Abstract
This chapter examines the role of feminism and women’s rights movements in today’s Europe. It pays particular attention to the role of Western feminist discourse in relation to the women’s movements and women’s rights protection in Eastern and Central Europe. The purpose is to set women’s rights advocacy in relation to the further integration of Europe, and the issues of social justice related to the expansion of the European Union (EU). The chapter takes a critical look at the fragmented stage of European feminist discourse per se by discussing feminist influence and women’s role in the practical and ideological unification and reconstruction of post-Soviet Europe. This theoretical analysis is reflected against the practical promotion of women’s participation through civil society activism and formal political positions. The main research question asked is whether theoretical feminist discourses and practical, political women’s rights promotion can go hand in hand in contemporary Europe in practice and help women in post-Soviet Eastern and Central Europe gain a stronger voice in national and trans-European integration policies.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bendkowski, H. (2004) ‘Feminisms in and out — and the Quest for it in Post-Communist Countries’, in Women and Politics: Contemporary Women’s/Feminist Movements in Post-Communist Countries 10 Years After, Zagreb, Croatia: Zenska Infotelka.
Blagojevic M. (2003) Balkan Women and Politics: Inclusions and Inhibitions, Country report presented at the Helsinki workshop for NEWR, September 2003. Available at: http://www.newr.bham.ac.uk/pdfs/Political/Balkans.pol.pdf [accessed 27 April 2005].
Bulbeck, C. (1998) Re-orienting Western Feminisms; Women’s Diversity in a Postcolonial . World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Corrin, C. (1992) Superwomen and the Double Burden: Women’s Experience of Change in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, Toronto: Second Story Press.
Daskalova, K. (2000) ‘Women’s Problems, Women’s Discourses in Bulgaria’, in S. Gal and G. Kligman (eds), Reproducing Gender: Politics, Publics, and Everyday life after Socialism, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 337–69.
Einhorn, B. (1993) Cinderella Goes to Market: Citizenship, Gender, and Women’s Movements in East Central Europe, London: Verso.
Einhorn, B. (2003) Political Participation: Some Key Issues in the Context of Political Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe, Paper prepared for the Launch Workshop of the Network for European Women’s Rights, Centre for the Study of Global Ethics, University of Birmingham, 29 January.
Filipova, P. and Daskalova, K. (2003) ‘Bulgarian Country Report’, in Report form the first NEWR Workshop on Women’s Political Participation and Citizenship, Helsinki, September 2003, p. 10. Available at: http://www.newr.bham.ac.uk/pdfs/Political/ Bulgaria.pol.pdf [accessed 21 April 2005].
Fodor, E. (2004) ‘The State Socialist Emancipation Project: Gender Inequality in Workplace Authority in Hungary and Austria’, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 29 (3): 783–814. Available at: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu?signs/journal/issues/v29n3/290308/290308.text.html [accessed 22 April 2005].
Funk, N. (2004) ‘Feminist Critiques of Liberalism: Can They Travel East? Their Relevance in Eastern and Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union’, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 2004, 29 (3): 695–726. Available at: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu.signs/Journal/issues/v29n3/290308/290308.text.html [accessed 22 April 2005].
Gal, S. and Kligman, G. (2000) The Politics of Gender after Socialism: A Comparative-Historical Essay, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Ghodsee, K. (2004) ‘Feminism-by-Design: Emerging Capitalisms, Cultural Feminism, and Women’s Nongovernmental Organizations in Post-Socialist Eastern Europe’, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 29 (3): 727–54. Available at: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu?signs/journal/issues/v29n3/290308/290308.text.html [accessed 22 April 2005].
Hemment, J. (2004) ‘Global Civil Society and the Local Cost of Belonging: Defining Violence against Women in Russia’, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 2004, 29 (3): 815–40. Available at: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu?signs/journal/issues/v29n3/290308/290308.text.html [accessed 22 April 2005].
Holc, J. (2004) ‘The Purest Democrat: Fetal Citizenship and Subjectivity in the Construction of Democracy in Poland’, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 29 (3): 755–82. Available at: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu?signs/journal/issues/v29n3/290308/290308.text.html [accessed 22 April 2005].
Khotkina, Z. (2000) ‘Gender Paradox of Russian Transition to market Economy’, in I. Dokmanovic (ed.), Transition, Privatization and Women, Subotica: Women’s Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, pp. 45–9.
Micu, M. (2004) ‘Do they Really Want it in Post-Communist Countries?’, in Women and Politics: Contemporary Women’s/Feminist Movements in Post-Communist Countries 10 Years After, Zagreb, Croatia: Zenska Infotelka.
Moghadam, V. (1995) Democratic Reform and the Position of Women in Transitional Economies, Oxford: Clarendon.
Mohanty, C., Russo, A. and Torres, L. (1991) Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Narayan, U. (1997) Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions, and Third-World Feminism, New York: Routledge.
Narayan, U. and Harding, S. (eds) (2000) Decentering the Center. Philosophy for a Multicultural, Postcolonial, and Feminist World, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
NEWR (2002–4) reports from the launch workshop, and workshops I and II on political participation. Available at: http://www.newr.bham.ac.uk/topics/Political/ political_newr.htm [accessed 21 April 2005].
Ostrowaska, S. (2004) ‘Emancypunx! An analysis of Polish Anarcho-feminist Subculture’, in Post-Communist Countries in Women and Politics: Contemporary Women’s/Feminist Movements in Post-Communist Countries 10 Years After, Zagreb, Croatia: Zenska Infotelka.
Phehar, A. (2004) ‘Research on Contemporary Women’s Movements and Gender Policy’, in Post-Communist Countries in Women and Politics: Contemporary Women’s/ Feminist Movements in Post-Communist Countries 10 Years After, Zagreb, Croatia: Zenska Infotelka.
Platek, M. (2004) ‘Hostages of Destiny: Gender Issues in Today’s Poland’, Feminist Review: Special Issue on Post-Communism, 76 (1): 5–25.
Rueschmayer, M. (1994) Women and the Politics of Postcommunist Eastern Europe, Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
Rymarenko, T. (2004) ‘Women’s Movement in Ukraine: The Phantom Menace’, in Post-Communist Countries in Women and Politics: Contemporary Women’s/Feminist Movements in Post-Communist Countries 10 Years After, Zagreb, Croatia: Zenska Infotelka.
Susnik, M. (2004) ‘Second-wave Feminist Groups in Slovenia’, in Post-Communist Countries in Women and Politics: Contemporary Women’s/Feminist Movements in Post-Communist Countries 10 Years After, Zagreb, Croatia: Zenska Infotelka.
Wallach Scott, J. and Keates, D. (2004) Going Public: Feminism and the Shifting Boundaries of the Private Sphere, Champaign, IL: Illinois University Press.
Watson, P. (2000) ‘Politics, Policy and Identity: EU Eastern Enlargement and East-West Differences’, Journal of European Public Policy, 7 (3) Special Issue: 369–84.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2006 Sirkku K. Hellsten
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hellsten, S.K. (2006). Can Feminism Survive Capitalism? Challenges Feminist Discourses Face in Promoting Women’s Rights in Post-Soviet Europe. In: Hellsten, S.K., Holli, A.M., Daskalova, K. (eds) Women’s Citizenship and Political Rights. Women’s Rights in Europe Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230502901_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230502901_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-52607-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-50290-1
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)