PSIR 480 | Course Introduction and Application Information - Department of Political Science and International Relations

Course Name

Gender Politics

Code	Semester	Theory (hour/week)	Application/Lab (hour/week)	Local Credits	ECTS
PSIR 480	Fall/Spring	3	0	3	6

Prerequisites	None
Course Language	English
Course Type	Elective
Course Level	First Cycle
Mode of Delivery	-
Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course	-
National Occupation Classification	-
Course Coordinator	-
Course Lecturer(s)	Öğr. Gör. Dr. Ezgi BORA
Assistant(s)	Araş. Gör. Nil DİKMENGİL

Course Objectives

The objective of this course is to expose students of political science to the significance of gender inequalities in political life with specific reference to the case of Turkey.

Learning Outcomes

#	Content	PC Sub	* Contribution Level
#	Content	PC Sub	1	2	3	4	5
1	differentiate between sex and gender
2	identify the reasons why gender is a social construct
3	reflect on issues such as power inequalities, equality-difference debate, citizenship, representation, participation, intersectionality and transnational feminism
4	reflect on the historical significance of women’s struggles for rights and inclusion.

Course Description

This course introduces basic concepts of gender and politics and explores the significance of gender inequalities in political life. The course uses theoretical approaches to analyze the role of gender in shaping major political concepts and institutions such as power, democracy, political representation, equal citizenship, political participation and activism on both national and transnational level.

Course Category	Core Courses
	Major Area Courses	X
	Supportive Courses
	Media and Management Skills Courses
	Transferable Skill Courses

Week	Subjects	Related Preparation	Learning Outcome
1	Introduction	Scott, J. W. (1986). “Gender: a useful category of historical analysis.” The American Historical Review, 91(5): 1053-1075. Celis, C. Et. al (2013) Gender and Politics: A Gendered World A Gendered Discipline’ The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Politics. Oxford University Press, 1-27.
2	Conceptual Framework	Okin, S. M. (1998). “Gender, the Public, and the Private” In Phillips, A. (ed.), Feminism and Politics, 116-141. Benhabib, S. (1998). “Models of Public Space: Hannah Arendt, the Liberal Tradition, and Jürgen Habermas” in Feminism the Public and the Private, Landes, J. (Ed.), 65-99. Oxford University Press. Shannon, D. (2016). “Difference and Equality” in Beyond the Binary: Thinking About Sex and Gender. Peterborough: Canada: Broadview Press, 149-159.
3	State and Citizenship	Connell, R. W. (1990), “The State, Gender, and Sexual Politics: Theory and Appraisal”, Theory and Society, 19 (5), 507 – 544. Stevens, A. (2007). Women, Power and Politics, ‘Women as Citizens’. London: Palgrave, 21-37. Additional: Koğacıoğlu, D. (2005). “Citizenship in context: Rethinking women’s relationships to the law in Turkey” in Citizenship and the Nation-State in Greece and Turkey, Birtek, F. and Dragonas, T. (eds) New York: Routledge.
4	Politics and Representation	Celis, K. (2009) ‘Substantive Representation of Women (and Improving it): What it is and should be about? Comparative Politics, 7, 95-113. Mansbridge, J. (1999). “Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? A Contingent 'Yes'”, The Journal of Politics 61(3), 628-657. Additional: Reynolds, A. (2013). “Representation and Rights: The Impact of LGBT Legislators in Comparative Perspective”, The American Political Science Review 107(2), 259-274.
5	Gender-Gap	Campell, R. (2014). Women and political activism: How can we help more women to climb the greasy pole? Gidengil, E., O’Neill, B. and Younf, L. (2010) ‘Her Mother’s Daughter? The Influence of Childhood Socialization on Women’s Political Engagement’, Journal of Women, Politics and Policy, 31, 334-355.
6	Democracy and Participation	Paxton, P. (2008) Gendering Democracy, in Goertz, G. and G. Mazur, A. G. (eds) Politics, Gender and Concepts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 47-70. Paxton, P. and Hughes, M.Ö. (2007). Explaining the Political Representation of Women: Culture and Social Structure’ in Women, Politics and Power: A Global Perspective. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press, 101-132. Lovenduski, J. (2005) ‘Equality Strategies and the Quota Movement, in Feminizing Politics, Cambridge: Polity, 83-104. Additional: Palacios, J. M. (2016). “The Sex of Participatory Democracy. An Analysis of the Theoretical Approaches and Experiences of Participatory Democracy from a Feminist Viewpoint”, Democratization 23(5): 940-959.
7	Intersectionality	Hancock, A. M. (2014). “Intersectional Representation or Representing Intersectionality? Reshaping Empirical Analysis of Intersectionality.” In Representation: The Case of Women, Escobar-Lemmon Maria C. and Taylor-Robinson Michelle M. (eds), 41–57. New York: Oxford University Press. Yuval-Davis, N. (2006) “Intersectionality and feminist politics”, European Journal of Women’s Studies, 13(3): 193-209. Additional: Ulutaş, Ç. Ü. (2022) “Sığınmacı kadın yoksulluğu ve feminist mücadele olanakları” https://www.catlakzemin.com/siginmaci-kadin-yoksullugu-ve-feminist-mucadele-olanaklari/
8	Transnational Feminism	Mendoza, B. (2002). “Transnational Feminism in Question,” Feminist Theory 3(3), pp. 295-314. Naples, N. (2002) “Changing the Terms: Community Activism, Globalization, and the Dilemmas of Transnational Feminist Praxis” in Women's Activism and Globalization, Naples, N. and Desai, M. (eds) New York: Routledge. Additional: Mohanty, C. T. (2003). Feminism without Borders Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity. Durham: London: Duke University Press.
9	Midterm Exam
10	Ottoman Feminism	Yıldız, H. (2016). Rethinking the political: Ottoman women as feminist subjects. Journal of Gender Studies, 1-15. Çakır, S. (2007). Feminism and feminist history-writing in Turkey: The discovery of Ottoman feminism. Aspasia, 1(1), 61-83.
11	Rebublican Feminism	Yeşim A. (1993). “Women’s Studies in Turkey: From Kemalism to Feminism” New Perspectives on Turkey 9 (1): 119-135. Nükhet S. (1993). “Feminism in Turkey: A Short History”, New Perspectives on Turkey, 3(1): 1-34. Cagatay, S. (2018). “Women’s Coalitions beyond the Laicism–Islamism Divide in Turkey: Towards an Inclusive Struggle for Gender Equality?”, Social Inclusion 6(4), 48-58.
12	Turkish Women’s Political Representation	Arat, Y. (1989) The Patriarchal Paradox: Women Politicians in Turkey. Rutherford: Fairleigh University Press, 62-103. Kabasakal-Arat, Z. (2017) “Political Parties and Women’s Rights in Turkey”, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 44 (2), 240-254. Ayata, A. G., and Tutuncu, F. (2008). Critical acts without critical mass: The substantive representation of women in the Turkish parliament. Parliamentary Affairs, 61(3), 461-475. Additional: Bektas, E. and Issever-Ekinci, E. (2019). “Who Represents Women in Turkey? An Analysis of Gender Difference in Private Bill Sponsorship in the 2011–15 Turkish Parliament”, Politics & Gender 15, 851-81.
13	Bodies and Sexualities	Parla, A. (2001). “The ‘honor’ of the state: Virginity examinations in Turkey” Feminist Studies, 27(1): 65-90. Kogacıoglu, D. (2004). “‘The Tradition Effect: Framing Honor Crimes in Turkey,”, Differences, 15 (2), 118-152. Miller, R. (2007). “Rights, Reproduction, Sexuality, and Citizenship in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey,” Signs, 32(2), 347-375. Additional: Demirci, T. and Somel, S. A. (2008). “Control over Feminine Body, Procreation and Public Health: Demography, Bio-Politics and Abortion in the Ottoman Empire (1789-1908)”, Journal of the History of Sexuality, 17(3): 3720.
14	Queer Theory	Cohen, C. (1997) J. Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics, GLQ, 3 (4): 437–465. Ahmed, S. (2016) ‘An Affinity of Hammers’ TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly, 3 (1-2): 22-34. ş, S. M. (2013). Tracking the invisible: Queer approaches to parenthood and family in Turkey [Unpublished master's thesis], Sabancı University, Department of Cultural Studies.
15	Review of the Semester
16	Review of the Semester

Course Notes/Textbooks

• Meyer, Mary K., and Elisabeth Prugl, Gender Politics in Global Governance, Rowman and Littlefield, 1999. • Lorber, Judith, Paradoxes of Gender, Yale University Press, 1994. • Rubery, Jill, Mark Smith and Colette Fagan, Women’s Employment in Europe: Trends and Prospects, Routledge, 1999. • Moghadam, Valentine M. , Modernizing Women: Gender and Social Change in the Middle East, Rienner, 1993. • Zurayk, Huda C., and FAdia Saadeh, “Women as Mobilizers of Human Resources in Arab Countries”, in Khoury, Nabil F., and Valentine M. Moghadam, Gender and Development in the Arab World, Zed Books, 1995. • Hollows, Joanne and Rachel Moseley, Feminism in Popular Culture, Berg 2007. • Tickner, J. Ann, Gendering World Politics, Columbia, 2001. • Mernissi, Fatima, “Muslim Women and Fundamentalism”, Middle East Report, n153, 1988, 811. • Marshall, Gul Aldikacti, “Ideology, Progress and Dialogue: A Comparison of Feminist and Islamist Women’s Approaches to the Issue of Head Covering and Work in Turkey”, Gender and Society, v19 n1, 2005, 104-120. • Kagitcibasi, Cigdem, “Status of Women in Turkey: A CrossCultural Perspective”, International Journal of Middle East Studies, v18 n4, 1986, 485-499.

*All course readings are available at the University Library and as open sources.

Suggested Readings/Materials

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Semester Activities	Number	Weighting	LO 1	LO 2	LO 3	LO 4
Participation	1	10
Laboratory / Application
Field Work
Quizzes / Studio Critiques
Portfolio
Homework / Assignments	1	20
Presentation / Jury
Project
Seminar / Workshop
Oral Exams
Midterm	1	30
Final Exam	1	40
Total

Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade	3	60
Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade	1	40
Total

Semester Activities	Number	Duration (Hours)	Workload
Theoretical Course Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours)	16	3	48
Laboratory / Application Hours (Including exam week: '.16.' x total hours)	16		0
Study Hours Out of Class	16	2	32
Field Work			0
Quizzes / Studio Critiques			0
Portfolio			0
Homework / Assignments	1	18	18
Presentation / Jury			0
Project			0
Seminar / Workshop			0
Oral Exam			0
Midterms	1	30	30
Final Exam	1	40	40
		Total	168

#	PC Sub	Program Competencies/Outcomes	* Contribution Level
#	PC Sub	Program Competencies/Outcomes	1	2	3	4	5
1	To be able to use the theoretical and practical knowledge acquired in the areas of Political Science and International Relations.		-	-	X	-	-
2	To be able to have the basic knowledge of, and make use of other disciplines which contribute to the areas of Political Science and International Relations.		-	X	-	-	-
3	To be able to distinguish the differences between classical and contemporary theories and to assess their relationship.		-	-	X	-	-
4	To be able to recognize regional and global issues, and develop solutions based on research.		-	-	-	-	-
5	To be able to assess the acquired knowledge and skills in the areas of Political Science and International Relations critically.		-	-	X	-	-
6	To be able to transfer ideas and proposals on issues in the areas of Political Science and International Relations to other people and institutions verbally and in writing.		-	-	-	-	-
7	To be able to identify the historical continuity and changes observed in the relations between the actors and institutions of national and international politics.		-	-	-	X	-
8	To be able to examine concepts, theories, and developments with scientific methods in the areas of Political Science and International Relations.		-	-	-	-	-
9	To be able to take responsibility as an individual and as a team member.		-	-	-	-	-
10	To be able to act in accordance with the scientific and ethical values in studies related to Political Science and International Relations.		-	-	-	-	-
11	To be able to collect data in the areas of Political Science and International Relations and communicate with colleagues in a foreign language ("European Language Portfolio Global Scale", Level B1).		-	-	-	-	-
12	To be able to speak a second foreign at a medium level of fluency efficiently.		-	-	-	-	-
13	To be able to relate the knowledge accumulated throughout human history to their field of experience.		-	-	-	-	-