Papers by Asli Polatdemir
feministische studien, 2024
Gender, Place & Culture , 2023
In activist circles, the concept of resilience seems to have
captured the spotlight once enjoyed ... more In activist circles, the concept of resilience seems to have
captured the spotlight once enjoyed by resistance. Instead
of treating resilience as antithetical to resistance, and a discursive
neoliberal vehicle that seeks individual solutions to
collective problems, this article demonstrates its relationality
to resistance in the context of online/offline struggles of
feminist and LGBTI + activists challenged by mobilizations
against gender and sexual rights. Reflecting on the discussions
and outputs of a series of digital workshops involving
activists from Germany, Turkey and Sweden, the article
investigates from a transnational perspective the meanings
and aspects of collective resilience in the anti-gender context,
and what resilience entails in the increasing online/
offline hybridity of activism. Three themes emerge from this
investigation: the connectedness of resistance and resilience
across scale and context, the pronouncing of care and support
networks as activist resources, and the emergence of
the need and efforts to develop new alliances and solidarity
structures in the face of the dual challenges of anti-gender
mobilizations and neoliberalism. Resistance and resilience
are intertwined in gender struggles taking place in the
anti-gender context, in that the cultivation of resilience
through care networks, the mobilization of positive affect,
and the formation of dynamic and flexible solidarities enable
and help sustain resistances in the online/offline interface.
While online/offline hybridity offers opportunities to develop
and sustain individual/collective resources, the article finds,
attention should be paid to the processes of exclusion of
underprivileged women and queer people in hybrid times.
Globalization, Societies and Education, 2022
In Turkey, the quest for gender equality in universities takes place under increasing anti-gender... more In Turkey, the quest for gender equality in universities takes place under increasing anti-gender, authoritarian and neoliberal pressures. Based on interviews with academic change agents, this article explores gender equality efforts in different universities presented in the form of typology: project-led, collective and individual-led change. It suggests that change processes are context-bound, yet they face similar challenges in securing inclusivity, intersectionality and sustainability, which are better addressed by hybrid strategies. Differing from professionalised reform strategies in the global North, gender equality reform in Turkey’s universities provides insights transcending binaries such as that between the university and its outside, top-down and grassroots change, and formal and informal solidarities.
Feministische Studien, 2015
Das an der Universitat Bremen angesiedelte Forschungsprojekt „Frauenbewegungen im innerturkischen... more Das an der Universitat Bremen angesiedelte Forschungsprojekt „Frauenbewegungen im innerturkischen Vergleich“ untersucht Identitats- und Bundnispolitiken der diversen Frauenbewegungen in der Turkei, die anhand einer Dokumentensammlung, ethnographisch orientierter Feldbeobachtungen sowie 65 ExpertenInterviews analysiert wurden.
The category of gender is a topic open to discussion in poststructural, (queer-)feminist and post... more The category of gender is a topic open to discussion in poststructural, (queer-)feminist and postcolonial theory, as well as in identity politics of new social movements. The reflection on universal debates on collective subjects of women's movements comes to existence in Turkey as well. In accordance with this trend, the struggle for gender equality in Turkey faces critical interventions from women from different backgrounds, with various positionings for identities and differentiations. Even structural discrimination of, and violence against women are elements for activists to unite over, topics like dealing with diversity and building coalitions need to be put on the discussion table. By taking the historical steps of women's movements in Turkey into consideration, this paper aims to explore strategies towards the development of more productive and constructive debates on feminist issues, primarily by recognizing diversity within women's movements, enabling activists to form new alliances. This paper is based on first findings of field researches in Ankara, Istanbul, Diyarbakır, and smaller cities at the Aegean and the Black Sea Regions in 2014 and 2015 in the frame of an empirical field-research project on "Comparing women's movements in different cities in Turkey" conducted by Bremen University.
Conference Papers by Asli Polatdemir
“Gender and the Colonial” Conference 2015, SOAS, University of London, 12-14 May 2015
Podcasts and News by Asli Polatdemir
Vor dem Frauentag sind in der Türkei hunderte Frauen auf die Straße gegangen. Die Reaktionen der ... more Vor dem Frauentag sind in der Türkei hunderte Frauen auf die Straße gegangen. Die Reaktionen der Behörden: Gummigeschosse und Tränengas. Vor genau vier Jahren hat die türkische Regierung das Gesetz zum "Schutz der Familie und Prävention der Gewalt gegen Frauen" unterzeichnet. Wo bleibt die Umsetzung?
When a woman from Ankara and a woman from Muğla advocate for their rights, they have quite differ... more When a woman from Ankara and a woman from Muğla advocate for their rights, they have quite different ideas of what that means. They’ve had diverse experiences and are therefore different from one another in many ways. Charlotte Binder and Aslı Polatdemir made it their business to research whether or not and to what extent these women’s movements can work together, despite their differences.
Interview given by the project team "Comparing women's movements in Turkey" to Deutsche Welle Tur... more Interview given by the project team "Comparing women's movements in Turkey" to Deutsche Welle Turkish (in Turkish language)
Thesis Chapters by Asli Polatdemir
Reports by Asli Polatdemir
Sabancı Üniversitesi Toplumsal Cinsiyet ve Kadın Çalışmaları Mükemmeliyet Merkezi (SU Gender) ve Research Worldwide Istanbul, 2019
This text aims to map the recent status of women’s movements in the light of the field work carri... more This text aims to map the recent status of women’s movements in the light of the field work carried out in six cities in different regions of Turkey (Ankara, Diyarbakır, Muğla, Denizli, Trabzon, and Merkez and Hopa districts of Artvin). In this section, we will examine the
women’s movements as defined during 65 expert interviews conducted in order to analyse the status of women’s movements in Turkey and the political response to such movements and to the notion of gender with a regard to the multicultural, complex structure of the society in Turkey composed of multiple identities. We will first discuss these differences before turning to the central topic, namely an examination of the efforts made by women’s movements to build a coalition despite their differences and the extent to which they are working together.
The aim of this research project is to map the current position of women’s movements within diffe... more The aim of this research project is to map the current position of women’s movements within different sociocultural and regional settings in Turkey. The project thus analyses the diversity
of women’s movements and gender-based political positions, taking into account the complexity of the social structures in Turkey. The central question of the study is whether, and to what extent, these women's movements, despite their differences, work together and, if so, what are the common, overarching objectives that they pursue. In addition, the
study also examines the networking of women’s movements beyond local, regional and national borders.
Bu çalışma Türkiye'nin farklı bölgelerinden altı şehirde (Ankara, Diyarbakır, Muğla, Denizli, Tra... more Bu çalışma Türkiye'nin farklı bölgelerinden altı şehirde (Ankara, Diyarbakır, Muğla, Denizli, Trabzon, Artvin’in Merkez ve Hopa ilçeleri) gerçekleştirilen saha araştırmaları ışığında, ülkedeki kadın hareketlerinin güncel durumunu haritalandırmayı amaçlıyor. Bu bölümde ülkedeki çokkültürlü ve çokkimlikli karmaşık toplumsal yapı da göz önünde bulundurularak, Türkiye'deki kadın hareketlerinin ve toplumsal cinsiyet kavramı etrafında çeşitlenen siyasi duruşların masaya yatırılması için, 65 uzman mülakatı sonucunda tanımlanan kadın hareketleri yer almaktadır.
Uzman mülakatlarının analizleri sonucunda, Türkiye’deki kadın hareketlerinin çeşitliliğini ortaya... more Uzman mülakatlarının analizleri sonucunda, Türkiye’deki kadın hareketlerinin çeşitliliğini ortaya çıkarması için farklı grupların haritalandırılması girişiminin ardından bu araştırmanın merkezindeki asıl soruya bu bölümde odaklanılacaktır: Farklı siyasi duruşlara sahip kadın hareketlerinin bu farklılıklarına rağmen beraber çalışma potansiyelleri var mıdır? Kadın hareketleri ortaklık kurduklarında ne ölçüde birlikte çalışıyorlar? Hangi gruplar, hangi konularda ve hangi başlıklarda birbirlerine daha mesafeli duruşlar sergiliyorlar?
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Papers by Asli Polatdemir
captured the spotlight once enjoyed by resistance. Instead
of treating resilience as antithetical to resistance, and a discursive
neoliberal vehicle that seeks individual solutions to
collective problems, this article demonstrates its relationality
to resistance in the context of online/offline struggles of
feminist and LGBTI + activists challenged by mobilizations
against gender and sexual rights. Reflecting on the discussions
and outputs of a series of digital workshops involving
activists from Germany, Turkey and Sweden, the article
investigates from a transnational perspective the meanings
and aspects of collective resilience in the anti-gender context,
and what resilience entails in the increasing online/
offline hybridity of activism. Three themes emerge from this
investigation: the connectedness of resistance and resilience
across scale and context, the pronouncing of care and support
networks as activist resources, and the emergence of
the need and efforts to develop new alliances and solidarity
structures in the face of the dual challenges of anti-gender
mobilizations and neoliberalism. Resistance and resilience
are intertwined in gender struggles taking place in the
anti-gender context, in that the cultivation of resilience
through care networks, the mobilization of positive affect,
and the formation of dynamic and flexible solidarities enable
and help sustain resistances in the online/offline interface.
While online/offline hybridity offers opportunities to develop
and sustain individual/collective resources, the article finds,
attention should be paid to the processes of exclusion of
underprivileged women and queer people in hybrid times.
Conference Papers by Asli Polatdemir
Podcasts and News by Asli Polatdemir
Thesis Chapters by Asli Polatdemir
Reports by Asli Polatdemir
women’s movements as defined during 65 expert interviews conducted in order to analyse the status of women’s movements in Turkey and the political response to such movements and to the notion of gender with a regard to the multicultural, complex structure of the society in Turkey composed of multiple identities. We will first discuss these differences before turning to the central topic, namely an examination of the efforts made by women’s movements to build a coalition despite their differences and the extent to which they are working together.
of women’s movements and gender-based political positions, taking into account the complexity of the social structures in Turkey. The central question of the study is whether, and to what extent, these women's movements, despite their differences, work together and, if so, what are the common, overarching objectives that they pursue. In addition, the
study also examines the networking of women’s movements beyond local, regional and national borders.
captured the spotlight once enjoyed by resistance. Instead
of treating resilience as antithetical to resistance, and a discursive
neoliberal vehicle that seeks individual solutions to
collective problems, this article demonstrates its relationality
to resistance in the context of online/offline struggles of
feminist and LGBTI + activists challenged by mobilizations
against gender and sexual rights. Reflecting on the discussions
and outputs of a series of digital workshops involving
activists from Germany, Turkey and Sweden, the article
investigates from a transnational perspective the meanings
and aspects of collective resilience in the anti-gender context,
and what resilience entails in the increasing online/
offline hybridity of activism. Three themes emerge from this
investigation: the connectedness of resistance and resilience
across scale and context, the pronouncing of care and support
networks as activist resources, and the emergence of
the need and efforts to develop new alliances and solidarity
structures in the face of the dual challenges of anti-gender
mobilizations and neoliberalism. Resistance and resilience
are intertwined in gender struggles taking place in the
anti-gender context, in that the cultivation of resilience
through care networks, the mobilization of positive affect,
and the formation of dynamic and flexible solidarities enable
and help sustain resistances in the online/offline interface.
While online/offline hybridity offers opportunities to develop
and sustain individual/collective resources, the article finds,
attention should be paid to the processes of exclusion of
underprivileged women and queer people in hybrid times.
women’s movements as defined during 65 expert interviews conducted in order to analyse the status of women’s movements in Turkey and the political response to such movements and to the notion of gender with a regard to the multicultural, complex structure of the society in Turkey composed of multiple identities. We will first discuss these differences before turning to the central topic, namely an examination of the efforts made by women’s movements to build a coalition despite their differences and the extent to which they are working together.
of women’s movements and gender-based political positions, taking into account the complexity of the social structures in Turkey. The central question of the study is whether, and to what extent, these women's movements, despite their differences, work together and, if so, what are the common, overarching objectives that they pursue. In addition, the
study also examines the networking of women’s movements beyond local, regional and national borders.