Loading...
Women workers’ education at the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions: excavating histories of transnational collaboration with the ICFTU
Title / Series / Name
Labor History
Publication Volume
65
Publication Issue
2
Pages
Authors
Editors
Keywords
Feminist labour history
ICFTU
Trade union education
Transnational collaboration
Turkey
Türk-iş
Women’s labour activism
ICFTU
Trade union education
Transnational collaboration
Turkey
Türk-iş
Women’s labour activism
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14018/14289
Abstract
This article explores the relationship between the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-İş) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) from the 1960s until the 1990s with a focus on the transnational collaboration of activists who organised educational activities for women workers and trade unionists to empower them as rights-seeking political subjects and strengthen their position within the trade union movement. Demonstrating how women’s trade union education evolved within the framework of local politics as well as global processes such as the Cold War and the emergence of a UN-led gender equality regime, it argues that global inequalities, geopolitical differences, and Türk-İş leaders’ ambivalent attitude towards women’s status in the trade union movement led to a loose, sporadic relationship between local activists and those from the west. At the same time, it was often these activists’ sustained efforts towards collaboration and the circulation of their agendas that pressured Türk-İş to invest in women’s empowerment in trade unions. Utilising archival and trade union sources as well as oral history interviews, the article integrates the work of women labour activists in feminist labour historiography, offering a more comprehensive understanding of trade unions’ gender politics in Turkey and globally.
Topic
Publisher
Place of Publication
Type
Journal article
Date
2023-11-8
Language
ISBN
Identifiers
10.1080/0023656x.2023.2272125