The making of disability as a negotiated social category: welfare, medical authority, and citizenship in Turkey, 1930s–1960s
Turkish Studies, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1080/14683849.2026.2704854
- Dergi Adı: Turkish Studies
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, MLA International Bibliography, Political Science Abstract (IPSA), Social Sciences Abstracts, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Sociology Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: citizenship, Disability, petitions, social category, welfare state
- Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
This article investigates the emergence of disability as a social category within Turkey’s twentieth-century social policy. The existing literature predominantly focuses on the post-1980 period; however, it addresses a significant historical gap by analyzing how disability was constructed as both a medical and a contested civil category between the 1930s and 1960s. Drawing on archival documents, parliamentary debates, and personal petitions, it examines how recognizing disability became central to social policy and how medical authority shaped access to social rights. Ultimately, it argues that Turkey’s welfare regime–marked by medical paternalism and selective state intervention–reveals the contested negotiation between citizens and the state that characterizes the evolution of social rights in a non-Western contexts. .