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13 Eur. J. Soc. Sec. 178 (2011)
Tackling Low Female Labour Force Participation in Turkey: Continuity and Change in the Social Policy Environment with the EU Membership Process

handle is hein.journals/eujsocse13 and id is 180 raw text is: TACKLING LOW FEMALE LABOUR
FORCE PARTICIPATION IN TURKEY:
CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE
SOCIAL POLICY ENVIRONMENT WITH
THE EU MEMBERSHIP PROCESS
CEM UTKU DUYULMUS*
Abstract
Low participation of women in the labour market is a key factor in understanding
the main characteristics and recent changes of the gender and care regime in Turkey.
This article examines how the low-level offemale participation in the labour market
has been framed in recent policy reforms in Turkey, and considers the role played
by the EU membership process. The article demonstrates that, in several instances,
the government has legitimated reform measures with the goal of attaining EU
membership. In certain specific reforms, bureaucratic actors have strategically
used the EU membership process in order to set the reform agenda. The article also
demonstrates that available EU resources increased between 2002 and 2009 with
the launch of accession negotiations, a period coinciding with the introduction of
reforms concerning the social security system and the labour market. The analysis
underlines the use of political and financial resources by political entrepreneurs -
such as NGOs for women, the Secretariat Generalfor EU affairs, and the Ministry of
Labour and Social Security - with reference to European norms and processes.
Keywords: care regime in Turkey; Europeanisation of candidate countries; female
labour force participation in Turkey; social policy reforms; welfare regime in Turkey
PhD candidate, Universit6 de Montreal; address: Department of Political Science, Universit6 de
Montr6al, C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-Ville, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3C 3J7; tel: +514-343-
6111; e-mail: cu.duyulmus@umontreal.ca.
The author is grateful for the support provided by the Canada Research Chair in Citizenship and
Governance and by Jane Jenson. He also acknowledges the financial support for his doctoral studies
provided by Universit6 de Montr6al, SSHRC and FQRSC. Last but not least, he would like to give his
special thanks to task managers and RECWOWE for providing him with resources, knowledge and
for suggesting different approaches.

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