Veiled Europeanisation of welfare state in Turkey: Gender and social policy in the 2000s

Abstract

The foundation of the Turkish Republic and its modernisation project rested upon changing women's secondary role within society and providing them with equality through development and education. These reforms had an impact on changing the status of upper and middle class women, but its impacts remained limited for women in the lower societal segments. A further major change in regards to gender equality is the attempt of Turkey to be an EU member, which resulted in a major legislative shift through EU directives being inserted into national legislation. The result was a move towards the Europeanisation of its welfare regime in the last two decades. The current in progressive reforms has also given rise to a counter trend, namely the Islamist and conservative political party took office in 2002. The Justice and Development Party (AMP) actually supports the rights and public visibility of women with headscarves and championed women's roles as mothers and wives. Therefore, it based its discourse on those women's issues that were enmeshed with family and religious affairs. In this way, the status of women and the relationship between gender and social policy in the Turkish welfare system offer an ample example of the veiled Europeanisation of the welfare model in Turkey, in which women's issues are seen as a pendulum between EU legal regulations and the conservative discourse of the AMP government. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.