the experiences of two generations of women in poverty

351 Pages·2004·1.74 MB·English

THE EXPERIENCES OF TWO GENERATIONS OF WOMEN IN POVERTY:
A CASE STUDY IN ÇANDARLI, ALTINDAĞ IN ANKARA

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
OF
MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

BY
SÜHEYLA TÜRKYILMAZ

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR
THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCES
IN
DEPARTMENT OF GENDER AND WOMEN’S STUDIES

JUNE 2004
I hereby declare that all information in this document has beeen obtained and
presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that,
as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material
and results that are not original to this work.

Name, Last name:

Signature :
iii
ABSTRACT

THE EXPERIENCES OF TWO GENERATIONS OF WOMEN IN
POVERTY: A CASE STUDY IN ÇANDARLI, ALTINDAĞ IN ANKARA

Süheyla Türkyılmaz
M.Sc., Department of Gender and Women’s Studies
Supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sibel Kalaycıoğlu

June 2004, 336 pages

This study attempts to focus on a narrower scope specifically is aimed to
search for the possible explanations for women’s and their daughters’ poverty
experiences by arguing that within the household, women and their daughters are
more vulnerable to poverty than men because of the dominant ideologies.

I have already implemented a field study in one of Ankara’s squatter area
which is called Hıdırlıktepe located in district of Alt ındağ with 30 women and their
eldest daughters living in the same household. One of the qualitative interviewing
techniques, in-depth interviewing, has been applied to the respondents and two
different questionnaire frames used for mothers and the daughters.

There are some important conclusions of the thesis. One of them is that
poverty is experienced by women and their daughters different than the other
members of the household. Another is that these experiences are also transferred to
their daughters within the household. However, daughters are in a better condition
than their mothers which might constitute a hope for their salvation from poverty
because due to the changes in their social environments, their expectations also
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change. Moreover, survival strategies developed by women against poverty designate
the level of poverty which is being experienced by women in the long term.

Key words: Poverty, woman, daughter, squatter, coping strategies.

v
ÖZ

İKİ NESİL KADINLARIN YOKSULLUK DENEYİMİ: ANKARA,
ALTINDAĞ, ÇANDARLI’DA BİR DURUM ÇALIŞMASI

Süheyla Türkyılmaz
Master, Kadın Çalışmaları Bölümü
Tez Yöneticisi: Doç.Dr. Sibel Kalaycıoğlu

Haziran 2004, 336 sayfa

Egemen ideolojiler nedeniyle, kad ınların ve k ızlarının eviçi yoksulluktan,
erkeklerden daha fazla etkilendikleri argüman ından yola ç ıkarak, bu çal ışma
kadınların ve kızlarının yoksulluk deneyimlerini tan ımlamayı ve teorik çerçevede
incelemeyi amaç edinmiştir. Öte yandan bu çal ışma için, Ankara’n ın gecekondu
muhitlerinden birisi olan, Altındağ ilçesindeki Hıdırlıktepe mahallesinde, 30 kadın ve
onların hanesindeki en büyük k ızları ile bir alan ara ştırması yapılmıştır. Sözlü ve
derinlemesine mülakat yoluyla kadınlara ve kızlara iki ayrı anket uygulamıştır.

Bu tez birkaç önemli sonuç içermektedir. Bunlardan bir tanesi, kad ınların ve
onların kızlarının yoksulluk deyimleri, ailenin di ğer üyelerinin deneyimlerinden
farklıdır. Bir di ğer sonu ş ise kad ınların yoksulluk deneyiminin k ızlarına
aktarılmasıdır. Fakat de ğişen sosyal çevre ve beklentilere ba ğlı olarak, k ızların
durumu annelerinden biraz daha iyidir; ve bu dudrum onlar için yoksulluktan
kurtulma umudu yaratmaktad ır. Hatta yoksullu ğa kar şı kad ınların geli ştirdiği
geçinme stratejileri de onların yoksulluk düzeyleriyle de yakından bağlantılıdır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Yoksulluk, kad ın, kız, gecekondu, ba şa çıkma
stratejileri.
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To my grandma,
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like first of all to express my deepest gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Filiz Kardam and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sibel Kalayc ıoğlu for their guidance, and
contribution throughout the whole study and for their patience and moral support. It
was a great experience to work with them.
I am also greatly indebted to my jury members, Prof. Dr. Bahattin Ak şit,
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Helga Rittersberger-T ılıç and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tahire Erman for
their considerable advice and invaluable comments, which will also contribute to my
further academic work.
I am also indebted to Prof. Dr. Nuran Hortaçsu for her invaluable comments
and advices and Prof. Dr. Y ıldız Ecevit who encouraged me to choose this topic as
my master thesis and for the time that was spent by her in order to improve this
study.
I offer my special gratefulness to Dr. Ece Karada ğlı, Assist. Prof. Emel
Badur, Ebru Yüksel, Saadet Özcan who spent many sleepless nights with me for their
self-sacrifices in order to improve this study. They never stopped supporting me
whenever I needed help.
I owe gratitude to Nilgün Kennedy, Bar ış Canl ı, Hüseyin Özsert, Tülin
Ceylan, Melih Özlen, Nilüfer Asil, Tanju Çetin and Hans Lindenschodt for their
precious support during the hardest times of my study. I also would like to thank to
Rabia Kayan who passed away before the end of this study for her moral support and
Melik Zafer Yıldız for his very precious advice and support.
I am also indebted to Saadet Özcan, Ceren Koyuncuo ğlu, Burcu Ba şkan,
Müzeyyen Sözen, Eren Dalg ıç, Meryem Erkablan and Özgür Sar ı during my
fieldwork.
I would like to thank the officials of the Alt ındağ Community Center and
Hıdırlıktepe Health Station for their supports during the fieldwork and Metin Özaslan
and Ercan Dansuk for their valuable advices about my thesis. Additionally, Md.
Nejat Özgül deserves the special thanks because of his altruistic behaviors which
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provided this study to turn into an action study. I am also very grateful to Belgüzar
Özçelik and her tenant Canan who gave an invaluable support in order to access
neighborhood networks. I owe gratitude to all of my interviewees for sharing their
thoughts and feelings with me sincerely.
I offer my special gratefulness to my dear family members, who always been
with me. Oktay, my mother, grandmother and father for their lifelong self-sacrifices.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………… iv

ÖZ................................................................................................................................vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................................ix

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………….. 1
II. STUDIES RELATED WITH POVERTY……………………………….6
2.1. Introduction……………………………………………………. 6
2.2.Different Approaches to Poverty ………………………………8
2.2.1. Causes of Poverty……………………………………8
2.2.1.1. Urban Poverty……………………………...11
2.2.2. Social Policies towards Poverty Alleviation………..15
2.3. Poverty Studies in Turkey……………………………………..16
III. GENDER ASPECT OF POVERTY AND ITS TRANSFER TO
THE NEXT GENERATION……...……………………………………….30
IV. METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY…………………………………40
4.1. Justification of the Research Site…………………………42
4.1.1. Why Çandarl ı................................…………………44
4.1.2. Information about H ıdırlıktepe and Çandarlı...........46
4.2. The Sample and Sampling Procedure…………...…………49
4.3. The Process of Interviewing and Personal Experiences
During The Research………………………………………..50
4.3.1. Difficulties that were Experienced During
the Research.............................................................52
4.4. Discussion of the Findings………………………………….53
V. HOW WOMEN EXPERIENCE POVERTY……………………….55
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5.1. Socioeconomic Characteristics……………………………..55
5.2. Migration Histories…………………………………………61
5.3. Marriage Relations………………………………………….67
5.4. Social Life – Everyday Life………………………………...83
5.5. Women Coping with Poverty………………………………92
5.6. Relative Deprivation / Capabilities………………………..118
5.6.1. How Do Women Evaluate Poverty and
Themselves? ............................................................133
5.7. Conclusion…………………………………………………147
VI. HOW DAUGHTERS EXPERIENCE POVERTY...........................149
6.1. Sociodemographical Characteristics………………………149
6.2. Social Life – Everyday Life……………………………….155
6.3. Conflict and Violence at Home…………………………..162
6.4. Daughters Coping with Poverty…………………………...171
6.5. Relative Deprivation / Capabilities………………………..181
6.6. Conclusion…………………………………………………191
VII. CONCLUSION................................................................................193
REFERENCES.............................................................................................205
APPENDICES..............................................................................................222
A. CITY AND VILLAGE POPULATION ACCORDING TO
FINAL CONSENSUS..........................................................220
B. STATISTICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE
POPULATION.....................................................................221
C. DATA RELATED WITH NO PARTICIPATION LABOR
FORCE SIZE RATIO ACCORDING TO DISTRICT, AGE
GROUPS AND GENDER………………………………...222
D. NOTES FROM WOMEN’S INTERVIEWS………..……223
E. NOTES FROM DAUGHTERS’ INTERVIEWS………....259
F. TRANSCRIPTION OF A DAUGHTER’S INTERVIEW..279
G. TRANSCRIPTION OF A WOMAN’S INTERVIEW….....281
H. QUESTIONNAIRE FORM DESIGNED FOR
DAUGHTERS……………………………………………..288
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