“Sessiz ve Olaysız” Hayatlar: İşçi Kadınların Hayat Hikâyelerine Dair Feminist Bir Prosopografi

Abstract

For many years, the lives and narratives of working women, often perceived as "quiet and uneventful," have been marginalized and deemed unremarkable. When these women's stories do receive attention, they are typically framed in one of two ways: either as the "perfect victim," oppressed both as workers and as women, enduring lives of poverty, deprivation, and exhaustion, or as the "perfect protagonist," celebrated for their resilience and resistance in a success story. In some cases, these two portrayals coexist, with the woman depicted as both victim and heroine. While such stories are undeniably significant, they risk reducing the complexity of life to just two extremes. Working women also experience moments and stories that do not fit neatly into the categories of victim or heroine, and these narratives are equally valuable. It is precisely these moments that challenge us to acknowledge what has been overlooked, to articulate what has been left unsaid, and to raise issues that have yet to be addressed. This thesis, grounded in the feminist principle that "the personal is political," seeks to examine the "quiet and uneventful" lives of working women, to historicize the present through their stories, to learn from the personal and the everyday, and to bring the concerns of working women to the forefront of academic discourse. To achieve this objective, I engaged with the life stories and observed the daily lives of 24 women, primarily textile workers, residing in Çerkezköy and employed within the organized industrial zone. I approached these narratives not with the intention of uncovering a singular truth or constructing a comprehensive picture, but rather to appreciate each story as a valuable and distinct component of a broader collective narrative, representing a historical continuum. Tracing their journeys from the homes in which they were born as little girls to their retirement stories, I wove their experiences into a prosopographic narrative, with a particular focus on their identities as women and workers.