Feminism, philanthropy and patriotism : female associational life in the Ottoman empire

This work aimed at providing a better understanding of the involvement of Ottoman (Muslim) women, both as object and as subject, in the regeneration of nationalism through their activities as individuals and in female associational life. By describing and analyzing the feminist, philanthropic/charitable, and patriotic/nationalist activities of Ottoman Muslim women during the period 1908-1918, the study sought to get a better understanding of the identity claims which are part of the particular form of discourse which nationalism is and to show how the processes of community and/or nation building and the creation of state indentity/identities in the late Ottoman Empire were gendered. It shows that Ottoman Muslim women with their organizations and activities not only reflected the multi-tier identities prevailing in late Ottoman society, but actively took part in shaping, shifting and reshuffling them and that knowledge of the activities of Ottoman (Muslim) women in the many feminist, philanthropic and patriotic organizations which existed during the last decades of the Ottoman Empire is indispensible for a better understanding of the development of nationalism(s) in the late Ottoman era and the identity claims involved in it.