Rising Authoritarian Neoliberalism in Rural Turkey: Change and Negotiation of Women in a Gendered Agribusiness in Western Anatolia

Abstract

This chapter explores the links between neoliberalism, globalised agri-food relations, and rising authoritarian practices based on the labouring practices and experiences of rural women from a feminist perspective in Turkey. Focusing on the narratives of peasant-worker women employed as waged labour in one of the large-scale, exportoriented agribusinesses in Western Anatolia, which is referred to in this paper as the Greenhouse, the chapter explores the patterns of the emerging gender labour regime that covers the paid and unpaid labour of women at the Greenhouse, at home, and in the fields. It discusses the emergence of the Greenhouse as a large-scale factory-like enterprise with all-year production and how it became possible under AKP rule within the framework of authoritarian neoliberalism and the resistance strategies of women. Prioritising women's agency and experience as a source of knowledge via feminist methodology, the chapter sheds light on the limitations and potential for resistance and change in the lives of the women with reference to their own work and life strategies.