He role of women's cooperatives in the reproduction of gender inequality: Example of Burdur city

The unequal representation between women and men in public and political spheres, which began in Ancient Greek civilization, has continued to exist to the present day. Women have constantly struggled to gain visibility in the public sphere and to have their social presence recognized. Particularly in the political arena, efforts to participate on equal terms with men gradually led to tangible achievements, such as the right to vote in the 20th century. However, the inclusion of women in political representation has not been sufficient to eliminate the gender-based inequalities they face in daily life. The gender regime plays a significant role in the emergence and persistence of these inequalities. This regime ensures the production, reinforcement, and reconstruction of gender-based roles and norms through various institutions. As a result, despite the gains women have made in public spaces, they continue to be confined to a limited position in the public-private divide. Women's roles have largely been restricted to domestic responsibilities, while men have been associated with working and providing in the public sphere, thus dominating labor and social life. In this context, eliminating gender inequalities and supporting women's equal participation in social and economic life is of great importance. One mechanism to achieve this goal is women's cooperatives, which aim to empower women by promoting their participation in the economic sphere through solidarity-based production models. However, the fact that these cooperatives mostly operate in areas based on domestic labor also carries the potential to reproduce traditional gender roles. In this context, data obtained through focus group and individual interviews with 25 women working in nine women's cooperatives operating in Burdur reveal that these cooperatives largely function in areas based on domestic labor. Findings evaluated using the thematic analysis method show that these limited production practices contribute to the institutional reconstruction of traditional roles attributed to women. The study offers a critical contribution to the literature by approaching women's cooperatives not only as structures that generate economic benefit but also as spaces where gender norms are reproduced.