CROSSROADS IN CULTURAL STUDIES
Fourth International Conference
June 29 - July 2, 2002, Tampere, Finland

Women and the Politics of Activism in the Post-Quake Era in Turkey

Organisers: Nazan Haydari and Müge Iplikci-Çakir

Plikci-Çakir, Müge (Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey) NEW LIFE IN NEW TOWNS
Using the testimonies of "middle class" women who suffered from the devastating consequences of the 1999 Izmit earthquake, this paper explores the changes in these women's stereotypical life patterns, symbolized by home, family and gender roles. Highlighting the hidden and often culturally neglected side of "womanhood" in Turkey, I demonstrate the counter-narrational nature of these testimonies to the Patriarchal and Feminist discourses which have their own "occupied territories" in Turkey. As suggested by the Patriarchal discourses, women who suffered from the quake are not necessarily active actors of the nationalist or islamists discourses. Similarly, the fact that they occupy the "center" by residing in the big cities and their territories are depictions of flawed nature of agendas, does not mean their standpoints are represented by the dominant Feminist discourses. In fact, the quake victims and their stories are the patterns of spatial segregation emanating from their class, environment differentiation and hopelessness.

Kartal, Ümran (Istanbul University, Turkey) THE CATASTROPHY AND THE PRIVACY OF WOMEN
The devastating consequences of the August 1999 earthquake in the Marmara Region have changed the notion of privacy, especially for women living in the tents. In the tent communities, there were no walls anymore between families, and no borders between the private and the public. By becoming more open to the public, the bodies and intimacies (privacy) of women were damaged. 'Transparent' walls of the tents replaced 'thick' walls separating inside from the outside. Private lives of women were invaded when doorlocks replaced by the zippers. In this paper, by retelling the stories of the women -with their own words- living in the tents in Düzce, I try to demonstrate the emotional catastrophe the loss of privacy caused in their lives and the means they have developed to cope with it.

Holzer-Ozgüven, Petra M. (Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey) THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EARTHQUAKE: RESTORATION OF THE SOCIAL LANDSCAPE IN DEGIRMENDERE AFTER THE MARMARA EARTHQUAKE IN AUGUST 1999
The Marmara Earthquake not only destroyed the families, the lives of people and the physical structures but also had a deep impact on the structure of the everyday life. Time and continuity ceased to exist in previous forms. Relationships and spaces were interrupted and needed restructuring. We, a group of filmmakers, were able to follow the lives of a group of women who were thrown together by fate and their will to change their lives and their future. Through the interviews with some founders of the "KDM"cooperative, which aims to create working and living spaces, and psychological, legal and social support for women in Degirmendere, this paper explores how the earthquake altered the lives of women and opened new possibilities to create new relationships. Also through a documentary, where the women speak for themselves, rather than being depicted as victims, I emphasize women' struggles to regain control over their lives.

Haydari, Nazan (Foothill Community College, USA) SABUN KÖPÜGÜ: RE-REPRESENTATION OF FEMINIST POLITICS
With a special attention to Sabun Köpügü, a radio program on Acik Radio (independent local station) voluntarily produced by Muge Iplikci, this paper sets its focus from the intersection of media and feminism. In the pre-Marmara quake era, organized movements, characterizing themselves as either "secular," "feminist" or "Islamist," defined and dominated the politics of 'feminism' in Turkey. I discuss that by reflecting multiplicity of women's concerns and forms of resistance in the post-quake era, Sabun Köpügü challenges dominant feminist discourses. Also by following the format of interviewing, the program forms a space for local and regional women's groups to represent themselves. Furthermore, producing such a program is itself a form of activism where media becomes a means of self-expression.