Women s Experience in the Resistance Against the HEPS Constructions: The Case of Fındıklı

The resistance stories of women as well as their roles in the private and the public space are generally ignored, neglected and forgotten. This study has been carried out to expose a local environmentalist activity, namely the opposition movement of the women in Fındıklı concerning the HEPS (Hydroelectric Power Station) constructions. In the study, we have inquired into the effects the HEPS constructions on the lives of the participants of this study. We have investigated the future prospects of the women who took part in the open-air protests and the assumed changes in their worldview and conceptions as well as the transformation those changes caused in the gender relations within their social environment. The study was carried out through interviews with 17 women living in Fındıklı district of Rize, Turkey.