Gender, Social Movements and Multilateralism: A Case Study of Women’s Organizing in Russia

Abstract

This chapter responds to the invitation in this volume to explore new approaches to the study of multilateralism. We centre on the dynamics of an emerging social movement within a particular locale, the women’s movement in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia in the early 1990s. We have chosen to examine this movement because it represents a burgeoning social force that has become increasingly important to multilateralism, as indicated by the International Decade for Women, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and other state-based international institutions’ activities. At the same time, the women’s movements illustrate the power of the ‘new multilateralism’ as non-governmental and grassroots organizations from a wide range of countries interact to improve women’s position both within the state and internationally. Finally, a study of the women’s movement in Russia helps us better appreciate the challenges and opportunities facing emerging social forces in formerly communist party-led states. In this chapter, we explore how the Russian women’s movement is affected by the changing political-economic environment and by international contacts and resources. To comprehend that movement, we draw from a rich body of social movement theory which we believe can help scholars of multilateralism understand the social forces now influencing ‘the evolving global power structure’ (Schechter, introduction to this volume). Out of our analysis of this important case of women’s activism, we suggest ways that our understanding of social movements and the complexity of the ‘new multilateralism’ might be deepened.