AFL-CIO's Maida Springer in Turkey: women's international trade unionism and Cold War geopolitics.

This article examines the Türk-İş Women's Bureau's creation within Cold War labour initiatives led by the AFL-CIO and its affiliate, the Asian American Free Labor Institute (AAFLI). In 1976, African American organiser Maida Springer was appointed to strengthen women's representation in Turkish union...

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Publicado en:Women's History Review Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 436 - 463
Autores principales: Akgöz, Görkem, Satı, Büşra
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd May2026
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: AFL-CIO's Maida Springer in Turkey: women's international trade unionism and Cold War geopolitics.
      aug:
        au:
          Akgöz, Görkem
          Satı, Büşra
        affil:
          Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften, re:work (IGK Work and Human Life Cycle in Global History), Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
          Sociology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA
      su:
        International trade
        Cold War & politics
        Employee participation in management
        Geopolitics
        Archival materials
      sug:
        subj:
          International trade
          Cold War & politics
          Employee participation in management
          Geopolitics
          Archival materials
      keyword:
        AFL-CIO
        anti-Americanism
        Cold War
        Maida Springer
        Women's trade unionism
      ab: This article examines the Türk-İş Women's Bureau's creation within Cold War labour initiatives led by the AFL-CIO and its affiliate, the Asian American Free Labor Institute (AAFLI). In 1976, African American organiser Maida Springer was appointed to strengthen women's representation in Turkish unions. Adopting a multi-scalar approach, the article traces the interplay between Cold War rivalries, national union politics, and local women's organising. It argues that despite a favourable international climate for women's labour participation, efforts to institutionalise women's representation failed due to intra-union tensions, anti-Americanism, and weak national-local coordination. Drawing on untapped archival material and oral histories, this is the first study to examine Springer's overlooked role in Cold War Turkey. By centering the transnational constraints on women's organising, it pioneers an intersectional analysis of how anti-Americanism, gendered union politics, and Cold War geopolitics converged to limit women's labour reforms – a dynamic largely neglected in existing studies of AFL-CIO internationalism.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
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      src: R
    language: English
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