This book explores the politics of the unveiling campaigns to “modernize” women’s dress under single-party rule in Turkey. Sevgi Adak’s main argument is that the early republican era’s modernization reforms resulted not just from central elite pressure but also from the interpretations, promotional endeavors, and resistance of local elites and ordinary citizens. Adak also contends that the formation of pro- and anti-reform attitudes was influenced by patriarchy, economics, and political power struggles, as well as by Islamic precepts.
Drawing on extensive archival research, the book develops a strong critique of existing theorizations of the single-party period. On the one hand, Adak challenges the state-centered approach to modernization, which reduces local actors to passive subjects who merely implement central authority directives. On the other, she questions the center-periphery framework that portrays local actors as fiercely protesting the central authority’s commands. Adak’s thorough examination of the multifaceted responses to anti-veiling campaigns reveals...
