The Rising Tide of Populism and Women’s Authoritarian Inclusion in Turkey under the Justice and Development Party Governance

This paper inquires into the gender dimension of populist governance in Turkey under the governments of religiously-conservative Justice and Development Party (JDP), characterized by a significant retreat from democratic progress after its second term in office. Its major research question is “How do gender and populism interact in the context of growing authoritarianism under the JDP era?” Women have played significant roles in the JDP’s electoral and political ascendancy as members, activists and voters since 2002. It can be contended that the party succeeded in women’s political mobilization by integrating middle-class women into the party around symbolic themes and by appealing to lower-class women through clientelistic linkages. The legislative and constitutional reforms passed under the successive JDP governments to promote women’s socio-economic citizenship rights were hailed by the party as ushering in a “silent revolution” for women. Meanwhile, the JDP’s multifaceted populism targeting the economically and culturally disadvantaged groups has been founded on a pseudo ‘pro-people’ discourse projecting an image of inclusion. This paper problematizes the contradictory aspects and the implications of the populist inclusion of women’s interests by the JDP in two specific areas: the promotion of women’s political representation and gender equality in employment. It analyzes the discursive strategies, institutional bastions, and the implementation paradoxes underlying the party’s gender populism in these realms. The JDP’s gender policies have been so far analyzed through the lenses of conservatism, Islamic politics, Europeanization and neo-liberalism; yet, the threads of its populism cross-cutting these dynamics during are not properly delineated from a gender perspective. It is contended here that this gender populism has been reproducing dependency for women on the patriarchal state and on the family, and that they have failed in addressing the differences among women. Theoretically, the paper aims at contributing to the analyses of gender policies under populist-authoritarian governance. Empirically, the research analyzes the discourses and the debates on the policies of the government towards women and their repercussions for the empowerment for women Turkey.