Gendering Europeanization? The Case of Civil Society in Turkey

How the European Union (EU) accession process context affected mobilisation of civil society in Turkey? Existing studies on Europeanization of civil society has shown that the EU provides a dramatic change to the political opportunity structure in candidate countries, increasing leverage for non-state actors. This research on the impact of the EU accession process on civil society in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Western Balkans pointed to differential empowerment of civil society- processes of resistance, transformation and adaptation. Extending this discussion to a new empirical setting, I explore the mobilisation strategies of women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Turkey. Using documentary analysis and in-depth interviews, I argue that the EU accession process context has empowered women’s NGOs in Turkey. The findings reveal firstly, that women’s NGOs succeeded to create political opportunities at the European level through participation in transnational networks such as European Women’s Lobby; secondly, that actors selectively use these opportunities to develop and to implement gender related policies in the domestic arena; and finally, that these usages of the EU context strengthened the positions of the NGOs in the domestic policy-making process. Yet, current problems pose significant challenges for civil society and limit their empowerment in Turkey. Civil society- women's NGOs- is an illustrative case for examining the nature, potential and limits of the Europeanization processes.