Şirin Tekeli

Şirin Tekeli (28 February 1944, Ankara – 13 June 2017, Bodrum) was a feminist, academician, translator, writer, activist and one of the pioneers of second wave feminism in Turkey.

Şirin Tekeli
Born(1944-02-28)28 February 1944
Ankara, Turkey
Died4 December 2017(2017-12-04) (aged 73)
Bodrum, Turkey
NationalityTurkish
Spouse(s)
Ahmet Tekeli
​
​
(m. 1966; died 2010)​
AwardsOrdre des Palmes Académiques

Early life and education

After graduating from Ankara Kiz Lisesi in 1961, Şirin Tekeli moved to France to learn French. By reading Simone de Beauvoir's work, she became familiar with feminism. In 1963 she began studying Law in Paris, however she transitioned to University of Lausanne in Switzerland to study social and political science. She graduated in 1967.

Career

In 1967, she returned to Turkey and became the first female academician to enter the Chair in political science at Istanbul University. In 1973 she obtained her PhD with a thesis on David Easton's System Theory. In 1978, she obtained her associate professor title with her, at the time "controversial", habilitation thesis on women’s participation to politics named "Kadınlar ve Siyasal Toplumsal Hayat". (Women and Political Social Life). This thesis, had a great effect on her ideology, she recalls :

"I was a "timid feminist" but by the time I finished it I saw clearly that women were being oppressed, exploited and excluded from the public sphere. It was not capitalism that was doing this, it was male dominance".[1]

After her thesis, she started working on elections. She returned to France and spent the academic year 1979–1980 at the Scientific Research National Center (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) (CNRS) with a scholarship, learning cartography. She, during this period, formed a computer database, with all the data concerning the elections in Turkey, and studied the sociology of elections in urban areas with Jean Ranger and his team. In 1980-81 she organized a seminar on the sociology of politics[2]

When the Council on Higher Education (Yükseköğretim Kurulu - YÖK) was established, after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, under the military government in Turkey, she resigned from her academic position as she believed that YÖK limited the freedom of thought and academia. This leave was originally temporary, as Tekeli hoped that YÖK would only exist for a few years, however, the institution still stands today.

Activism

After she left academia, she began an active role in the feminist movement of Turkey. Seeing the 80s as the "years of action",[3] she dedicated herself to ameliorate women's situation and raise awareness in Turkey via campaigns and protests. In the 90s, "the years of institutionalisation",[4] as she calls them, have started: Tekeli focused on creating associations and foundations.

Years of action

Following Turkey’s decision on not changing the civic law in accordance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW), in 1986 she took part in a petition demanding changes in the constitution, laws and practice, in accordance with the contract.[5]

On 17 May 1987, she participated to the first legal protest after the military coup, and demanded an end to domestic violence.[6] In 1989 she took part in the Mor İğne (Purple Needle) campaign, creating awareness against sexual abuse, In the 1980s she also got involved with various campaigns against murder of divorced women.

Years of institutionalisation

To make the fruits of the actions taken in 1980s sustainable, she took part in the creation of the following foundations and associations:

  • Insan Haklari Dernegi (The Human Rights Association) - 1986
  • Helsinki Yurttaşlar Derneği (Helsinki Citizens' Assembly) - 1989
  • Mor Çatı Kadın Sığınağı Vakfi, (Purple Roof Women's Shelter Foundation) - 1990
  • Kadın Eserleri Kütüphanesi ve Bilgi Merkezi Vakfı ( Women's Works Library and Information Center Foundation) - 1996
  • Kadın Adayları Destekleme Derneği (Association for Supporting Women Candidates - 1997
  • Anakültür Kooperatifi (Anakültür Cooperative) - 1997
  • Winpeace – Turkish and Greek Women's Peace Initiative - 1997
  • Şirin-Ahmet Tekeli Kadın Hukukçuları Destekleme Vakfı (Şirin-Ahmet Tekeli Association for Supporting Women Lawyers) - 2010

Selected works

During her years in academia and after her resignation she contributed to Turkish feminist literature. She worked as an author, editor and a translator. The translations she made helped the creation of the Turkish feminist terminology.

Turkish
  • David Easton'un Sistem Teorisine Katkısı Üzerine Bir İnceleme. İstanbul 1976
  • Kadınlar ve Siyasal-Toplumsal Hayat. İstanbul 1982
  • Kadınlar İçin. İstanbul 1988
  • 80'ler Türkiye'sinde Kadın Bakış Açısından Kadınlar. İstanbul: İletişim 1990, 1995, 2010.
  • Meryem Koray ile: Devlet-Kadın-Politika. İstanbul: TÜSES, 1991

German
  • Frauen in der türkischen Politik, in: Die Frau in der türkischen Gesellschaft. Abadan-Unat, N. (Hg.), Frankfurt 1985
  • Frauen in der Türkei der 80er Jahre, in: Aylâ Neusel, Şirin Tekeli, Meral Akkent (Hg.): Aufstand im Haus der Frauen. Frauenforschung aus der Türkei. Berlin, 1991.
  • Die Neue Frauenbewegung in der Türkei der 80er Jahre, In: Ayşe Esin, Anıl Kaputanoğlu, Ozan Kesim, Mine Kırbıyık (Hg.): Türkische Frauenbewegung. Karlsruhe, 1992.

English
  • Women in Modern Turkish Society. Zed Books, 1994.

Translations
  • Maurice Duverger: Siyaset Sosyolojisi.(Sociologie de la Politique) İstanbul: Varlık 1982.
  • Andree Michel: Feminizm.(Le Féminisme) İstanbul: Kadın Çevresi 1986.
  • Alain Rouquié: Latin Amerika'da Askeri Devlet. İstanbul: Alan 1986
  • 19. y.y. Feminizminden seçmeler. İstanbul: Afa, 1987
  • Edgar Morin: Avrupa’yı Düşünmek. İstanbul: Afa, 1989
  • Elisabeth Badinter: Biri Ötekidir. Afa, 1992
  • Diane Scully: (with L. Aytek), Tecavüz. Metis, 1994
  • Immanuel Wallerstein: Sosyal Bilimleri Açın. Metis Yayınları, İstanbul, 1996
  • Halide Messaudi: Cezayir'de Kadın Olmak. Metis, 1996
  • Nora Şeni: Marie ve Marie : Konstantiniye'de Bir Mevsim (Marie Et Marie: Une Saison à Constantinople). İletişim, 1999
  • Stefanos Yerasimos: Milliyetler ve sınırlar. İstanbul: İletişim 2000 (2014, 6. basım)
  • Barrington Moore: Diktatörlüğün ve Demokrasinin Toplumsal Kökenleri Çağdaş Dünyanın Yaratılmasında Soylunun ve Köylünün Rolü (Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World). İmge Kitabevi Yayınları; İstanbul 2003
  • Juliet Mitchell: Kadınlar - En Uzun Devrim (Women: The Longest Revolution). Feminist Kitaplık. Agora Kitaplığı, 2006
  • Germaine Tillion: (with N. Sirman), Harem ve Kuzenler (Le harem et les cousins). Metis, 2006
  • Nora Şeni: Seni Unutursam İstanbul. (Si je t'oublie Constantinople) Kitap Yayınevi; İstanbul Kitapları; İstanbul, 2008
  • Semih Vaner (der.): Yirmibirinci Yüzyıl Başında Türkiye. Kitap Yayınevi 2009
  • Stefanos Yerasimos: Konstantiniyye ve Ayasofya Efsaneleri (La fondation de Constantinople et de Sainte Sophie dans les traditions turques). İletişim, 2010, 2014 6. baskı
  • Dejanirah Couto: Harp ve Sulh - Avrupa ve Osmanlılar. Kitap Yayınevi, 2010
  • Ali Kazancıgil: Türkiye Üzerine Basmakalıp Düşünceler. (Schablonenhafte Ansichten über die Türkei) Kitap Yayınevi, 2010
  • Nicolas De Nicolay: (with Menekşe Tokyay),Muhteşem Süleyman'ın İmparatorluğunda, Kitap Yayınevi, 2014
  • Edgar Morin, Mauro Ceruti: Bizim Avrupamız, İletişim, 2014. 1. baskı

Awards

In 1996, she was awarded with Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the Cultural Ministry of France.[7]

Personal life and death

Şirin Tekeli was married to lawyer Ahmet Tekeli, with whom she met while studying at University of Lausanne. Her marriage lasted until 2010, when Ahmet Tekeli died. For his memory, Şirin Tekeli used the assets he left to her to found the Şirin-Ahmet Tekeli Association for Supporting Women Lawyers[8]

In 2017, Sabancı University Gender and the Women's Studies Center began granting a research award in memory of Şirin Tekeli: "The Şirin Tekeli Research Award". This award was created to support and promote research focusing on gender in Turkey.[9]

Tekeli died on 17 June 2017 in Bodrum, Turkey due to a brain tumor. She donated her body to science to Istanbul Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty.

References
  1. Hrant Dink Vakfı / Hrant Dink Foundation. "Şirin Tekeli anısına / Remembering Şirin Tekeli". Youtube. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  2. KEDISTAN (18 June 2017). "Şirin Tekeli, décès d'une figure de proue du féminisme". Kedistan.net. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  3. Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Kadın Araştırmaları Kulübü. "Şirin Tekeli (Dünya Yerinden Oynar Belgesel Çekimi)". Youtube. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  4. Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Kadın Araştırmaları Kulübü. "Şirin Tekeli (Dünya Yerinden Oynar Belgesel Çekimi)". Youtube. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  5. Şakir, Şükran (6 March 2020). "7 Mart 1986: Feministlerden ilk kampanya; 'CEDAW uygulansın' kampanyasında imzalar TBMM'ye verildi". Çatlak Zemin. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  6. "'Dayağa Karşı Kadın Dayanışması Kampanyası' Tanıtım/1987". Sosyal Feminist Kolektif. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  7. Heper, Metin; Ozturk Tuncel, Duygu; Criss, Nur Bilge (23 May 2018). Historical Dictionary of Turkey (4 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. p. 870. ISBN 9781538102244. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  8. Tekeli, Şirin. "KAHUDEV". Şirin-Ahmet Tekeli Kadın Hukukçuları Destekleme Vakfı. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  9. Sabancı Üniversitesi. "Şirin Tekeli Research Award". SU Gender. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
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