Entangled in Secular Nationalism, Feminism and Islamism

Abstract

This article focuses on the experiences of Konca Kuriş, a veiled Turkish activist, in order to explore the meaning of feminism and the construction of the feminist subject in the non-West. I specifically argue that feminist activism gains meaning in and through interactions among different groups of women and within larger historical discourses. Through a focused analysis of 20th-century Turkish political history, I unpack the multilayered formation and reception of Kuriş's experiences with respect to the nationalist trajectory of secularization, interactions among local feminist groups, and the patriarchal Islamist elite.