1st Edition

Mothers and Soldiers Gender, Citizenship, and Civil Society in Contemporary Russia

By Amy Caiazza Copyright 2002
    208 Pages
    by Routledge

    208 Pages
    by Routledge

    As the Soviet communist regime gave way to democracy, the emergence of an entirely new political and social landscape had the potential to turn Russian society upside down. In Mothers and Soldiers: Organizing Men and Women in 1990s Russia, Amy Caiazza looks at the effects of this seismic change on gender roles, and specifically the role of women in a newly democratic Russia. By observing through a gendered lens institutions like the military, and the process of making public policy, Caiazza finds that despite the institutional disruption, the pattern of gender role ideologies maintained continuity from the former times while at the same time embracing aspects of Western feminism.

    Table of ContentsList of TablesList of AbbreviationsNote on TransliterationSeries Editor Preface by Barbara Burrell and Dorothy Stetson1. Introduction: Women, Men, and Policymaking in 1990s Russia2. The Russian Institutional Opportunity StructureGender Ideologies and Motherhood Policy3. Gender Ideologies, Political Opportunity, and Motherhood Policy4. Women of Russia and Policymaking in the Duma, 1993 to 19955. The Moscow Center for Gender Studies and Equal Rights and Opportunities, 1996 to 1997Gender Ideologies and Military Service Policy6. Gender Ideologies, Political Opportunity, and Military Service Policy7. The Russian Committee Of Soldiers' Mothers and Military Service Policies, 1994 to 19978. The Limited Success of Men's Anti-Draft Organizing9. ConclusionAppendix: Standard Interview QuestionsBibliography

    Biography

    Amy A. Caiazza is the study Director for "Status of Women in the States and Working Group on Social Indicators" in the Institute for Women's Policy Research, 1999-Present.

    "Mothers and Soldiers offers a complex and nuanced examination of the gender ideologies that have dominated the values and politics of transitional Russia. Focusing on the gendered practices of citizenship in Russia, as shaped through motherhood, military service, and feminist organizing, Caiazza bridges the chasm between theoretical formulations of democracy and the actual lived experiences of democratizing and marketing societies. She is adept at giving her readers a tantalizing lens through which to understand women's status, the struggle for equity, and the politics of social change in post-socialist societies.-Jean C. Robinson, Associate Professor of Political Science and Dean for Women's Affairs, Indiana University."