4:00 p.m. -- "Turkey’s Economy and Globalization since 1980"
Şevket Pamuk, Professor of Economics and Economic History at Boğaziçi (Bosphorus) University in Istanbul, and Professor and Chair in Contemporary Turkish Studies at London School of Economics and Political Science
5:45 p.m. -- "Women’s Rights and Feminism in Turkey since 1980"
Yeşim Arat, Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Boğaziçi (Bosphorus) University in Istanbul.
To register for this event, RSVP on Eventbrite by Tuesday, April 2, 2013. If you have any questions or concerns, please email Ann Powers at powers.108@osu.edu.
Featured Speakers
Şevket Pamuk is Professor of Economics and Economic History at Boğaziçi (Bosphorus) University in Istanbul, and Professor and Chair in Contemporary Turkish Studies at London School of Economics and Political Science. He has published many books and articles on the economic history of modern Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, Middle East and Europe. He is a past president of European Historical Economics Society and the current president of Asian Historical Economics Society. He is also co-editor of European Review of Economic History.
Yeşim Arat is Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Boğaziçi University (Bosphorus) in Istanbul. She has worked on questions of women’s political participation and democratization in Turkey. Her scholarly work includes her books, Patriarchal Paradox: Women Politicians in Turkey; Rethinking Islam and Liberal Democracy: Islamist Women in Turkish Politics; Violence Against Women in Turkey, with Ayşe Gül Altınay; as well as numerous articles in edited volumes and professional journals. She was the provost of her university from 2008 to 2012 and is a member of the Science Academy, Turkey.
Abstracts
"Turkey’s Economy and Globalization since 1980"
This talk will offer an overview and assessment of Turkey’s experience with neoliberal economic policies and globalization since the first policy package prepared by Turgut Özal began to be implemented in January 1980. It will argue that Turkey’s domestic politics have hugely influenced the trajectory of the new policies and the opening of the economy. The rise of new economic elites and the Justice and Development (Ak) Party was one of the most important outcomes of this era. Three distinct sub-periods will be identified for studying these three decades.
"Women’s Rights and Feminism in Turkey since 1980"
This talk will assess the accomplishments and shortcomings of feminist activism in Turkey over the past three decades. I will argue that as some feminist goals are attained, more complicated impediments arise over time. I will first draw attention to the feminist challenge to the Republican framework in which women’s rights were upheld in Turkey. I will then discuss the changing nature of feminist activism influenced by second wave feminism in the West and expansion of women’s rights in Turkey. Finally, I will speculate on the new challenges feminists confront in the context of rising Islamist conservatism.
