The ‘politics of intimate’ at the intersection of neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism in contemporary Turkey

SynopsisThis paper aims to review the ‘politics of the intimate’ in the Turkish context. By looking at regulations and policy debates in the areas of sexuality, reproduction and family and partnership in the 2000s, it critically analyzes the scope and content of state policies, as well as the policy debates in these areas, from a gender and gender equality perspective. This analysis further emphasizes the interaction between neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism, two political rationalities that have come to play important roles in the shaping or regulation of public and private domains, and the relations within these domains, in the last decade in Turkey. This paper will suggest that given the intermesh of neoliberal and neoconservative rationalities, the notion of gender equality loses its significance, leaving disadvantaged groups open to the detrimental effects of dominant power relations.