The role of local goverments in economicand social life of women: An example of The Metropolitan Municipality of Kahramanmaraş

Women exist within the framework of economic, social and political elements of the society they belong. From past to present, the visibility of women in the social life gets changed based on these elements. Nowadays, with the effect of globalisation, the fact that the issue of identity and individualization has become more visible, ensured the recognition of women rights, which were gained through struggle, by the national and international institutions. Nowadays, in terms of participation and visibility of women in social life, the role of local governments is extremely important. In this context, Local Government's policies and strategies has a direct impact on women's lives. The purpose of this study is to research the role of the local governments in women's participation in economic and social life through a feminist perspective, and to present the effects of Kahramanmaraş Metropolitan Municipality's policies on the women's participation in social life and their visibility within the framework of dirlik theory. As part of this study; 17 women were interviewed, 5% of them were serving women and 12% of them were service-getting women. Also women who get service were divided into 2 groups as single and married with 6 people in each group. The study used face-in-depth interview method and literature review technique to examine the effect of local governments in Kahramanmaraş on women. As a result of the study, it has been found that, local governments have positive and negative effects on married and single women on different areas in women's participation in economic and social life. It has been found that the municipality has a big effect on single women's use of public spaces, however, for married women, there has been no significant effect found. And it has been determined that the municipality has an improving effect on the married women's participation in economic life however it is not enough and is incomplete in providing continuance.