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Women in Radical Left in Iran and Turkey during the 1970s
Abstract by Sevil Cakir Kilincoglu On Session 133  (Turkish-Iranian Encounters)

On Saturday, November 19 at 8:00 am

2016 Annual Meeting

Abstract
The beginning of the 1970s marked the fading away of the spirit of the student movements and the flourishing of militant revolutionary activism in both Iran and Turkey. In accordance with their Western Cold War alliances the Iranian and Turkish regimes followed a policy of brutal suppression of all sorts of social movements with communist tendencies. Convinced that their governments were collaborating with the United States and a comprador bourgeoisie was ruling over their country, beginning in the 1970s numerous left-leaning men and women from Turkey and Iran adopted armed struggle as the only way to get rid of those regimes and eventually establish an egalitarian, independent, and prosperous society. Inspired by the victories of guerrilla struggles in Latin America and the so-called Cultural Revolution in China, they embraced an eclectic mix of Maoist ideals and urban guerrilla warfare. In these unique conditions, the women among them had such extraordinary experiences that challenged not only traditional gender relations in their societies but also the growing sexual emancipation trajectory of the global sixties. There is a significant gap in our understanding of the history of women in social movements in Iran and Turkey due to lack of sources as well as negligence. In this respect, a comparative study of women’s activism—especially their motivations, perceptions and experiences—in revolutionary movements will be an important contribution. In this paper, I examine what sorts of challenges and opportunities women were presented with while pursuing radical leftist activism, especially in the safe houses of their revolutionary organizations. Through the oral history interviews I have conducted with former revolutionary women, I focus on their everyday lives, which revolved around organizational activities, daily chores, and responsibilities for disguising the house, analyzing the characteristics of gender roles and relations between men and women. With a comparison of Iranian and Turkish cases, this paper questions if we can talk about a common gendered experience for women in underground revolutionary movements in different countries. It will also provide us with invaluable insights regarding the consequences of global and local politics on women’s lives, experiences and ways in which gender relations were shaped in these revolutionary movements.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Iran
Turkey
Sub Area
None