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Neo-liberalism, Neo-conservatism and Precariousness of Women in Turkey
[1]Dr. Rana Gürbüz
[2]Dr. Melehat Kutun
- Introduction
The precariousness and precarious work have not an exceptionial situation any more in Turkey with the restructuring labour process via the applied neoliberal policies during the last three decades. Precariousness, especially, has been pervaded more with the increased coercion and controls on labour power, the flexibility via the labour market deregulation and the expansion of informal work with the neoliberal transformation process during the last decade.
During this period, the precariousness has become more pervasive for women with the new conservative ideology of Justice and Development Party’s (AKP’s) neoliberal policies after the restructuring period 2001 crisis. The women are primarily positioned as mother-wife in the social relationships while they are defined as the ideology of accumulation process or the alliance of liberalism and conservatism after the crisis. This is the way of usage of women labour as cheap-flexible-unsecured labour power in the production process which consists of regulations that confines women at home.
Serving women to the capital with this special position and likely the soul of the current term is meaningful by doing the regulations in that perspective. Women have been placed as secondary position in the production process and to be forced to work into the precarious work conditions too. Thus, women have been deployed heavily in informal, temporary, low-waged jobs, and become a subject of flexible employment styles within the centre policy of “integration work and family life.”
This fragile position of women in the labour market; one hand it leads to display a special significance as cheap and precarious labour power in terms of capital; on the other hand it emphasizes the second position of women which is the irrevocable object of the reproduction process leave at home by these regulations.
As a starting point from this context, the aim of this study is to analyze the damage of neoliberal policies on women in terms of precariousness and precarious work which are suppressed and control on women’s labour and body synthesised with conservatism last decade in Turkey. We will discuss how precarious work is spread amongst women in this period in terms of current capital accumulation.
This study will be conducted via theoretical approach as economical, political, and ideological levels and analyzing the dataset of labour force and employment for the same period. In this sense, especially, the effect of implementing policies and legal regulations of periodic inclinations can be evaluated profoundly by Household Labour Force Survey by Turkish Statistical Institute is an essential data-set about to labour power and population. Undoubtedly, this assessment will be more meaningful by including social relationships to this process.
Key words: Neo-liberalism, Neo-conservatism, Precariousness of women.
- General Overview
As the political expression of capitalist relationship over the female labour, a holistic explanation of the employment policy which is concreted within the neoliberal state form can be more clarified by understanding of the state- capital relationship and its appearance. The reproduction of capital requires the limitation of the labour force (unionization) in the production process is directly related with taking the employment forms under control, namely, state power.
Thus, the penetration of AKP power in Turkey for more than a decade to all spheres of social life and its implemented process of neoliberal policies which is synthesized with conservative elements, presents us a wide data set. The AKP power which is an answer of searching “stability” the post-crises of 2001, implemented policies tendency towards the capital by reducing labour costs to guarantee the continuity of capital accumulation.
Considering the last fifteen-year-period of Turkey covering both 2001 and 2009 financial crisis, the relationship between capital and labour has been reregulated in the favour of capital; and flexible, insecure employment policies are implemented widely after the crises. So, the state as a form of political domination, in context of directly political intervention of capital, is quite vital for the relationship in capitalist restructuring after the crises because these regulations are made and implemented by the state.
Thus, the stages of the crises in terms of enlarged implementing of flexible policies show parallelism in Turkey. After the crises periods, the flexible and insecure employment policies became a reflection to the society and the labour market. And it causes enlarged, systematized flexible working forms to become the rural forms (Kutlu, 2012:69). From the capital point of view, the flexibility became the meaning of producing less costly for every part of production process by labour force crumbling and then increasing the possibility of control on the labour is a kind of obscurity and disarrangement in case of employment and wage conditions for labour part.
The precariousness of labour exposes in different forms depending on a country’s place in global capitalist division of labour at the meaning of a process in the global dimension. But sexual division of labour and its form in the current capitalist society leads to different dimensions and forms on the female labour in context of this process. This sexual division of labour makes women primarily responsible as domestic house work (reproduction area), on the other hand, position them in secondary statues as the cheap, flexible labour force in the labour market. All this process ensure female labour to be more useful as a cheap reserve labour force on behalf of capital. At the same time, as a more precarious, unorganized labour force, women are the target point of capital aims that weaken the whole labour force (Dedeoğlu-Öztürk, 2010; Mies, 2011; Toksöz, 2012).
The point, which is important for Turkey, is that labour flexibility implements getting more expanded in the period of AKP which is a strictly loyal implementer of neoliberal policies. Women’s secondary status is consolidated in social life with its conservative elements and consecutively regulations and acts during this period. That is the deepening of sexual division of labour, serving female labour to capital by more flexible, cheap and precarious forms of employment.
It is so clear that employing women in that kind of conditions and trivilaizing female labour are related with the demands of capital to overcome the problems that encounter in the accumulation process (Öztürk-Dedeoğlu, 2010). Currently, one of the methods to accelerate the capital accumulation which slowed and stopped because of the crisis resulted mean new regulations to attract women to labour market. AKP, which defines itself as a “conservative, democratic and mass-based party” and locates in the centre of the politics, takes the point frequently that all of these regulations that emphasized in all governments programmes, special commission, national employment reports and development plans should be completed urgently (2012:4).
By defining women just as a mother or a wife with the regulations which strenghts the primary position of women in the reproduction process aims to decrease labour costs and put women into production process without delaying their primary position. These regulations and policies on women body support each other to control women completely. In this way, whole labour force will be more flexible, more insecure and precarious and on the other side by reproducing of labour force and providing care labour of women as housewifes and mothers. By deepening the sexual division of labour, the continuity of the system will be guaranteed.
III. Flexibilization and Precariousness of Female Labour in Turkey
In last ten years in Turkey, when concerned female labour, we can clearly argue that, female labour has been exposed to precarious work by getting more flexible, insecure, informal, low-paid or unpaid forms works. This period in Turkey in respect to the part of labour, like whole capitalist world, labour has been adapted quickly to restructuring conditions with the sphere of employment, hiring and lay-off, wages, working conditions, form of employment in context of main policy of neoliberal flexible labour markets.
Therefore, female labour force has a specific importance. One hand since women have a secondary position in the labour market under the existing patriarchal capitalist social form and it is cheaper labour power; on the other hand, flexibility and precariousness which comes from flexibility are getting more effective especially on women which is defined as a mother-wife by the conservative power regulations have been deepen the during this period. At the end whole of this process leads to secondary position for women in the social and economic life.
In this context, policies over women’s labour and body to dominate and oppress women as a whole, accelerated by the current political power in the last period. These policies are supportive and consistent each other in the mean of synthesized neoliberal-neoconservative policies. For this reason, we have to take a look closely to some regulations that lead to deepen the subordination of women in whole social life and lead female labour to become more precarious by flexible, insecure, informal forms of work, especially in the post-2009 crisis period.
3.1. Some Regulations on Labour Market
The labour flexibility is one of the aims of neoliberal transformation process since last thirty years in Turkey, like whole capitalist societies. While the labour markets were being flexible, significantly, important institutional regulations were established during the post-2001 crises when the current government takes the political power as one-party. This process has been more crystallized with the regulation of 2003 work act which considered the part of capital demands. In this respect, the making process of crucial arrangements and acts gained acceleration with the 2009crises.
The flexible and precarious employment forms such as partial and temporary work, subcontractor work; call work have been getting more common with the labour act of 2003. As a method of subcontractor implementations which makes flexible employment forms, provide segmentation on manufacturing and service production. Thus, capitalists could control labour power as their wish and apply flexible wages with the opportunity of unorganized, off the book working conditions, cheap, unsecured labour power which is out of employment security. By flexibility, the capital doesn’t take any responsibility on firing employees. Because of temporary workers are deprived from vital social security rights like severance pay, the right of paid-holiday, union rights and other side social assurance, they are vital cheap labour power search for capitalist. According to the 2003 labour act, overtime payment should be minimized if the economic activities are stable to abolish workers “free time” at work place to make costly labour power on behalf of capital. For the labour point of view, this means that loosing vital rights like retirement, severance pay, education, uncertain period working, inadequate income (Kaygısız, 2014: 16-17; 22-25; 43-46).
Thereby, the demand of more flexible labour markets and cheaper labour force post-2009 crises lead to regulate, consecutively, many employment packages. In this framework, flexible employment forms were expanded. For example, after this period the Strategy of National Employment (2014-2023), Government Programmes, Development Plans mainly, emphasized removing the strictness of labour markets and extending the flexible employment forms to reduce responsibilities of capital. Besides, these documents also emphasize suggesting increasing the women employment level to long term economic development. The meaning of increased as flexible and unsecured women employment is necessary for capital accumulation.
As we see with the affections of 2009 crises on the labour markets, official reports and capital demands condensed on women for the cheap labour force. Accordingly, some incentives which were regulated during the crises period provided the discount of social security premiums in the employment of the women who join the labour force for the first time. According to this, the discount of social security premiums will be compensated from the unemployment insurance fund to take advantage of women “costly” labour force that are out of labour markets. These incentives which are benefited for women who works especially, in manufacturing industry which are relatively large factories, based to handcraft extended till 2015 with the another Packaged Law. With these incentives the capital benefited from the women as cheap and unproblematic labour force in crisis period. We illustrate this by using labour market data below.
In this sense the National Employment Strategy (NES) (2013) which is prepared by referring the Ninth Development Plan (2007-2013), annual programmes, government programmes are quite important. The dominant approach in this strategy can be seen in the Ninth Development Plan.
Accordingly, under the title of “Improving the Labour Market”; it says that “Besides the non-wage labour costs, employers in Turkey also have obligations to employ a certain number of people and to establish units, depending on the number of workers they employ. In order for employment to be increased and unemployment to be reduced, the need to revise the obligations of employers regarding employment and make new arrangements in this regard still continues.” This quote can be summarized as “reducing the responsibility of the employers and flexibility of labour market.” (Ninth Development Plan, 2006;NES, 2013; Çelik, 2012: 14).
The title of “Improving the Labour market” was placed in the 2012 programme as well. According to this, as a primary policy the national employment strategy should be implemented to struggle with unemployment. In this regards, the strictness of labour markets will be overcome and flexible working conditions will be expanded. To arrive all of these aims flexible working forms like home-office, distance work, sharing work, the flexible time model emphasized and accomplished. In the programme, besides flexible working, it has been put some precautions, to reduce costs on the employment. Defining severe pay and the system of subcontracting as a directly problem require to overcome implementing complications (State Planning Organisations (SPO), 2012: 190-197, 194, cited;Çelik, 2012: 14-15).
The necessity of “flexible labour markets” which is one of the policy base on the national employment strategy is also emphasized in the 61th Government Programme (2011), Tenth Development Plan (2013) and AKP’s Political Vision (Çelik, 2012: 15). For example according to the political vision; increasing the competition with reduced costs and women labour force employment. In this regards the vision report pays an attention on continuing of employment incentives (AK Party, 2023; 2012: 34).
In the Tenth Development Plan, with the aim of increasing especially the policies of “adaptation of family and work life” and inactivation of employment incentives are emphasised and took an attention to young and women for critical functions in this process (2006: 59). Accordingly, the reason of low women employment rate in labour market is that not to widen flexible working forms sufficiently and lower women labour force in the market. For this reason the main aim is to make higher employment rate and reduce the cost for capital. In this regards, to increase the employment level, new incentive policies cost not to be fulfilled by the capital but national budget and other sources or indirect taxes (2006: 17). Besides this, remarked labour market regulations which include part-time job, temporary employment, home-office to improve labour market capacity.
The AKP government programme also pays an attention to reduce capital obligations and increased employment level like other documents. After the announcement of the program, the Turkish minister of family and social policies said that “private sector can relax. So, we have prepared finally an economic programme which will remove barriers in front of the market. When you see the programme you’ll thank to us” (The 62nd government programme; 2014). Additionally, the programme included “temporary employment” “part-time working” for women.
Hence, NES (2013), as emphasized frequently, in the ninth development plan and government plans, is prepared to meet the demand of capital by “removing strictness of labour market” and “more flexibility”. In the document of strategy, “the concept of flexibility of labour market” is defined like that; “to adaptation fluctuations and changing which occur in the production process and putting, quickly and measurable stability between life and work as suitable changing requirements in life process for workers. Besides that definition it is also mentioned the requirements of urgent legal regulations for flexible working models (NES,2013).
Additionally in the strategy document; the concept of “employment guarantee” which means that guaranteed work not necessarily within the same company is used, instead of the concept of “employment security” which means the guarantee of employment at the same place and security work, gain an importance (NES, 2013). Furthermore, flexible employment forms and making necessary regulations have been stressed in continuity with other documents.