INCONGRUENT MODERNITIES - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF HIGHER EDUCATED WOMEN FROM URBAN TURKEY AND NORWAY

In this article, main findings of a comparative study on the social po sitions, attitudes and identities of younger Turkish and Norwegian wom en with higher education will be presented. The findings are based on interpretations of twenty in-depth interviews. Turkish and Norwegian i nterviewees differ considerably in terms of their social identities: t hey use dissimilar reference groups while evaluating their societal po sitions. The two groups also conceive gender and its social reflection s in diverse terms. Such differences are analysed in light of differin g class structures and modernization histories of the two countries. A t the same time, Turkish and Norwegian interviewees share similar worr ies related to the expected difficulties of combining marriage, mother hood and employment. These accounts give support to arguments about an inherent incongruity in the design of modernity. The Norwegian welfar e state and the Turkish family, with their enabling and constraining p roperties, are the key institutions in the lives of the informants of this study.