Women's cooperatives in Turkey social solidarity economy examination within the scope of: Izmir province

The Social Solidarity Economy is an alternative economy movement that brings together the forms of solidarity of social life with the social aspect of the economy. Cooperatives, which are a component of the Social Solidarity Economy, are a social solidarity economy organization with historical origins. Cooperatives have emerged through the self-organization of people in order to prevent the devastating effects of poverty, to maintain their livelihoods, to provide access to food, products and services. Cooperatives first appeared in England and have spread to various parts of the world. Cooperatives are used by states and international organizations, organizations as an instrument of social policy, especially in the third world countries. Women's Cooperatives continue to exist in the world both through grassroots organization of women and through practices maintained by state institutions and international organizations through social policy. Women's Cooperatives in Turkey have been operating since the beginning of the 2000s. In this study, it is aimed to examine Women's Cooperatives in Turkey in the context of Social Solidarity Economy. The study question is to examine the ways in which women cooperatives affect women's social development, their economic contributions to women, and the change in their social status through women's participation in these organizations. In addition, it is aimed to determine the applicability of the principles of the social solidarity economy through cooperatives. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five Women's Cooperatives operating in Izmir province of Turkey using the case study method. During the interviews, women were asked questions about the motivation for joining the Cooperative, their experiences in this process, limitations, and the impact of their cooperative experiences on their lives. The results of the research have shown that women's cooperatives in Turkey need support mechanisms as a rapidly developing field. Regarding women's cooperatives, support mechanism may list legal regulations, tax incentives, products and services with high added value in the areas of training and mentoring support to train a qualified work force, social purchasing processes to be made for their share marketing improvements. Expanding the activities of women's cooperatives in public service areas such as care services and nursery services will both expand the field of employment for women and ensure that public service areas are covered with high quality and affordable prices, which can have a two-way impact on women and social development.