Texts and Contexts from the History of Feminism and Women’s Rights East Central Europe, Second Half of the Twentieth Century.

A compendium of one hundred sources, preceded by a short author’s bio and an introduction, this volume offers an English language selection of the most representative texts on feminism and women’s rights from East Central Europe between the end of World War Two and the early 1990s. While communist era is the primary focus, the interwar years and the post-1989 transition period also receive attention. All texts are new translations from the original. The book is organised around themes instead of countries; the similarities and differences between nations are nevertheless pointed out. The editors consider women not only in their local context, but also in conjunction with other systems of thought—including shared agendas with socialism, liberalism, nationalism, and even eugenics. The choice of texts seeks to demonstrate how feminism as political thought was shaped and organised in the region. They vary in type and format from political treatises, philosophy to literary works, even films and the visual arts, with the necessary inclusion of the personal and the private. Women’s political rights, right to education, their role in nation-building, women, and war (and especially women and peace) are part of the anthology, alongside the gendered division of labour, violence against women, the body, and reproduction.

CONTENTS 

Introduction                                                                                                               

1. The Legacy of the Pre-1945 Period

Ecaterina Arbore, The Working Woman in the Struggle towards Emancipation (1911, Romania)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Alexandra Ghiț, Translated by Ioana Miruna Voiculescu

Žemaitė, To the Enemies of Women’s Equality (1912, Lithuania)     
“About the Author” and “Context” by Dalia Leinarte, Translated by Jura Avizienis

Rosika Schwimme, The Grievances of Feminism under the Proletarian Dictatorship (1919, Hungary) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Dóra Fedeles-Czeferner, Translated by Beáta Sándor

Mariska Gárdos, On Sexuality, Prostitution, and Feminism (1906 and 1939-40, Hungary) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Zsófia Lóránd, Translated by Beáta Sándor

Shaqe Marie Çoba, On Feminism (1921, Albania)   
“About the Author” and “Context” by Nevila Pahumi, Translated by Piro Rexhepi

Johanna Päts, Why Must Women Elect Women to Parliament? (1932, Estonia)
"About the Author” and “Context” by Liisi Keedus, Translated by Helis Rõuk

Irena Krzywicka, The Fall of Male Civilization (1932, Poland) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Dobrochna Kałwa, Translated by Anna Topolska

Halina Krahelska, The Roots of Changing Sexual Mores (1937, Poland)     
“About the Author” and “Context” by Katherine Lebow, Translated by Katherine Lebow

Angela Vode, The Woman in Contemporary Society (1934, Yugoslavia/Slovenia)   
"About the Author” and “Context” by Manca G. Renko, Translated by Lukas Debeljak

2. Women and War                                                                                                                  

Žena Danas Editorial Board, The New Feminism (1936, Yugoslavia/Serbia) 
“About the Magazine” and “Context” by Isidora Grubački, Translated by Suzana Vuljevic

Ina Jun-Broda, Two Poems by a Partizanka (1943, Yugoslavia)  
“About the Author” and “Context” by Lucija Bakšić, Isidora Grubački, and Iva Jelušić,    Translated by Iva Jelušić

Maca Gržetić, Report on Women in the People’s Liberation Struggle (1945, Yugoslavia/Croatia) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Iva Jelušić, Translated by Suzana Vuljevic

Romanian Workers’ Party, Fallen in Battle: Olga Bancic (1949, Romania) 
“Context” by Cristina Diac, Translated by Ioana Miruna Voiculescu

Lina Kostenko, A Female Poetic Voice against Totalitarianism and War (1957, 1962, 1987, Ukraine)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Antonina Tymchenko and Galina Babak, Translated by Vera Rich and Michael M. Naydan

Staša Zajović, Antiwar Activism after Yugoslavia (1996, Serbia) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Bojan Bilić, Translated by Stanislava Lazarević and by Renée Franić, revised by Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc

Śviatłana Aleksijevič, What Is Our Memory? (1998, Belarus)   
“About the Author” and “Context” by Almira Ousmanova, Translated by Almira Ousmanova, edited by Benjamin Cope

 3. Ideologies of Women’s Emancipation                                                                               

Hana Gregorová, About March 8th and Feminism (n.d., Czechoslovakia/Slovakia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Jana Cviková, Translated by Julia and Peter Sherwood

Anna Kéthly, Women in Politics (1945, Hungary)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Zsuzsanna Kádár B., Translated by Cody J. Inglis

Milada Horáková, Women in Politics (1945, Czechoslovakia/Czechia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Melissa Feinberg, Translated by Melinda Reidinger

Martha Arendsee, The Right to Motherhood (1946, GDR) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Alexandria N. Ruble, Translated by Lea Greenberg

Edwarda Orłowska, Paper Delivered at the Plenary Meeting of the Main Board of the League of Women (1949, Poland)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Katarzyna Stańczak-Wiślicz, Translated by Anna Topolska

Dušanka Kovačević and Razija Handžić, On Lifting Veils of Muslim Women (1950, Yugoslavia/Bosnia and Herzegovina)
“About the Author” (DK) by Ivana Pantelić and Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc, “About the Author” (RH) by Zlatan Delić, “Context” by Ivana Pantelić, Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc, and Zlatan Delić, Translated by Suzana Vuljevic and Jelena Babšek Labudović

Aina Jurciņa, The Consequences of Emancipation? (1980, Latvia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Zita Kārkla, Translated by Ieva Lešinska-Gaber

Lydia Sklevicky, The Women’s Antifascist Front as a Potential Factor in the Process of Cultural Change (1985, Yugoslavia/Croatia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Iva Jelušić, Translated by Jelena Babšek Labudović

Nada Ler-Sofronić, Neofeminism and the Socialist Alternative (1986, Yugoslavia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Zsófia Lóránd, Translated by Jelena Babšek Labudović

Drita Bakija Gunga, The Women of Kosovo in the Period of Socialist Construction (1986, Yugoslavia/Kosovo)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Vjollca Krasniqi, Translated by Piro Rexhepi 

 4. The International Aspects of Women’s Rights             

German Democratic Women’s League (DFD), The First German Women’s Delegation to Stockholm (1947, GDR) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Lea Börgerding, Translated by Lea Greenberg

Tukums District Female Activists, Call of the Tukums District Female Activists to District Women on the Decisions of the World Congress of Women in Copenhagen (1953, Latvia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Vita Zelče, Translated by Ieva Lešinska-Gaber

Mitra Mitrović, The Woman’s Position in the Contemporary World (1960, Yugoslavia/Serbia)         
“About the Author” and “Context” by Isidora Grubački, Translated by Suzana Vuljevic

Rózsa Ignácz, Connections to Distant Women through Travelogues (1968, Hungary)
"About the Author” and “Context” by Réka Krizmanics, Translated by Beáta Sándor

Esma Redžepova, Songs by a Yugoslav Romani Vocal Icon (1961–1987, Yugoslavia/Macedonia)               
“About the Author/Performer” and “Context” by Carol Silverman, Translated by Carol Silverman with assistance from Sani Rifati

Vida Tomšič, On the Question of Women’s Social Position in the Contemporary World (1976, Yugoslavia/Slovenia) 
"About the Author” and “Context” by Manca G. Renko, Translated by Lukas Debeljak

Marija Gimbutas, An Interview about Prehistoric Matriarchy (1981, Lithuania)   
"About the Author” and “Context” by Rasa Navickaitė, Translated by Jura Avizienis

Elena Lagadinova, Statement at the Nairobi Conference (1985, Bulgaria)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Kristen Ghodsee, 

5. Politicizing Motherhood (and Fatherhood)                                                     

Maria Skokowska-Rudolfowa, Mother and Child Day (1946, Poland)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Katarzyna Stańczak-Wiślicz, Translated by Anna Topolska

Zlata Grebo, The Hopes and Fears of Rural Women (1964, Yugoslavia/Bosnia and Herzegovina) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Nermina Mujagić and Sarina Bakić, Translated by Vuk Tošić

Serhii Hryhoriev, Son (1969, Ukraine)   
“About the Author” and “Context” by Olena Gulenok

Alla Hors’ka, Maternity in Ukrainian Dissent (1960-64, Ukraine) 
"About the Author” and “Context” by Simone Attilio Bellezza       

Leokadija Diržinskaitė-Piliušenko, Soviet Women—Active Builders of Communism (1976, Lithuania)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Dalia Leinarte, Translated by Jura Avizienis

Cristiana Nicolae, Two Movies on the Lives of Women Factory Workers (1983, 1992, Romania)   
"About the Director” and “Context” by Georgiana Vrăjitoru

Júlia Szilágyi, A Spoken World (1983, Romania)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Andrea Tompa, Translated by Lea Greenberg

Maria Dinkova and Chavdar Kyuranov, Women, Gender, and the Use of Time (1971, 1979, Bulgaria) 
“About the Authors” and “Context” by Boryana Yankova, Translated by Boryana Yankova

6. Time Budgets and Double Burden     

Libuše Háková, Promoting the Marxist Conception of the Woman Question (1976, Czechoslovakia/Czechia)  
“About the Author” and “Context” by Maria Láníková, Translated by Melinda Reidinger

Working Women’s Commission of the CRZZ,  The Professional Work of Women and the Family (1967, Poland)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Katarzyna Stańczak-Wiślicz, Translated by Anna Topolska

Sonia Bakish, Let’s Cancel the Second Shift (1967, Bulgaria)   
“About the Author” and “Context” by Krassimira Daskalova, Translated by Valentina Mitkova

Ecaterina Oproiu, Two Key Questions (1975, Romania)   
“About the Author” by Ileana Tureanu, “Context” by Adela Hîncu, Translated by Ioana Miruna Voiculescu

Mileva Filipović, The Working Class and Woman’s Emancipation in Socialism (1979, Yugoslavia/Montenegro)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Nataša Nelević and Ervina Dabižinović, Translated by Vuk Tošić

Vizma Belševica, Time Budgets and the Double Burden (1981, 1983, Latvia) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Kārlis Vērdiņš, Translated by Ieva Lešinska-Gaber

Regīna Ezera, Betrayal (1982, Latvia)   
“About the Author” and “Context” by Zita Kārkla, Translated by Ieva Lešinska-Gaber 

7. Violence against Women and Gender-Based Violence                                              

Blaženka Despot, Feminist Marxism and Violence against Women (1987, Yugoslavia/Croatia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Zsófia Lóránd, Translated by Una Blagojević

Frauenteestube Weimar, our critique of the legal concept of rape[2]  (around 1987-89, GDR) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Jane Freeland, Translated by Lea Greenberg

Andra Neiburga, Domestic Violence (1988, Latvia) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Jānis Ozoliņš, Translated by Ieva Lešinska-Gaber

Mojca Dobnikar, Feminism and Social Work (1997, Slovenia) 
“About the Author” by Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc, “Context” by Jasna Podreka, Translated by Lukas Debeljak

 8. Women in Politics                                                                                                               

Júlia Rajk, Christmas Troubles (1946, Hungary)   
“About the Author” and “Context” by Andrea Pető, Translated by Beáta Sándor 

Tsola Dragoicheva, Eight Years of Equality and Happiness (1952, Bulgaria)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Krassimira Daskalova, Translated by Valentina Mitkova

Latinka Perović, Ahead of the Elections (1963, Yugoslavia/Serbia) 
"About the Author” and “Context” by Ivana Pantelić, Translated by Suzana Vuljevic

Olivia Clătici, On the Social Condition of Women (1973, Romania)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Luciana Jinga, Translated by Ioana Miruna Voiculescu

Vera Veskoviḱ-Vangeli, Women in History (1974, Yugoslavia/Macedonia)
“About the Author” by Iva Jelušić, “Context” by Iva Jelušić and Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc, Translated by Vuk Tošić

Women’s Forum, To the Presidium of the 9th Extraordinary Congress of the Polish United Workers’ Party (1981, Poland)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Natalia Jarska, Translated by Anna Topolska

Ina Merkel, Without Women, There is No State (1989, GDR)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Jane Freeland, Translated by Lea Greenberg

9. Reproductive Rights and Demography                                                                       

 Maria Jaszczukowa, Proposal on the Criteria of Abortion Permissibility (1956, Poland
“About the Author” and “Context” by Barbara Klich-Kluczewska, Translated by Anna Topolska

Zsuzsa Körösi et al., Petition for the Protection of the Freedom of Abortion (1973, Hungary)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Fanni Svégel, Translated by Beáta Sándor

Aimée Beekman, Freedom to Choose (1978, Estonia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Liisi Keedus, Translated by Helis Rõuk

Jasenka Kodrnja, The Diary of a Woman in Labor (1981, Yugoslavia/Croatia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Ana Maskalan, Translated by Suzana Vuljevic

Ana Blandiana, Children’s Crusade (1984, Romania)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Corina Doboș, Translated by Ioana Miruna Voiculescu

Vlasta Jalušič, Abortion, Women, and Politics (1990, Yugoslavia/Slovenia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc, Translated by Lukas Debeljak

Ágnes Geréb, The Circumstances of a Home Birth Case (1995, Hungary)
"About the Author” and “Context” by Fanni Svégel, Translated by Beáta Sándor

10. Health and the Body                                                                                                             

Katalin Ladik, Performance Art and Marginalization (1970, Hungary and Yugoslavia/Vojvodina)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Emese Kürti

Maria Pinińska-Bereś, Is a Woman a Human Being?  (1972, 1973, Poland)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Agata Jakubowska

Anna Świrszczyńska, I Am Baba (Selected Poems) (1972, Poland)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Monika Rudaś-Grodzka and Katarzyna Nadana-Sokołowska, Translated by Anna Topolska

Sanja Iveković, Sweet Violence—Mass Media and Feminist Art in Yugoslavia (1974–1983, Yugoslavia/Croatia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Ivana Bago

Lepa Mlađenović and Biljana Branković, Alternatives to Psychiatry (1985, Yugoslavia/Serbia)
"About the Author” and “Context” by Bojan Bilić, Translated by Jelena Babšek Labudović

11. Sexuality                                                                                                                                

 Ágnes Heller and Mihály Vajda, Family Structure and Communism (1970, Hungary) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Zsófia Lóránd, Translated by Andrew Arato

Todor Bostandzhiev, Sexology—A Belated Conversation (1970, Bulgaria)   
“About the Author” and “Context” by Valentina Mitkova, Translated by Valentina Mitkova

Slavenka Drakulić, Women and the Sexual Revolution (1980, Yugoslavia/Croatia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Zsófia Lóránd, Translated by Jelena Babšek Labudović

Radu Dumitriu, Sexology and Sexual Education (1968, Romania)
“Context” by Luciana Jinga, Translated by Ioana Miruna Voiculescu

Erzsébet Galgóczi, “I Am the First Woman Writer of Peasant Origin in Hungary” (1975, 1981, Hungary)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Anna Borgos, Translated by Cody J. Inglis

Vesna Kesić, Isn’t Pornography Cynical? (1982, Yugoslavia/Croatia)
"About the Author” and “Context” by Vesna Kesić, Translated by Suzana Vuljevic

Susana Tratnik and Nataša Sukič, The Slovenian Lesbian Movement (1990, Yugoslavia/Slovenia)
“About the Authors” and “Context” by Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc, Translated by Lukas Debeljak

Polish Lesbian Initiatives, The Violet Pulse, Fury the First (1995–2000, Poland)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Katarzyna Stańczak-Wiślicz 

12. Debating “Western” Feminisms                                                                                         

Nadežda Čačinovič, Equality or Liberation (1976, Yugoslavia/Croatia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Una Blagojević, Translated by Jelena Babšek Labudović

Rada Iveković, The Position of Women: Immediate Tasks and Neglected Aspects (1978, Yugoslavia/Croatia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Chiara Bonfiglioli, Translated by Joan and David Rouge, revised by Chiara Bonfiglioli and Rada Iveković

Stana Buzatu, Issues for a Fruitful Dialogue between Feminism and Marxism (1979, Romania)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Adela Hîncu, Translated by Ioana Miruna Voiculescu

Žarana Papić, Sex and Gender—Categories of the Social Organization of Sexuality (1984, Yugoslavia/Serbia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Adriana Zaharijević, Translated by Jelena Babšek Labudović

Agate Nesaule, Conversation about the Second Sex (1991, Latvia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Kārlis Vērdiņš, Translated by Ieva Lešinska-Gaber

Jiřina Šmejkalová, Pavla Horská, and Jaroslava Pešková, Feminism and the Woman Question at the Time of Transition (1991/2, Czechoslovakia/Czechia) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Libora Oates-Indruchová, Translated by Melinda Reidinger

Barbara Limanowska and Agnieszka Graff, Feminism during Political Transformation  (1993, 2001, Poland) 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Katarzyna Stańczak-Wiślicz, Translated by Anna Topolska

13. Dissidence                                                                                                                              

Nadiia Svitlychna and Vira Pavlivna Lisova, Women and the Dissident Movement in Soviet Ukraine (1979, 1997, Ukraine)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Galina Babak, Translated by Yuliia Maksymeiko

Dije Neziri Lohaj, Innocence,a Poem From the Ilegalja Movement (1980s, Yugoslavia/Kosovo)
“About the author” by Elife (Eli) Krasniqi, Translated by Piro Rexhepi

Larysa Hienijuš and Ivonka Survilla, The Position of Women in the Belarusian Diaspora (1993–2018, Belarus)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Uladzislau Ivanou, Translated by Wolf Rubinčyk and Uladzislaŭ Harbacki

Jana Juráňová, … Without Context… How Is Feminism Doing in Slovakia? (1994, Slovakia)
"About the Author” and “Context” by Jana Cviková, Translated by Julia and Peter Sherwood

Veronika Cherkasova, The Country Just Across the Way (2004, Belarus)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Almira Ousmanova, Translated by Benjamin Cope 

14. Transitions                                                                                                                        

Dunja Blažević, The Activist of the Avant-Garde (1982, Yugoslavia)
“About the author” and “Context” by Jasmina Tumbas, Translated by Suzana Vuljevic

Ágnes Daróczi, Making Gypsiness Bearable (1984, Hungary)
“About the author” and “Context” by Angéla Kóczé, Translated by Beáta Sándor

Teuta Arifi, Police and Cooking Recipes. Yugoslav Feminism’s Precarious Solidarity with Kosovo (1991, Yugoslavia/North Macedonia/Kosovo)
“About the author” and “Context” by Linda Gusia and Nita Luci, Translated by Piro Rexhepi

Irene Dölling, with Adelheid Kuhlmey-Oehlert, Gabriela Seibt, and Women in the GDR, “Our Skin.” Women about the Fall of 1990 (1992, GDR)
"About the Author” and “Context” by Marcus Böick, Translated by Lea Greenberg

Mihaela Miroiu and Laura Grünberg, Liberal Feminism and the Aftermath of Communism in Eastern Europe (1994, 1996, Romania)
"About the Author” by Adela Hîncu, “Context” by Alexandra Ghiţ and Adela Hîncu, Translated by Adela Hîncu, revised by Ioana Miruna Voiculescu

Hana Havelková, A Liberal History of the Woman Question in the Czech Lands (1995, Czechia)
“About the Author” and “Context” by Libora Oates-Indruchová, Translated by Melinda Reidinger

Lithuanian Women’s Party, Party Platform for the 1996 Parliamentary Elections 
“About the Author” and “Context” by Agnė Bagdžiūnaitė, Translated by Jura Avizienis

Nicoleta Biţu, The Romani Women’s Movement in Romania
“About the Author” and “Context” by Luiza Medeleanu

Contributors

Index