Living Gender after Communism

How has the collapse of communism across Europe and Eurasia changed
gender? In addition to acknowledging the huge costs that fell heavily on women,
Living Gender after Communism suggests that moving away from communism in Europe and
Eurasia has provided an opportunity for gender to multiply, from varieties of
neo-traditionalism to feminisms, from overt negotiation of femininity to denials of
gender. This development,in turn, has enabled some women in the region to construct
their own gendered identities for their own political, economic, or social purposes.
Beginning with an understanding of gender as both a society-wide institution that
regulates people's lives and a cultural "toolkit" which individuals and
groups may use to subvert or "transvalue" the sex/gender system, the
contributors to this volume provide detailed case studies from Belarus, Bosnia, the
Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. This collaboration between
young scholars -- most from postcommunist states -- and experts in the fields of
gender studies and postcommunism combines intimate knowledge of the area with
sophisticated gender analysis to examine just how much gender realities have shifted
in the region.

Contributors are Anna Brzozowska, Karen Dawisha,
Nanette Funk, Ewa Grigar, Azra Hromadzic, Janet Elise Johnson, Anne-Marie Kramer,
Tania Rands Lyon, Jean C. Robinson, Iulia Shevchenko, Svitlana Taraban, and Shannon
Woodcock.