The Politics of Gender after Socialism

by Susan Gal, Gail Kligman

With the collapse of communism, a new world seemed to open for the peoples of East Central Europe. The possibilities this world presented, and the costs it exacted, have been experienced differently by men and women. Susan Gal and Gail Kligman explore these differences through a probing analysis of the role of gender in reshaping politics and social relations since 1989.


The authors raise two crucial How are gender relations and ideas about gender shaping political and economic change in the region? And what forms of gender inequality are emerging as a result? The book provides a rich understanding of gender relations and their significance in social and institutional transformations. Gal and Kligman offer a systematic comparison of East Central European gender relations with those of western welfare states, and with the presocialist, bourgeois past. Throughout this essay, the authors attend to historical comparisons as well as cross regional interactions and contrasts. Their work contributes importantly to the study of postsocialism, and to the broader feminist literature that critically examines how states and political-economic processes are gendered, and how states and markets regulate gender relations.

Genres: Politics, Feminism, Anthropology, Gender

168 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2000

About the author

Susan completed her BFA at Art Center College of Design and began her illustration career as a poster and calendar artist in Los Angeles. Her love of drawing lively characters earned her an internship with Walt Disney Feature Animation and she became a member of the original animation team at the Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. But the lure of the silver screen was not to last. Susan returned to her native California to continue her passion of creating whimsical illustrations and captivating picture books.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent analysis of gender, family, and feminism in socialist and postsocialist Eastern Central Europe - Gal and Kligman are clear and concise, although they do assume the reader has some level of knowledge about feminist thought and theory before reading their essay. My only critique is that, rather than examine some examples of early feminist organizing in postsocialism, the authors prefer to critique the nature of feminism as a relevant category in these contexts: this critique is no different from others like Chandra Mohanty and bell hooks, those feminists who challenge "feminism" as a unified, white, western, bourgeois movement. Otherwise the book is a strong argument about the relevance and real-life impacts of gender roles in socialism and in postsocialist attempts to balance welfare states with capitalist economics.