Mapping the Level of Knowledge in Gender Studies: a Mirror of Women’s Radicalism in Turkey

Abstract

This paper aims to map the research conducted on women and gender studies at universities in Turkey. The studies, projects, articles, books, seminars, conferences, training programs produced in this field take place in a wide variety of fields. The main material of this study is postgraduate theses written on women and gender issues. Thus, postgraduate theses written in the discipline of women and gender studies are evaluated within the framework of historical and political contexts. The institutionalization of academic feminism in Turkey is a radical intervention in the academic knowledge production process. Despite all the difficulties and obstacles, this process is a success story for Turkey. What does the knowledge of this mapping tell us? Where are these studies going? Is the radical intervention of feminism in Turkey still considered radical today? In order to think about the answers to these questions, it was tried to map the theses written on women and gender studies by taking data. In this study, the importance of the information obtained and the historical and political importance of emphasizing this information are analyzed by mapping the 'theses', which is an important part of the knowledge produced in women and gender studies in Turkey.