Turkish women and the issue of Muslim moral renewal: the case of MUSIAD (Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association).

Abstract

This study problematises Muslim women's role and place in the renewal of the new Muslim morality from the Muslim businessmen's point of view and it is based on interviews conducted during the late 1990s. Two waves of Turkish modernisation has been identified regarding the studies of Turkish/Muslim women's role and positioning in the modernisation process: In the first wave, modernisation is identified with a fast Westernisation trend while the second wave showed a much more indigenous/Islamic character of modernisation process in its nature. A renewed Muslim morality among some groups is a result of changing life conditions deriving from educational as well as economic opportunities for the people newly urbanized and for the people living in the periphery of the country. Yet, the study also includes some shared features of bath waves -representative of bath secular and Islamic. Among these shared features, the most distinctive is the socio-politically and publicly motivated nature of the demand, unlike the Western women movements that were stamped by economic/material problems of working fife conditions.

Keywords: Turkish Women, Muslim Women, Musiad, Islam. New Muslim Morality.

Oz

Bu calismada Turkiye'nin madernlesme surecinde dini gelenege bagli kadinin konumu ve oynadigi rol acisindan iki tayin edici asama bulundugunu ileri surulmeye calisisldi. Kendisini tarihsel kosullar geregi hizli ve radikal bir batililasma dalgasi biciminde artaya kayan ilk dalgayi daha yavas gerceklesen ve 1980'lerde belirgin hale gelen daha yerel ozelliklere sahip ve bu calismada belli cevrelerce modernlesme anlaminda tanimlanan ikinci dalga izlemistir. Modernlesmenin ulke capina yayginlasmasini mumkun kilan altyapisal ve egitsel yatirimlarin artmasi sonucunda kitlesel bir bicimde modern yasama katilma zorunlulugunun bit yansimasi olarak gelisen ikinci dalgaya damgasini vuran dini gelenege bagli gruplar arasinda gelisen Musluman kadin kimligi ve olusan yeni Islami etik anlayisi baglaminda oynadiklari rolun Musluman erkegin bakis acisindan irdelenmesi (1990'larin sonlarinda gerceklestirilen MUSIAD uyeleri arasinda yapilan bir alan calismasinin verilerine dayali olarak) bu calismanin ana dogrultusunu olusturdu. Bununla beraber, Musluman/yerel kadin modernlesmesinin elde ettigi ozgullukleri yaninda Turkiye'de genel olarak kadinin cagdas yasama katilimina damgasini vuran ortak naktalar da tartismaya dahil edilmeye calilismistir. Makalede, sonuc olarak Bati'da calisma yasaminin sorunlarindan kaynaklanan iktisadi/maddi talepleri ekseninde baslayip yogunlasan kadin hareketlerinin aksine, Turkiye'de kadin hareketinin her iki asamasinda da kamusal katilim kanallarinin zorlanmasina tekabul eden turden sosyo-politik, iktisadi olmayan taleplerin yonlendirdigi sekuler ve Islami olarak ayristirilan bu iki asamanin en temel ortak noktasini olusturdugu dusuncesine varilmistir.

Anahtar Sozcukler: Turkiye'de Kadin, Musluman Kadin, Islam, Musluman Kadin ve Yeni Musluman Etik

"The image of passive Muslim house woman cannot represent our wives. The truth is they are very active in public matters as well as in our lives." (From an interview with a businessman)