ABSTRACT
As a middle-income transition economy with a Muslim majority population, Turkey makes for an interesting case study in the intersections of neoliberal ideology, Islam and secularism, and economic development through entrepreneurship. This chapter discusses the contributions of feminist scholarship in postcolonial work and political economy in order to lay the foundations for the analysis and critique of entrepreneurship and development in Turkey. Following this, the chapter outlines the historical and contemporary economic, socio-cultural and political context of Turkey to foreground the discussion on entrepreneurship as a national development tool/mantra. The focus is on the ways in which entrepreneurship is being heralded as a form of citizenship and the gendered subtext and assumptions of this activity that ultimately do not alter existing institutional arrangements of gender inequality. The chapter also discusses the ongoing neoliberal adjustment policy trends in Turkey whereby a gendered neoliberal citizenship is emerging in the guise of empowered female entrepreneurs.
