Elected Neighbourhood Officers in a Turkish City (Izmir): Gendered Local Participation in Governance

Fatma Åženol

Urban Studies, 2013, vol. 50, issue 5, 977-993

Abstract: This paper explores how gender differences and the local scale influence individuals’ conditions (i.e. motivations/issues, resources and styles) for inclusion in formal politics as electoral candidates and then as officers. The experiences of women and men muhtar s—elected resident-officers of neighbourhoods—in Izmir (Turkey) in 2008 provided the data. It appeared that political participation via neighbourhood offices is shaped by (in)formal mechanisms of power relations that have been historically male-dominated with patriarchal rule(r)s at the neighbourhood level and with clientelist and statist ones at multiple scales. Men were supported greatly by their gendered neighbourhood-based networks. Women with male backing, including of incumbent muhtar s, had better chances. All of the muhtar s aimed at guiding residents through the governmental system, experiencing that the centralised state undermined muhtar s’ representative roles. By following certain tactics a few, mostly women, muhtar s were persistent enough to participate in the governmental system that operated through patron–client relationships.

Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:50:y:2013:i:5:p:977-993

DOI: 10.1177/0042098012458004

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