Democracy, Modernization and the Veil: Women's Relationship to Secularism in Contemporary Turkey

"Democracy, Modernization and the Veil: Women's Relationship with the Secularism in Contemporary Turkey" explores "the headscarf issue" in present-day Turkey. The headscarf, which over sixty percent of Turkish women wear some form of, has caused uproars in Turkish politics since the 1980s. Political scientists and political commentators alike have labeled the headscarf and the women who wear it a sign of an impending Islamist theocracy, proof of the end of Turkish secularism, and embodiments of the inherent patriarchy of Turkish society. Through research primarily based on nearly 200 interviews conducted over a four-year period, I examine what wearing "the headscarf" means for a woman personally, her political ideology, and her political participation. Theoretically, this research explores two competing ideals of secularism: the Republican elites' vision of secularism that envisions religion moving from the public sphere to being eradicated as part of the modernization process, and the view that modernity requires a secular state where the public space is not dominated by the laws of one religious group (i.e., the state is equidistant from all religions) but private individuals are free to practice or not practice religion. Chapter 2 uses information gathered from interviews with teachers to examine how the education system places women at the indicators of Turkey's secular status. Chapters 3 and 4 examine headscarf-wearing women's political activities, voting preferences, and political ideologies, including their attitude towards secularism. Chapter 5 discusses how secularism and the headscarf affect women's political organizations in Turkey. Chapter 6 addresses the European Court of Human Rights' rulings on the headscarf in Turkey.This research finds that, largely as a result of the discrimination they have faced in the education system, many headscarf-wearing women have embraced democratic liberalism. Their beliefs in individual rights leaves them alienated from many of the established political parties and political elites, including the political party that many religious men support, because the women feel the party does not respect the rights of all people.