It is good news that factors which undermine the status, identity, well-being, personal security, and rights and liberties of women in Turkey are being discussed more and more in terms of competing and multiple realities and repressions. However, Gendered Identities: Criticizing Patriarchy in Turkey is one of the most compelling volumes published in recent years addressing the most prominent factor responsible for this general problematic— patriarchy. The collection’s deconstruction and analysis of patriarchy and its potent influence on democratization, civil rights, economics, the justice system, and women's struggles against violence is a must read for all of us working on Turkey in interdisciplinary areas. It is an indispensable work for anyone wanting to understand the depths and nuances of the often-under-analyzed yet powerful force of patriarchy in Turkish studies.

Ümit Cizre, Istanbul Sehir University

Dedicated to all women in the world who suffer from patriarchy, this book offers a powerful analysis of the role of patriarchal values and practices in shaping women’s and also men’s lives in Turkey. The book answers to a great need for theoretical analysis of patriarchy in Turkish context by asking questions as well as providing examples of and practical accounts from various groups. Why women, stuck in their home, experience economic violence; how women become poorer because of masculine state discourse on dams; how transsexuals are excluded from citizenship regime; to what extent does sexism work against children; what is the role of sexism in the juvenile penal justice system; through which ways are Islamic women instrumentalized and passified? While doing this, the authors offer ways to deconstruct patriarchal structure and democratize society.

Yildiz Ecevit, Middle East Technical University