Grassroots Russian women's organizations faced multiple challenges in the early 1990s. Like their members, they were confronted with both potentially hostile attitudes and numerous practical difficulties. Post-Soviet ideologies of gender difference produced a gender climate which was particularly unsympathetic to female activism in support of other women. This book presents a detailed study of grassroots Russian women's organizations in 1991-96, against the background of a careful analysis of gender relations and attitudes to women's place in post-Soviet Russian society.

Autorentext

Rebecca Kay is Lecturer at the Center for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Birmingham.

Inhalt

Acknowledgements Introduction PART I: THE GENDER CLIMATE IN POST-SOVIET RUSSIA Soviet and Post-Soviet Gender Climates No Place for a Woman! Political Representation and Public Life Born to be Mothers? Motherhood as Every Woman's 'Natural Calling' Equals or Opposites? Women's Attitudes to Gender PART II: ORGANIZED RESPONSES AND WOMEN'S ACTIVISM Challenging Inequality: Legislative Approaches versus Women's Activism Grassroots Women's Organizations: Agents of Change or a Means of Survival? Public Faces: Recruitment Strategies, Public Actions and Use of the Media Sisterhood or Suspicion? Relations Between Russian Women's Organizations Pot of Gold or Poison Chalice? The Impact of Western Support Conclusions: Grassroots Women's Organizations and the Gender Climate Appendix A: The Organizations of the Sample Appendix B: The Women of the Sample Table B.1: Organization, Age, Marital Status, Children Table B.2: Education, Profession, Occupation Appendix C: Conferences, Seminars and Events Attended During Fieldwork Endnotes Bibliography Index