this perspective enables us to analyze this participation as a process and captures the permeability between women's social reproduction duties, women's relationship with the state, and the economic market. Based on countrywide, semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with members of women's cooperatives in Turkey, we find that familial constraints as well as governmental policies and practices challenge women's economic development aspirations in the cooperatives, while social class deeply informs the challenges faced as well as the resources available to and strategies developed by women. The resulting analysis demonstrates that familial, social, and political issues related to social reproduction need to be addressed prior to focusing on the impact of cooperatives on women's empowerment. This is essential to ensuring the success of women's cooperatives and the continued provision of meaningful opportunities for women's participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Meral Ugur‐Cinar & Kursat Cinar & Emine Onculer‐Yayalar & Selin Akyuz, 2024. "The political economy of women's cooperatives in Turkey: A social reproduction perspective," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1268-1289, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:31:y:2024:i:4:p:1268-1289
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12925
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12925
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/gwao.12925?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kiri Langmead, 2016. "Challenging the Degeneration Thesis: the Role of Democracy in Worker Cooperatives?," Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity, European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, vol. 5(1), pages 79-98.
    2. Hilary Ferguson & Thembela Kepe, 2011. "Agricultural cooperatives and social empowerment of women: a Ugandan case study," Development in Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 421-429, May.
    3. Jenny Rodriguez & Evangelina Holvino & Joyce K. Fletcher & Stella M. Nkomo & Mayra Ruiz Castro & Evangelina Holvino, 2016. "Applying Intersectionality in Organizations: Inequality Markers, Cultural Scripts and Advancement Practices in a Professional Service Firm," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 328-347, May.
    4. Shelley Budgeon, 2019. "The resonance of moderate feminism and the gendered relations of austerity," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1138-1155, August.
    5. Naila Kabeer, 1999. "Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women's Empowerment," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 30(3), pages 435-464, July.
    6. Ignacio Bretos & Anjel Errasti & Carmen Marcuello, 2020. "Is there life after degeneration? The organizational life cycle of cooperatives under a ‘grow‐or‐die’ dichotomy," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(3), pages 435-458, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gea D. M. Wijers, 2019. "Inequality regimes in Indonesian dairy cooperatives: understanding institutional barriers to gender equality," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(2), pages 167-181, June.
    2. Kundu, AMIT, 2011. "Micro credit and women's agency: a comparative perspective across socio-religious communities in West Bengal, India," MPRA Paper 39632, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Oct 2011.
    3. Malapit, Hazel & Quisumbing, Agnes & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Seymour, Greg & Martinez, Elena M. & Heckert, Jessica & Rubin, Deborah & Vaz, Ana & Yount, Kathryn M., 2019. "Development of the project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI)," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 675-692.
    4. Small, Sarah F. & van der Meulen Rodgers, Yana, 2023. "The gendered effects of investing in physical and social infrastructure," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    5. Catherine Bros & Véronique Gille & François Maniquet, 2023. "Female labour, status and decision power," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(358), pages 453-476, April.
    6. Zhongwu Li & Fengzhi Lu, 2024. "The power of Internet: from the perspective of women’s bargaining power," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    7. Smith, Lisa C. & Byron, Elizabeth M., 2005. "Is greater decisionmaking power of women associated with reduced gender discrimination in South Asia?," FCND discussion papers 200, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Helen M. Haugh & Alka Talwar, 2016. "Linking Social Entrepreneurship and Social Change: The Mediating Role of Empowerment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(4), pages 643-658, February.
    9. Yang Yang, 2023. "Hukou Identity and Economic Behaviours: A Social Identity Perspective," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph23-02 edited by Catherine Bros & Julie Lochard, February.
    10. Korzenevica, Marina & Fallon Grasham, Catherine & Johnson, Zoé & Gebreegzabher, Amleset & Mebrahtu, Samrawit & Zerihun, Zenawi & Ferdous Hoque, Sonia & Charles, Katrina Jane, 2022. "Negotiating spaces of marginality and independence: On women entrepreneurs within Ethiopian urbanization and water precarity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    11. Sudha Narayanan & Udayan Rathore & Mohit Sharma, 2019. "Women's nutritional empowerment and their well-being Identifying key drivers in India and Bangladesh," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2019-004, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    12. Anju Mary Paul & Jiang Haolie & Cynthia Chen, 2022. "If caring begins at home, who cares for the carers? Introducing the Global Care Policy Index," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 13(5), pages 640-655, November.
    13. Nayana Bose & Shreyasee Das, 2021. "Women's Inheritance Rights and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from India," DETU Working Papers 2101, Department of Economics, Temple University.
    14. Tehmeena Iqbal & Shujaat Farooq & Ihtsham Ul Haq Padda, 2021. "Can Empowerment be Enhanced by Putting Cash in the Hands of Poor Women? Learning from Pakistan’s BISP Program," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(3), pages 760-792, June.
    15. Funmi (Olufunmilola) Ojediran & Alistair Anderson, 2020. "Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Global South: Empowering and Emancipating?," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, November.
    16. Kumar, Sumit & Patel, Ratna & Chauhan, Shekhar, 2020. "Does land possession among working women empower them and improve their child health: A study based on National Family Health Survey-4," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    17. Adato, Michelle & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela, 2002. "Assessing the impact of agricultural research on poverty using the sustainable livelihoods framework," EPTD discussion papers 89, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    18. Robin A. Richardson, 2018. "Measuring Women’s Empowerment: A Critical Review of Current Practices and Recommendations for Researchers," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(2), pages 539-557, June.
    19. Swallow, Kimberly A. & Swallow, Brent M., 2015. "Explicitly integrating institutions into bioeconomic modeling:," IFPRI discussion papers 1420, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    20. Krishnan, Suneeta & Rocca, Corinne H. & Hubbard, Alan E. & Subbiah, Kalyani & Edmeades, Jeffrey & Padian, Nancy S., 2010. "Do changes in spousal employment status lead to domestic violence? Insights from a prospective study in Bangalore, India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 136-143, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:31:y:2024:i:4:p:1268-1289. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0968-6673 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.