Papers by Zeynep Gulru Goker
Globalisation, Societies and Education
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.
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The SAGE Handbook of Action Research
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The SAGE Handbook of Action Research
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New Perspectives on Turkey, 2021
Based on the analysis of a meeting with nineteen women from civil society with diverse background... more Based on the analysis of a meeting with nineteen women from civil society with diverse backgrounds, invited to discuss what has gone wrong in Turkey’s Kurdish peace process and what women can do for peace in a highly polarized atmosphere, this article explores women’s dialogue in a conflict situation. With insights from deliberative and agonistic perspectives, the article shows that in a multiple-identity conflict, topical shifts in dialogue are accompanied by shifting alliances. The search for mutual definitions on conflictual issues renders the deliberation of sensitive issues difficult, so women circumvent polarizing discourses through indirect and covert language. However, the discussion of gender-based experiences with direct, contestational language helps women underline shared issues and address resentments. Dialogue’s transformative potential also depends on the existence of trust and an intersectionality perspective for which further dialogic initiatives should develop stra...
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Third World Quarterly, 2022
Using data collected from a dialogue meeting in Turkey of 19 women participants with different id... more Using data collected from a dialogue meeting in Turkey of 19 women participants with different ideological orientations, ethnicities and sects, as well as 10 in-depth follow-up interviews, this article explores the dynamics of listening and emotions in dialogue in multiple-identity conflicts. Considering listening as an important component of agonistic peace, the article aims to understand the conditions that help or hinder listening and one’s perception of being listened to in the face of weighty emotions in the context of women’s dialogic encounters. The article shows that agonistic listening facilitates the expression of emotions and views, and an interest in Other’s story, while an attitude of care stemming from previous experience of working together on women’s issues may help transform the antagonistic Other into an agonistic one. However, agonistic listening does not lead to significant perspective change and entails only a temporary suspension of one’s categories to lend the Other an attentive ear; it is a conception of listening that recognises the temporary and limited character of listening and the place of emotions in dialogue with the Other.
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Women's Studies International Forum, 2021
The lack of resolution of the Kurdish issue in Turkey has been a major source of grievance affect... more The lack of resolution of the Kurdish issue in Turkey has been a major source of grievance affecting the lives of many, particularly women. Research shows that conflict has gender-specific effects. Considering the particular ways in which women are impacted by long-term political tensions which also involve armed conflict, their standpoint seems highly valuable to corroborate the urgency of a democratic and peaceful resolution of this issue. Based on in-depth interviews with the representatives of civil society organizations, initiatives and women's organizations, the article explores women's perceptions of peace and justice, and it investigates their possible contribution towards a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue. We argue that the intersectionally diverse standpoint(s) of women, due to the particular gendered effects of conflict on their everyday lives, living conditions, bodily integrity and affective relationships, greatly contributes to an adequate conceptualization of peace and justice and the relation between them.
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Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences, 2021
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Beyond.Istanbul V. 9 Mekanda Adalet ve Beyoğlu, 2020
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Göker, Z. G. ve C. Özbay Der. Beyond.Istanbul V. 10 Mekanda Adalet ve Toplumsal Cinsiyet , 2021
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New Perspectives on Turkey, 2021
Based on the analysis of a meeting with nineteen women from civil society with diverse background... more Based on the analysis of a meeting with nineteen women from civil society with diverse backgrounds, invited to discuss what has gone wrong in Turkey’s Kurdish peace process and what women can do for peace in a highly polarized atmosphere, this article explores women’s dialogue in a conflict situation. With insights from deliberative and agonistic perspectives, the article shows that in a multiple-identity conflict, topical shifts in dialogue are accompanied by shifting alliances. The search for mutual definitions on conflictual issues renders the deliberation of sensitive issues difficult, so women circumvent polarizing discourses through indirect and covert language. However, the discussion of gender-based experiences with direct, contestational language helps women underline shared issues and address resentments. Dialogue’s transformative potential also depends on the existence of trust and an intersectionality perspective for which further dialogic initiatives should develop strategies.
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Kadın/Women 2000: Journal of Women's Studies, 2018
Gendered division of labour prescribing women's domestic and care work and men's labour market pa... more Gendered division of labour prescribing women's domestic and care work and men's labour market participation continues to be the cause of serious injustices affecting women and one of the determinants of women's social and economic inequality in the world. Certain social welfare policies such as caretakers' allowances can be interpreted as initiatives that aim to compensate the undervalued and non-income generating care work predominantly done by women. The article assesses such policies in the framework of feminist debates on gender, care and welfare and argues that as long as such policies assume that caring is women's natural job, they will fall short of serving gender equality. Re-visiting the feminist discussions on Basic Income, the regular payment of a monthly income to all citizens/residents of the state on an unconditional and universal basis, the article will discuss Basic Income as an alternative policy proposal that is more favourable in terms of its potential for advancing gender equality by providing women with economic security, engendering the re-valuation of care and challenging the gendered division of labour. Although Basic Income is not a panacea to the multiple problems women are faced with, the very discussion of this proposal from a gender perspective is valuable for emphasizing the role of care in human relationships and men's responsibility in equal role sharing.
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C. Özbay, M. Erol, A. Terzioglu, and Z. U. Turem (Eds.), The Making of Neoliberal Turkey , 2016
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Kadın/Woman2000 Journal of Women's Studies, 2020
Makale, bakım etiği yaklaşımının politik öznelik ve aktif vatandaşlık anlayışlarına katkısını, fe... more Makale, bakım etiği yaklaşımının politik öznelik ve aktif vatandaşlık anlayışlarına katkısını, feminist siyaset felsefesi çerçevesinde incelemektedir. Feminist siyaset kuramcılarının modern evrensel ahlaki akıl yürütme teorilerine getirdiği eleştirileri dikkate alan makale, bakım etiği perspektifinin vatandaşlık ilişki ve pratiklerine etkisini tartışmaktadır. Buna karşın, kadınların farklı bir ahlaki bakış açısı olduğunu iddia eden ya da anneliğin yüceltildiği özcü yaklaşımlardan ve bakımın apolitikleştirildiği bireyci yaklaşımlardan ayrılmaktadır. Bakım etiğinin toplumsal cinsiyet ekseninde, barış ve çevre tartışmaları ve hareketleri bağlamındaki yansımalarını irdeleyen makale, bakıma değer verirken ataerkil toplumsal cinsiyet rollerini yeniden üretmeyen, eşitlikçi, demokratik ve özenli vatandaşlık anlayışının, deneyime dayalı bir demokrasi ve vatandaşlık eğitimi aracılığıyla geliştirilebileceğini öne sürmektedir.
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European Journal of Women's Studies, 2019
Based on content analysis and in-depth interviews with the editors of 5Harfliler, Catlak Zemin an... more Based on content analysis and in-depth interviews with the editors of 5Harfliler, Catlak Zemin and Recel-blog, popular pro-feminist women’s websites in Turkey, this article shows that these websites constitute important projects in feminist memory work in two ways: (1) explicitly, by commemorating women in history, the gains of the women’s movement in Turkey, and by archiving misogynist policies and gender unequal legislation; (2) implicitly, in the essays written by anonymous women whose personal memories of feminist activism as well as oppression and patriarchy experienced in everyday life become sources for discussion of feminist identity and politics and contribute to women’s history writing from below. The websites also serve as a platform where feminist identity is negotiated and the past, present and future of feminist politics are discussed in a humorous, agonistic and affective style. The source of deliberation is often women’s everyday experiences and concerns rather than formal politics. Although keeping a distance from formal politics renders these websites open to criticisms of naiveté and apoliticism, they provide a creative platform for the constructive discussion of women’s shared everyday problems which are closely connected to a larger political context.
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Sabancı Üniversitesi Toplumsal Cinsiyet ve Kadın Çalışmaları Mükemmeliyet Merkezi (SU Gender) ve Research Worldwide Istanbul, 2019
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AG About Gender - International Journal of Gender Studies, 2018
O'Neil, M., Bencivenga, R., Gülrü Göker, Z., & Uçan Çabukçu, S. (2018). Perspectives on gender st... more O'Neil, M., Bencivenga, R., Gülrü Göker, Z., & Uçan Çabukçu, S. (2018). Perspectives on gender studies in Turkey. AG About Gender - International Journal of Gender Studies, 7(14), 208-226. doi:https://doi.org/10.15167/2279-5057/AG2018.7.14.1019
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Üniversitelerde Cinsel Taciz ve Saldırıyla Mücadele: CTS Çalışmaları, der. Gülriz Uygur ve Hülya Şimga, Doğu Akdeniz Üniversitesi Yayınları , 2018
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Papers by Zeynep Gulru Goker
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.
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.