Others of poor women with headscarves: A case study in Esenler

The influences of Islam on political, social and cultural areas have become profound since the foundation of the Republic. The visibility of the movement is undoubtedly represented by women with head scarves. Discussions made especially about unfair treatment of these women suffered in public sphere and their problems are mostly used for political gains by men doing politics. Academic studies concerning the unfair treatment of women with headscarves mostly focus on the fact that these women are marginalised by secular and Kemalist people. However, in relation to othering, perception of Muslim women as an homogeneous group is a controversial issue. Therefore, Muslim women's position as others and their "others" should be analysed around different dynamics. As a result, this study aims to understand the experiences of women with headscarves living in a poor district of Istanbul, called Esenler. The study aims to fill two gaps in the literature: The First is the gap caused by conception of "Muslim women" as Others. Indeed, Muslim women were considered as a homogeneous group of women with headscarves who actively involve and struggle in political protests. The second is the gap caused by lack of studies of others of the Others. This study, however, questions who the other of poor women with headscarves without any generalisation. In current feminist discussions, a new approach called Intersectionality theory calls an attention to inadequacies of the conception of women as a homogenous group. This approach forms the theoretical foundation of the study. The data was collected from the fieldwork performed through in-depth interviews and participatory observations with 47 participant women in Esenler- the district of Istanbul which is the poorest and which has the lowest inhabitability- in the period between July and November 2015.