The Politics of the Female Body in Contemporary Turkey: Reproduction, Maternity, Sexuality

by Hilal Alkan (Editor), Ayse Dayi (Editor), Sezin Topçu (Editor), Betül Yarar (Editor)

Overview

In Turkey, the Justice and Development Party government has introduced new regulations about reproductive rights, and shifted family and gender policies. Women's central role in reproductive and domestic work was swiftly reaffirmed, and abortion and IVF were newly debated. Taking Turkey as the case study, this is the first book to examine the various ways neoliberal modes of governing women's bodies interact with conservative and authoritarian measures.

The contributions focus on reproduction, maternity and sexuality, to explore the three main areas of governmental interventions into the female body. Topics for discussion include: the expansion of IVF and egg markets, the privatization of gynaecological and obstetrical care, differential treatment of poor and ethnic minority women's fertility/sexuality, and women's multiple responses to these shifts. While focusing on Turkey, the book presents analytical tools applicable under rising authoritarianisms and conservatisms worldwide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780755617418
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	05/20/2021
Series:	Gender and Islam
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Hilal Alkan is a researcher at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient Berlin, Germany.

Ayse Dayi is the founder and director of Orca Dreams: Platform for Mindful Living.

Sezin Topçu is a senior researcher at the French National Research Center (CNRS-CEMS-Ehess).

Betül Yarar is a senior researcher at the Unit of Intercultural Education, University of Bremen, Germany.
Ayse Dayi is the founder and director of Orca Dreams: Platform for Mindful Living.
Sezin Topçu is a senior researcher at the French National Research Center (CNRS-CEMS-Ehess).

Table of Contents

Illustrations
Contributors and Editors
Acknowledgements

Introduction: Changing Regimes of Governing Women's Bodies in Contemporary Turkey
Hilal Alkan, Ayse Dayi, Sezin Topçu and Betül Yara

Part 1: Governing the reproductive body: Emerging markets and contested moralities

1. Neoliberal Health Restructuring, Rising Conservatism and Reproductive Rights in Turkey: Continuities and Changes in Rights Violations
Ayse Dayi and Eylem Karakaya

2. Crafting moral agency in transnational egg donation: The case of Turkish egg donors
Burcu Mutlu

3. 'Fantastic microscopic hair of uterus': Navigating reproductive trajectories, biomedical bodies and renegotiation of heterosexual femininities and masculinities
Nurhak Polat

4. Feeling like a 'Misfit': Kurdish women's entangled reproductive experiences in Turkey
Safak Kiliçtepe


Part 2 Governing the maternal body: Between biomedical power and neoliberal healthcare


5. Banning caesareans or selling 'Choice'?: The paradoxical regulation of caesarean section epidemics and the maternal body in Turkey
Sezin Topçu

6. Monitoring pregnancies: The politics and ethics of reproductive health surveillance in Turkey
Seda Saluk

7. Egg-freezing narratives of women: Between medicalization and marketization
Azer Kiliç

8. Tactics of women up against obstetrical violence and the medicalization of childbirth in Turkey
Selen Göbelez


Part 3 Governing the sexualized body: Neoconservatism, authoritarianism and counter strategies


9. Misogynist Body Politics under the AKP Rule in Contemporary Turkey Esra Sarioglu

10. Disciplining pious female bodies/sexualities in the authoritarian times of Turkey: An analysis of public moral discourses on the 'Süslümans'
Betül Yarar

11 Guiding the female body through the Alo Fetva hotline: The female preachers' fatwas on religious marriage, religious divorce and sexual life
Burcu Kalpaklioglu

12 Positioning the critical pious self vis-à-vis authoritarian populist body politics: Limits of feminist dissent in pious women columnists' narratives in Turkey
Didem Ünal

Index

Editorial Reviews

This ground-breaking volume, replete with rich ethnography and cutting-edge theory, provides the single best analysis of women's reproductive lives under an increasingly authoritarian, neoconservative Middle Eastern regime. The authors document multiple forms of reproductive surveillance, discrimination, and violence against women in Turkey, while also highlighting women's pragmatism, creative use of technology, and feminist struggle. A must-read for Middle East gender studies scholars, medical anthropologists and sociologists of reproduction, and all those advocating for reproductive justice.” —Marcia C. Inhorn, Yale University, USA

“This book contains an outstanding ethnographic material and a brilliant analysis of the transformations Erdogan's rule has produced in women's material and moral lives. Focusing on neoliberal economic reforms, neoconservative state policies and religious revival, the volume's contributors explore their effects on women's reproductive and sexual practices. Inspired by a feminist critical engagement, the twelve chapters provide the reader with a multidimensional view of the authoritarian and often misogynist evolution of Turkish society in the early 21th century in light of women's reproductive, maternal and sexual bodies. Last but not least, this book offers an extensive insight into transnational socio-political dynamics that affect several countries of the MENA region stimulating the dialogue with scholars working in this area.” —Irene Maffi, Professor of Social Anthropology, Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lausanne, Norway

“Gender has always been at the center of nation-making in several contexts, including the Middle East. The chapters in this edited volume describes, in detail, how the recent political turn in Turkey cannot be understood without a thorough feminist critique of everyday politics.” —Sertaç Sehlikoglu, University College London, UK

“The book greatly contributes to our understanding of modern Turkish politics and will prove to be a resource for scholars and students alike.” —Middle East Monitor

“'Captivating book on the complex relationships between women's bodies and state, medicine, and religion in the new Turkey. An original and fascinating collection of empirically grounded papers on women's bodies, sexualities, agency, and politics. It provides a range of ethnographies from egg freezings to egg selling, from c-sections to abortion, from fatwas to Islamic fashion. Deeply theorized ethnographies discuss the discourses of sexuality and reproduction. The reader almost hears the voices of women in the beautiful writings of brilliant young scholars. A must-read for scholars of New Turkey, feminism, and sexualities.'” —Dilek Cindoglu, Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Turkey

From the Publisher