Women should be given the right to decide for themselves: The role of the Soviet Women’s Committee in gender policy-making in the Soviet Union (1945-1991)

The project focuses on the activity of the main state-supported women’s organization in the Soviet Union —the Soviet Women’s Anti-Fascist Committee, established in 1941 (the Soviet Women’s Committee since 1956, SWC further). Despite its broad range of half-century activities, it barely attracted scholars’ attention. Established initially for the international propaganda of socialism as embodied in the Soviet Union the SWC comprised women from the political elite from all around the country, who also took part in domestic policy-making. The research focuses on the SWC’s tactics of inhabiting existing political structures and promoting “women-friendly” politics.
Thus, the project research engages with the current debates about women’s agency and feminism under state socialism and provides a new perspective on Soviet gender politics after WWII.

Alexandra Talaver is an Ph.D. candidate. During her stay at the ZZF, she researches in Department I "Communism and Society" / Alexandra Talaver ist Doktorandin. Während ihres Gastaufenthalts am ZZF forscht sie in Abteilung I "Kommunismus und Gesellschaft"