From Conspicuous to Conscious Consumers: Ottoman Muslim Women, the Mamulat-ı Dahiliye İstihlakı Kadınlar Cemiyet-i Hayriyesi, and the National Economy

Abstract

In the second decade of the twentieth century, the Unionists aimed at establishing a national economy with an Ottoman Muslim elite of commercial and industrial entrepreneurs. One of the means to stimulate the development of a national economy was the promotion of the consumption of national products. This article discusses how Ottoman Muslim women actively participated in the campaigns to promote the consumption of these goods by the public through not only the publication of articles in the (women’s) press, but also by establishing organizations to this aim. It also shows how, within the context of the development of a national economy, the meaning of “national” (milli) shifted over the years from “not coming from outside the Ottoman Empire” to “produced by Muslims.” It does so by focusing on one particular women’s organization: the Mamulat-ı Dahiliye İstihlakı Kadınlar Cemiyet-i Hayriyesi (Charitable Women’s Organization for the Consumption of Local Products).