Shifting Tides of Secularism: Emotional Responses Among Women in Izmir to Political and Religious Changes in Turkey

Over the past two decades, the political landscape in Turkey has undergone significant transformations under the governance of the AK Party. These changes have deeply impacted the perception and practice of secularism, previously characterized by its oppressive and exclusionary nature enforced by the judiciary and military. Following the year 2002, the AK Party government, which initially exhibited a more inclusive and liberal period, adopted an increasingly authoritarian stance after 2007. In the aftermath of the 2010 constitutional referendum, the government proceeded to consolidate its regime, implementing policies that favor political Islam with greater confidence. Concurrently, regional developments such as the Arab Spring, the rise of ISIS, and the Syrian civil war have strengthened political Islam in the Middle East, influencing Turkey's domestic and foreign policies. This paper explores how secular women in Izmir — widely regarded as the most secular city in Turkey—experience and articulate emotions in response to Turkey’s evolving political landscape under AK Party governance. Drawing on in-depth interviews and participant observations with twelve women over the age of forty—all members of the Atatürkist Thought Association (ADD) and critical of the AK Party—this study examines the interplay of emotions, perceived loss of power and maintained cultural status. The study utilizes emotion-based discourse analysis to investigate the predominant emotions of fear, disgust, anxiety, and contempt articulated by these women. Interviewees expressed a complex mixture of emotions. While they perceive a loss of political power since the AK Party's rise, they still see themselves as holding a high cultural status. This dichotomy leads to mixed feelings of fear and contempt—fear of the Islamization of Turkey, reminiscent of the Iranian regime. These concerns are not only about personal freedoms but also reflect a broader anxiety about their daughters' futures and the potential loss of secular freedoms. Contempt, on the other hand, arises from their views of Islamic adherents as backward, reinforced by their encounters in shared social spaces. While they see their own group as enlightened and modern, they consider the other group as ignorant, backward and outdated. This contempt brings along a feeling of disgust from time to time. These feelings are reinforced especially when it comes to the intersections between living spaces. This study highlights how secular women, having lost political power post-2002, perceive the Islamization process in Turkey and their emotional reactions towards other societal groups. The emergence of a contradictory situation—loss of power yet high status—intensifies affective polarization, especially in secular regions like Izmir. Here, the visibility of Islamic lifestyles heightens their negative stance towards these groups, paralleling their broader feelings of entrapment within Turkey. This research contributes to our understanding of how political shifts influence secular identities and exacerbate affective polarization, offering insights into the socio-political dynamics that shape contemporary Turkish society.