A Story That Begins in Tough Times: Aramızda (Between Us) Association For Gender Research

We talked with İnci Solak about the process and work of Association For Gender Research that expresses its establishment as “a story that began in tough times and conditions…”.

How was the association founded? Can you tell us about the story and your motivation? How was this need derived?

The foundation of the association took place during the state of emergency. Ours is a story that began in tough times and conditions… Hundreds of academics who signed the Declaration for Academicians for Peace in the period of state of emergency were liquidated from the universities by decree-laws. Among these academicians were many who specialize in gender and women’s studies. Such that, after liquidations, undergraduate and graduate courses that belong to these disciplines have become inoperable in some universities, the thesis were left unsupervised, and the units of support against sexual harassment and sexual assault (CTSs) have lost their function.
In this process, Utopia in the Twilight of Hope event in March 2017 and the International Anti-Homophobia Meetings in May 2017 were organized by Kaos GL and there were discussions leading to a search for a new way for organizing women academicians who were excluded from the institutional structure in the corporate sense by opening a new field to engage with students and other networks. These meetings were effective on the way to the foundation of the association, and a network was created by contacting female academicians who signed the peace declaration living in various cities. Finally, the association was officially established in November 2017.

“Between us” expression kind of reminded me of “what is special is political.” Is there a reference to this or does being “in between” express what is special? Or is there another story about the name?

In a meeting we held, Prof. Dr. Alev Özkazanç had suggested the name of the association referring to Arendt’s “in between” concept that action and plurality would occur in-between us. We were founded with the name “between us” because we think it describes what we are trying to establish and how we relate to it or to each other.

What kind of activities does the association do? What is the working area of the association? What are the future plans?

We carry out activities such as workshops and charettes, and Aramızda interviews the fourth of which will be held this month. The Gender Awareness Between the City and the Rural Area Panel which took place in Rize Fındıklı in May 2019 with the participation of the Aramızda members was published as a book as the first publication of Aramızda this month. We have applied to various projects to carry out our activities in this field, there are some processes in progress. In addition, we plan to conduct trainings on sexual harassment and sexual assault, and make podcasts and video broadcasts focused on different topics through our website.

What kind of a gap will you fill? What would happen if you were not founded?

First of all, let me state that we do not have a claim or an aim to fill a gap. We were not established to fill a gap, but to open a new area and move forward, and we continue our way by expanding this area we’ve opened. As the ones who were left out of the university in a higher education system where gender studies are excluded from universities, where it is increasingly difficult to study or write a thesis on these issues, where CTS units largely lost their function and where people were made step back by YÖK’s instructions, we put our experience and knowledge forward by projects and studies at different activities in the field of civil society. Therefore, we can say that Aramızda Association was born as a result of the effort of developing different ways to continue to create our solidarity networks and keep on producing as women academicians and students and other academicians who have been dismissed from the university with the liquidation process as well as against the damage this process had done.

Does the association consider partnering with other non-governmental organizations or the public? Or does it cooperate with institutions working in common areas? Is it informed?

The association is linked to different non-governmental organizations, primarily to Solidarity Academies and Kaos GL, because currently some of the members of the association are already members, volunteers or active employees of more than one structure. In addition, we are in solidarity with some of the academicians who continue their duties at the universities. We have plans for working with other non-governmental organizations and producing joint projects. In terms of public and public institutions, there are no current partnerships. The association mainly consists of female academicians who sign the declaration of peace and liquidated by the decree-law and its founding purpose is to conduct researches in the field of social gender. In the current circumstances, both elements are excluded from the “public” defined by the state. To put it more clearly, let’s emphasize again that it would not be possible for public institutions to cooperate with an association consisting mostly of liquidated academicians while already refusing to carry out new studies in the field of gender as well as continuing the existing ones.

 

What kind of needs does civil society have in the city you are currently in? What deficiencies do you see? What does the Gender Research Association need for its sustainability?

Although Aramızda is an Ankara-based association, determining the needs of civil society specicfically in Ankara and identifying the deficiencies are not among the issues that it focuses on. In addition, although choosing the center of the association as Ankara is based on a number of practical reasons, we have many active members, especially exported signed academics living in different cities of Turkey, and we continue to produce collectively. As stated above, there is a certain purpose fort he establishment of Aramızda and it is to carry out studies in the field of gender, which is excluded from the university structure day by day. The association aims to address the deficiency in the field of study and the breakdown created by the liquidations structurally in the context of the university and academia and geographically throughout the country. In order to ensure sustainability, there is a need for various possibilities to conduct research and a need especially for a permanent location.

As far as I am concerned, you will practice activism as well as research, right?

We don’t have an action plan or a calendar about it. Although our main goal is to conduct different gender studies, working on this area in Turkey actually brings along activism. There are many examples, but to mention the most visible and intense, all kinds of violence against women and LGBTI + individuals necessitate giving out a sound or being a follower of rights violations as well as conducting research and education activities. In this context, we must state that we are among the followers of the Ceren Damar Şenel case and that we will continue to be in the future.

It’s going to sound a bit cliche but I can’t help but asking if there are room for men within the association? What kind of a filter will you apply when considering members or studies?

We’ve mentioned the founding purpose and activities of Aramızda. In this respect, it is not possible to operate an acceptance or rejection mechanism only on gender, both officially and actually. We do not think that there will be a need to apply a filter in this regard, since the association’s founding purpose is clear, the studies are carried out collectively by us, and the principles regarding decision-making processes are determined. If we touch on the legal aspect of membership, certain conditions must be met for membership as in many Association regulations, and members may be dismissed from membership if certain situations occur. For example, ‘engaging in sexist and homophobic attitudes and practices, committing hate and discrimination, not to adopt goals and principles of the association by performing actions such as violence or harassment’ would be reasons for being dismissed from membership of the association regardless of gender, gender identity or sexual orientation and it is not possible for a person who has such attitudes and behaviors to become a member of the association as well.

Lastly, do you have anything else to say to the viewers?

Aramızda was founded two years ago, and has come a long way since it was founded. We looked for different ways of continuing to produce by working and researching outside the universities, we struggled and gained a lot of experience. We have proceeded not only by ourselves, but with the support and solidarity of many people and institutions. Even though we cannot count their names individually, we developed with the solidarity they’ve shown, the effort they’ve given and the power and hope they gave us, we’re so glad to have them…