Reconceptualising Women’s Activism in Iran and Turkey at the Turn of the 20th Century

Both Atatürk’s and Reza Shah’s reforms and policies regarding women and their rights and roles in the newly established nation states have been criticised for not altering patriarchal gender roles and practices and for eradicating the independent women’s movements which had been hitherto active for decades. However, I argue that there is still a need for a more accurate analysis and reconceptualization of the relationship between the state and the women’s movement in Iran and Turkey at the turn of the 20th century. I propose the concept of ‘reciprocal gain’ as an alternative reading of the relationship between the two in this critical period since it better describes the dynamics of this complex relationship with an emphasis on ‘reciprocity’ and does justice to the agency of the activist women by acknowledging their ‘gain.’ Based on a comparative analysis of the primary and secondary sources on the subject in both countries, this paper reinterprets women’s activism and their dynamic relations with the state and concludes that their activism in this period was pragmatically designed, took strategic forms in the fast-changing political contexts, and managed to insert a great influence on the policies of the nation states.