M. Kavakci Islam & Kenneth A. Loparo 
Headscarf Politics in Turkey 
A Postcolonial Reading

This book questions the ‘role model’ status of the Turkish Republic with respect to the advancement of female agency in a secular context by using the study of women with headscarves as a case in point. Turkey’s commitment to modernization depends heavily on secularism which involves, among other things, the westernization of women’s appearance.

Table of Content

Foreword; J.Esposito Chronology of Significant Events Introduction Women in Nation Building Politics of Religion (1938-2000s) Social and Political Implications of the Ban on Headscarf In Search for Education, Employment, and More Conclusion Afterword; E.Avebury

About the author

Merve Kavakci is Lecturer of Political Science at Howard University, USA. She was elected to the Turkish Parliament, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in 1999. However she was prevented from serving her term by the secularists because she wears a headscarf. Kavakci’s political party was closed down and her Turkish citizenship was revoked, banning her from politics for a period of five years. She took her case to European Court of Human Rights and won in 2007.