Session Information
32 SES 14 A, Searching for diverse patterns of organizing: Pathways, Practices and Pitfalls
Symposium
Contribution
Focusing on the various practices of women's co-operatives, this study aims to reveal different strategies for organizing towards a diverse economy and their possible contribution to democratic transformation. In this study, findings, basis on the semi-structured interviews with women's cooperatives in Izmir Province may provide insight to discuss and evaluate the potentials and pitfalls of organizational learning in, by, and between (cf. Göhlich a.o. 2018) the women's cooperatives. The most distinctive feature of women's cooperatives from for-profit enterprises is creating an alternative organizing process. This paper proposes to discuss the impact of women's cooperatives as a new imaginary of the economy by and for women beyond the Western notion and concept. The existing literature on women's cooperatives in Turkish mainly focuses on the empowerment of women, however, this research attempts to discuss women's co-operatives by positioning those as diverse economies. By articulating democratic values into work and employment, women create a viable and diverse organizational model. This potential reveals mostly in relations of production and redistribution, the participatory and democratic management processes. Within and amongst the organizations, the diversity in women's backgrounds, the organizing purposes, the scale of organizations, the areas of the activities, and the rural-urban spaces have resulted in a variety of strategies. Women, as an agent, create hetero-political spaces. Here, the agent is a "normal" woman, not a prominent social, economic, or political actor who has the power to act and transform. In the women's cooperatives, women not only transforming the economy but also, transforming themselves in, by, and between the women's cooperatives. At the same time, their organizing strategies inspire other "possible" organizing potentials. By creating their networks, women exchange their knowledge, learn together and advocate around common goals. Apart from the potentials, the internal and external pitfalls in, by, and between the women's cooperatives will be discussed to better understand the main obstacles to creating transformative pathways. They may not be able to struggle with for-profit organizations within the market economy. To reach their main goals, the leadership of a few people may come to the fore, and democratic processes may be disrupted. Or, as recognized and promoted structures, public authorities may pose a threat to their independence by instrumentalizing them for their political purposes.
References
Cazgir, K. D. (2020). Covid-19’la Mücadelede Sosyal Dayanışma Ekonomileri: İzmir Kadın Kooperatifleri. Strata İlişkisel Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, No.5, September 2020, 59-88. Cazgir, K. D. (2022). WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT THROUGH CO-OPERATIVES: THE CASE OF WOMEN’S CO-OPERATIVES IN IZMIR [M.S. - Master of Science]. Middle East Technical University. Cinar, K., Akyuz, S., Ugur-Cinar, M. & Onculer-Yayalar, E. (2019) Faces and Phases of Women’s Empowerment: The Case of Women’s Cooperatives in Turkey, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State&Society, 1-28. Duguid, F., Durutaş, G., Wodzicki. M. (2015). The current state of women’s cooperatives in Turkey. Washington, DC: World Bank. Göhlich, M.; Novotný, P.: Revsbæk, L.; Schröer, A.; Weber, S. M.; Yi, B. J. (2018): Research Memorandum Organizational Education. In: Studia Paedagogica. 23 (2), pp. 205–215. Ryder, G. (2015). Leveraging the cooperative advantage for women’s empowerment and gender equality. International Labour Organization: Cooperatives and The World of Work No.1.
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