Rural Migrants and Patriarchy in Turkish Cities

Tahire Erman

International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2001, vol. 25, issue 1, 118-133

Abstract: This article investigates patriarchy in the context of migration to cities in Turkey. It focuses on the ways in which patriarchy reproduces itself in the lives of migrants – for example through the local community, which reproduces traditional patriarchal control in the urban context, and through the social construction of female labour within the framework of the ideology of familialism and the housewife ideology in which women's economic contributions are devalued. Furthermore, the labour market, which offers low‐level jobs for migrant women, as well as growing concerns about moral corruption in the city, inflated by the media, act to keep women at home and inside their communities under the control of ‘their men’. The article also examines the attempts of individual migrant women to create niches for themselves in which they enjoy some autonomy and find personal meaning. This suggests a dynamic relationship between women and patriarchy. By examining the significant role of culture in reproducing patriarchy, the article contributes to a further elaboration of the concept of patriarchy developed by Walby. Cet article étudie la patriarchie dans le cadre de la migration urbaine en Turquie. Il s'attache aux modalités d'auto‐reproduction de ce système dans la vie des migrants, notamment: la régénération, par la communauté locale, du contrôle patriarcal traditionnel dans le contexte urbain; la structure sociale du travail féminin dans le cadre idéologique du familialisme et de la femme au foyer, les contributions économiques des femmes y étant dévalorisées. En outre, le marché du travail (offrant des postes peu qualifiés aux migrantes), et les préoccupations croissantes de corruption morale dans la ville (amplifiées par les média) participent au confinement des femmes à la maison et dans leur communauté sous le contrôle de ‘leurs hommes’. L'article retrace également les tentatives de certaines migrantes pour créer des niches individuelles où elles jouissent d'une certaine autonomie et trouvent un but personnel. Cela suppose une relation dynamique entre les femmes et la patriarchie. En examinant le rôle important de la culture dans la reproduction de ce système familial, l'article affine le concept de patriarchie développé par Walby.

Date: 2001
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