The feminist struggle and the 1924 Constitution: feminists as constitutionalists

La lotta femminista e la costituzione del 1924: femministe come costituzionaliste

Abstract

To what extent did the republican feminists influence republican constitutionalism? What were their roles and strategies in terms of feminist advocacy during the early republican era (1923–1934)? How did they frame their claims and actions? What were their challenges and achievements vis-a-vis feminist constitutionalization? This article intends to answer these questions. To do so, it delineates the strategies, responses, and allies of republican feminism against patriarchal constitutional politics. It also attempts to demonstrate how the misogynist resistance of regressive actors and exclusionary modernization marginalized republican feminists and their strategies. The article concludes with an analysis of gender-based tensions in the constitutional polity of contemporary Turkey considering both early republican and contemporary feminist struggles.