Why Property Matters? New Varieties of Domestic Patriarchy in Turkey

Abstract

Abstract This article extends theories on varieties of gender regimes by arguing for the significance of property. Drawing on the case study of Turkey, it proposes that gendered property ownership diversifies patriarchal relations of labor. This historical-sociology-based case study method is used to differentiate two forms of domestic patriarchy: premodern and modern. In premodern domestic patriarchy, women’s exclusion from agricultural landownership, in conjunction with the dominance of small landownership, sustains the patriarchal exploitation of labor in agriculture. In modern domestic patriarchy, women’s exclusion from paid employment, along with dispossession and increasing wage dependency, maintains the patriarchal exploitation of labor within the home.