A Feminist Classroom in Authoritarian Times in “the new Turkey”
The Justice and Development Party (JDP) in Turkey works intentionally and aggressively to Islamize education as part of its broader Islamic-nationalist political project. JDP’s efforts aim
to ensure the reproduction of pro-regime loyalists and the silencing of dissidents, and in effect transforms the whole field of knowledge production. This paper explores discursive strategies and pedagogical practice in a feminist classroom that aims to foster critical thinking and dialogue over gender in society despite this authoritarian regime.
Drawing on critical and emancipatory pedagogy and autoethnographic reflections on my own feminist pedagogy in the classroom, I examine the strategies students and teachers develop to adopt to and survive in an authoritarian political environment. I discuss the merits of the argument that education promotes democratization by considering the current restrictions that are imposed on education in Turkey, and their consequences for classroom dynamics. I argue for a feminist epistemology that stands for embodied education resting on critical reflection and constructive dialogue over shared experiences. Last but not least, I consider also the moments where dialogues collapse, pedagogical practices fail or are simply not applicable.