Women Cooperatives as a Model of Organization: Criticism of Success Criteria in Patriarchal Capitalism Abstract

The cooperative economy is discussed within the framework of various experiences and approaches whether it will create an alternative in today’s economic relations with the historical backround. One pillar of these discussions is women’s cooperatives. Women’s cooperatives are also the subject of women’s struggle beyond the question of creating an alternative production space for women. However, the criterion of “success” in the evaluation of women’s cooperatives differs. In this study, it will be discussed how the evaluation of women’s cooperatives in terms of “success” and performance criteria affects the reproduction of gender-based inequality. Such a discussion will go beyond the macroeconomic perspective and will enable us to reflect on the social and relational context of women’s cooperatives and to understand women’s cooperatives through concrete subjective experiences, rather than what the “success” criterion of the cooperative model should be. In this study, first of all, the approaches that evaluate women’s cooperatives from a macroeconomic perspective will be critically read, and then these cooperative experiences will be discussed in the context of gender-based inequality and gains on the axis of given field studies. These discussions are important in terms of putting forward a sociological perspective and developing a policy by going beyond the economic field.