Social History of Domestic Appliances in Turkey

Abstract

In this essay we offer a summary of our analysis of the social history of domestic technologies in Turkey with a view to micro aspects such as the way women experience and perceive modernization, changes in gender roles and everyday lives, and desires and fears triggered by technological innovations as well as macro transformations in society, economics and politics. In other words, we study the discourses and promises brought by domestic technologies, such as refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, ovens, cookers, vacuum cleaners, and small household appliances; analyze their place and role in the everyday lives of women; and finally understand women’s experiences of using these technologies in parallel with macro processes. In doing so we consider women as active agents.