This presentation explicates the relationship between the economy and immigrant women from the Balkans in early Cold War Turkey. Consulting a wide array of sources, such as official documents, reports of women’s associations, local periodicals, memoirs, and oral histories with immigrant women and their descendants and building on the insights of critical gender studies, it argues that the participation of women in the labor markets was not only reflective but also transformative of their position in the society as they negotiated their social and economic rights through laboring in formal and informal sectors. Although Balkan immigrants have become a popular subject of academic research, the economic experience of women has not been explored in depth. This study expands the discussion of these communities and the politics of gender into the economic history of the country. It evaluates the experience of immigrant women within the broader political context. After coming to power in the aftermath of World War II, communists took dramatic steps in line with the restructuring of the political and economic system that included the nationalization of private enterprises and the collectivization of agriculture in the Balkans. Felt threatened by the magnitude of these changes, thousands of Muslims left their homes to make a living in Turkey and settled in different parts of the country. As Turkey tried to absorb increased numbers of immigrants, their well-being captured the attention of the public because their ability to have viable, sustainable livelihoods was key to their integration into Turkish society. Political authorities afforded a high priority to male employment because of their assumed role of men as breadwinners whereas they wanted women to focus their energies on keeping a home and raising children. As the years went by, and official financial support to newcomers decreased, however, women began to take on new economic roles that varied across social classes. Many women entered the workforce and were subjected to semi-proletarianization because of their participation in both family farming and wage production. A number of women worked as domestic workers in the homes of the wealthy. Some taught other girls and women how to sew Balkan-type dresses, how to read and memorize Quran, and how to cook new dishes mostly in women-only spaces. Apart from unpaid household work, these activities were their principal contribution to the household income, which provided fertile ground for the negotiation of their rights and status.