The Development of the Feminist movement in the Ottoman State - from the Beginning of the Tanzimat to the end of the Second Constitutional Era (1839-1920)

Abstract

     From the beginning of the 19^th century, the Ottoman state witnessed the spread of a set of ideas alien to Ottoman social values, imported from Western Europe, within the framework of the project of Modernization and Modernity that the Ottoman Elite sought to implement across various political, social, and cultural spheres. Among the most prominent of these ideas was feminist thought, which called for a reconsideration of the status of women in society and advocated their liberation and the granting of equal rights with men in the fields of education, employment, and social and political participation.

This study aims to trace the development of the feminist movement in the Ottoman state from the Tanzimat period to the end of the Second Constitutional Era, focusing on its social and political context, the strategies used by feminists to express their demands, and the reactions they provoked.