Women’s Empowerment via Women’s Cooperatives: An Ethnographic Account from Turkey

OpenAlex · English

Abstract This article explores the potential of women’s cooperatives for women’s empowerment in patriarchal societies. The article is based on extensive ethnographic research in Kastamonu, Turkey, where one of the researchers has become an active member of a women’s cooperative for a full year. The article underlines that women’s cooperatives offer unique and valuable opportunities for the advancement of women’s rights and gender equality despite the patriarchal norms and social reproduction duties that women face. However, as the article suggests, the gains and experiences of women from women’s cooperatives and their empowerment potential are context-dependent, and are contingent upon the individual characteristics of their members based on their social class, educational background, and active participation in the cooperatives.