Reconstructing the experienceS of lower class women in urban Turkey during the World War II

Abstract

This thesis explores the work experiences and social lives of the lower class working women within World War II years in urban Turkey. The years of war witnessed almost doubling of the women workers in big cities. Labor relations were also reorganized so as to meet the demands of the war. This study reconstructs the work experience of women in the context where the work, family, and domestic duties conjointly relate. In this way, it is possible to show the work experience of the women shaped by the interconnected relations of the public and private spheres and the discrepancy between the government's legal arrangements of labor relations and work experiences of the women workers. Moreover, the laborious efforts of women in domestic realm, which was devalued in market terms, are shown to be vital for the survival and gaining subsistence in the face of grinding poverty of the period.