Introduction:
The purpose of this module is to examine the constitution and exploration of the contemporary women’s movement in Ukraine, to demonstrate the variety of its organizations, and to show how its participation in political and social life has affected democratization processes in the post-Soviet period.

Target Audience:
Advanced undergraduate and graduate level students in various social sciences and professional studies grounded in the social sciences (including, but not limited to, anthropology, international relations, political science, psychology, sociology, and public administration).

Academic Aim:
To introduce students to current developments in women's initiatives, in the areas of civil responsibility and politics in Ukraine, from feminist perspectives.

Learning Objectives:

a. Cognitive

Students will become familiar with feminist and gender theories of women’s subjectivity, concepts and theories related to women’s movements, and women’s movements’ psychoanalytic foundations.
Students will develop an awareness of national and cultural context in which the women’s movement was formed in Ukraine, obstacles and possibilities to its existence, and differences between Ukraine and other cultural contexts (e.g., the U.S.).
Students will be able to understand a variety of political participation models and their relationships to gender (using the example of Ukraine as a post-Communist state), and the main types and orientations of activities of women’s organizations in Ukraine.
Students will develop an understanding of ideology and democratic values of women’s resources affecting policy, equality and discrimination in society, and will be able to analyze the meaning of women’s initiatives to affect civil and political life.
Students will be able to analyze the possibilities of institutionalized forms of women’s organizations in contemporary Ukrainian society (women’s parties and trade-union organizations in Ukraine) and feminist activism as a network of “grassroots” activities, oriented toward educational work that is based on non-socialist ideology and produces a new type of women’s subjectivity in particular, rather than universal as in Soviet times (stemming from the logic of “eternal femininity”).

b. Affective

Students will acquire more knowledge about democratic society and gender equality perspectives.
Students will gain an increased awareness of cross-cultural differences in the phenomenon of women’s movements and gender power structures.
Students will better understand the value of women’s civil and political participation in decision-making processes and feminist consciousness raising.
Students will better understand the meaning of basic concepts such as: “the personal is political,” “the gender gap,” “the logic of impossible requirement,” and “the principles of social change” in contemporary Ukrainian political and social discourse.

c . Behavioral

Students will be able to outline what social-psychological processes accompany a social movement’s projects (personal or collective/group identities, etc.).
Students will be able to articulate the gendered forms of awareness of society and citizenship in everyday life.
Students will be able to utilize theoretical reflections on gender forms of identities and subjectivities in their professional and personal life.

Key Concepts and Questions:

Gender See "Introduction to Gender Studies" module.

Gender identity See modules “Introduction to Gender Identity: Comparative Perspective” by Olena Ivanova, and Deborah Kilgore and “Development of Gender Identity”, by Olena Ivanova.

Women’s movements in post-Soviet countries See module “From Gender to Nation: Gender Stereotypes in the Post-Soviet Nation-Building Politics in Ukraine” by Sergey Zherebkin.

Feminist politics of identification: marginal strategies of unbelonging to the traditional social-symbolic order that are constructed as intellectual project of creation, legitimation and representation of multiplicity of alternative forms of women’s experience. Distinctions in individual style of life, religious, ethnic, cultural, national, sexual and other orientations became a project of women’s self-expression based on feminist methodology. This process emphasizes the development of new forms of women’s identities in a context of social and political activity directed toward social change, including protest against existing structure of authority and prevailing norms and values.

Women’s subjectivity: gender marked subjectivity (unlike the sexless classic, or as “other” in relation to the masculine type of subjectivity), based on conceptions of specific and plural “women’s experience.”

Democratization: processes of decentralization of power away from elected governments, corporations and regional and world bodies including meaningful political participation and community-based actions, programs, and organizations that allow women (and other marginalized groups) to determine their lives, participate in decision making, and contribute to the creation of civil society as well as directly influence key political, economic, and cultural institutions.

Women’s grassroots activities: women’s collective actions oriented not to the state institutions, but civil activity and actions at the level of local networks.

Political subjection (subjectivation): act or fact of submission or subordination to some form of authority, becoming a subject subordinated to power, and, at the same time, forming a new subjectivity that involves the comprehension of new forms of democracy and practices of new social movements as political freedom actions.

Questions for the module:
The following questions will be considered jointly with the participants of discussions in the process of study of the topic of the module:

What basic elements of the women’s movement as social practice can be used for democratic society building and recognition of civil rights?
What obstacles has the women’s movement encountered in contemporary Ukrainian society?
How has the behavior of various women involved in political and social activities been correlated with state supported gender constucts (stereotypes) and ideologies presented by mass media discourse and political programs?
Why are there multiple women’s movements, rather than a single movement united by common purposes and values, that involve separate activities of different social, demographic, and nationalistic women’s groups and organizations?
What does the category of gender identity mean and how does it intersect with other categories of identity (such as race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, religion) in the context of the Ukrainian women’s movement?
What does the concept of “pragmatic feminism” mean in the current stage of modernization of contemporary Ukrainian society? How does it affect the purposes of women’s organizations not to change the secondary position of women in society but rather to solve concrete social problems?

Session 1. Essence of women’s movement in socio-cultural and national context.

Post-feminists women’s movements theories; concepts of "personal as political" and "the claim that can never be successful”; the gap between Real and Symbolic in the context of the women's movement; strategies of new political subjectivation in Ukraine; politics of identity in the women's movement; the “performativity” of Ukrainian women's movement; constant changes of the liberal image, including how gender undermines traditional ideological bases of authority – such as the political unbelonging to traditional social-symbolic order and realizations of personal as political as example of women's movement experience.

Readings:

Zherebkina, I. 2002. Woman’s Political Unconscious. Gender Studies Series. St.Petersburg: Аleteya.

Zherebkina, I. 2003. Gender 90th or the Phallus Does Not Exist. Feminist Collection Series. St. Petersburg: Аleteya.

Hundorova, T. 2002. Femina Melancholica: Sex and Culture In Gender Utopia of O. Коbilyanska. Кyiv: Criticism.

Butler, J. 1993. Bodies That Matter: On The Discursive Limits of “Sex.” New York: Routledge. (In English)

Salecl, R. 1994. The Spoils of Freedom: Psychoanalysis and Feminism after the Fall of Socialism. New York: Routledge. (In English)

Moi, T. ed. 1986. The Kristeva Reader. New York: Columbia University Press. (In English)

Zizek, S. 1999. The Ticklish Subject: The Absent Centre of Political Ontology. London: Verso. (In English)

Activities:

1st hour: Lecture/discussion about essence of a women’s movement as a phenomenon of feminist theory in the national context.

2nd hour: Small group work, answering the following questions:

Each person in the group should consider how history and culture affects the value of women’s participation in social life.
Each person in the group should explain the meaning of the paradox in the new Ukrainian woman’s identity as “Femina Postsovietica” model (as woman’s identity of the post-Soviet social community).
Each person in the group should understand what kind of gap exists between the real and symbolic in Lacanian interpretation of the women’s movement in Ukraine and strategies of new political subjectivation as “active” based on Foucault’s theory.
Each person should consider women’s movements in their national and social contexts. Based on the performativity law of interpretation of gender in terms of power (J. Butler conception), students should analyze concrete practices of the women’s movement and answer the question: What does the “performativity of gender in the former USSR” mean?

As a group, students will compare their answers to the following questions:

Based on the readings and what we have discussed today, what processes do you think are most critical to the construction and deconstruction of sex and gender categories?
How are the constructs of gender identity and woman’s subjectivity used in these processes?
What does Lacanian thesis “subject more than he is” mean in relation to the women’s movement in post-Soviet Ukraine?
Explain the value of the concept of “doing gender” in this context. Explain what is the meaning of the “logic of impossible requirement” (or requirement that never can be executed) based on S. Zizek and R. Salecl’s theories.

Session 2. Women’s political subjectivity and democratization processes in the cross-cultural dimension.

Post-feminist and gender theories of women’s subjectivity; psychoanalytic conceptions of the foundations of women’s movements; basic elements of Ukrainian women's movement as social practice and democratization of social and political life; subjectivation and state power in the realization of the women's movement in Ukraine; “the psychic” of post-Soviet power; discoursive possibilities of representation of women’s movements in post-Soviet society and the logic of "Otherness"; performative subjectivity and discoursive possibilities of women’s representations in the post-Soviet conditions.

Readings:

Butler, J. 1997. The Psychic Life of Power. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1997. (In English)

Zherebkina, I. 2001. “Feminist Theory of 90-th: Problematization of Woman’s Subjectivity,” in Introduction to Gender Studies. Vol.1, ed. by I. Zherebkina, 49-79. Kharkov, KCGS, St.Petersburg: Аleteya.

Popkova, L. 2001. “Theory and Practice of Contemporary Feminism: Women’s Movement in the USA,” in Introduction to Gender Studies. Vol.1, ed. by I.Zherebkina, 635-663. Kharkov, KCGS, St.Petersburg: Аleteya.

Scott, Joan. 2001. “Gender as a Useful Category of Historical Analysis,” in Introduction to Gender Studies. Vol. 2, ed. by S. Zherebkin, 405-36.Kharkov, KCGS, St. Petersburg: Аleteya.

Тyomkyna, A. 2001. “Woman’s Movement of the Second Wave: Sources, Conceptualization and Results,” in Introduction to Gender Studies, Vol.1, ed. by I. Zherebkina, 147-173. Kharkov, KCGS, St.Petersburg: Аleteya.

Ushakyn, S. 2001. “Political Theory of Feminism: Modern Debates,” in Introduction to Gender Studies, Vol.1, ed. by I.Zherebkina, 107-146. Kharkov, KCGS, St. Petersburg: Аleteya.

Tchikalova, I. 2001. “Gender Problematic in a Political Theory,” in Introduction to Gender Studies, ed. By I. Zherebkina, 80-106. Kharkov, KCGS, St. Petersburg: Аleteya.

Joan W. Scott. 1986. “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis.” The American Historical Review 91(5):1053-1075. (In English)

Writing assignment:

Students should read the materials for this section, and compare the practices of women’s movements in three countries: Ukraine, the United States and any other country of the student’s choice, analyzing the information using theories and arguments from the readings. Each student should write a 5-8 page paper of her/his analysis including the following:

What do these practices mean to woman’s subjectivity appeal?
How are these practices related to the basic gender and society issues in each country?
What can you conclude about practices of women’s subjectivities and positions of women in Ukraine and the USA? Are women characterized in these practices as different or similar?
Conclusion: Summarize key ideas of your analysis of gender and woman’s subjectivity.

Activities:

1st hour: Lecture/class discussion on readings.

2nd hour: Small group work, answering the following questions::

1. In groups of 2-3 people, discuss on what basis there can be a political association of women? What should be the purposes and forms of political action of women for their rights in contemporary conditions of subjective identity loss, including women’s, and what kind of feminist policy should be developed outside of оntological basis of a uniform category of woman?

2. Based on the assigned readings, discuss what kinds of political and social activities are possible inside feminist positions, represented now outside of the concept of the universal subject of deconstructed experience with absence of stable Self?

Session 3. Contemporary women’s movement as a liberation project: subjects of collective action.

Conceptions of women’s rights in feminist theory; sexual politics and gendered political socialization; variety of women’s movements and feminist differences within the movements; social movements in contemporary world and collective identities based on various distinctions in lifestyle, religion, ethnicity, class, nation, sexual and other orientations; identity movements as bases of women’s movements; women’s movement as social practice: research approaches; women’s movement in comparative perspective: the features of collective action and structure of political possibilities; ideology as a resource of women’s movement; liberation and the contemporary patriarchy.

Readings:

Jenson, J.1995. “Extending the Boundaries of Citizenship: Women’s Movements of Western Europe,“ in The Challenge of Local Feminisms: Women’s Movements in Global Perspective, ed. by Amrita Basu, 405-434. Westview Press.

Matynia, E. 1995. “Finding and Voice: Women in Postcommunist Central Europe,” in The Challenge of Local Feminisms: Women’s Movements in Global Perspective, ed. by Amrita Basu, 351-373. Westview Press, 1995.

Millet, K. 1970. Sexual Politics. New York: Avon Books.

Wolfe, L., and J. Tucker.1995. “Feminism Lives: Building and Multicultural Women’s Movement in the United States,” in The Challenge of Local Feminisms: Women’s Movements in Global Perspective, ed. by Amrita Basu, 435-462. Westview Press.

Аyvazova, S. 1998. Russian Women in the Labyrinth of Equality Rights. М.Rik Rusanova.

De Beauvoir, Simone. 1997. Second Sex. St. Petersburg, Progress-Аleteya.

Abubikirova, N.I., T.A. Klimenkova, E.V. Коchkina, and M.A.Regentova. 1998. Women’s Non-Governmental Organizations of Russia and UIS. Moscow: Eslan.

Argent, A. 2003. “Post-Communism and ‘Women’s Experience’?” in Feminist Approaches to Social Movements, Community and Power. Vol.2. Ed. by Mary Ann Tereault and Robin L. Teske. Columbia: University of South Carilona Press. (In English)

Gotlick, J. 1999. “From the Ground Up: Women’s Organizations and Democratization in Russia,” in Democratization and Women’s Grassroots Movements, ed. by Jill Bystydzienski and Joti Sekhon. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. (In English)

Writing assignment:

Students should read the material for this section and answer the following questions in a 3-4 page report:

Differentiate the concepts of “feminism,” “women’s movement,” and “civil rights movement.”
What civil processes lead to the rise of women’s movements?
What special features of the women’s liberation project are offered by Simone de Beauvoir in her book Second Sex?
What is the essence of “revolution of life” concept offered by Alexandra Кollontay?
What do these practices mean to woman’s subjectivity?

Activities:

1st hour: Lecture/class discussion on readings.

2nd hour: Small group work, answering the following questions:

In groups of 2-3 people, discuss how traditional gender roles and their functioning are presented in public and governmental propaganda in your region and present your personal position on women’s participation in political life.
Based on the assigned readings, discuss how gender stereotypes are formulated at the level of social movements. What are the stereotypes of women/the feminine and how do they affect the processes of democratization of society and gender equality?

SESSION 4. Women’s movement in post-Soviet Ukraine: Independent organizations and civic activities.

The history and background of women’s movement and its development. Example of women's movement in Ukraine as illustration of what gender stereotypes are and how they are used in politics to support misogyny and the "practices of exlusion" in politics and social lives. The nature of Ukrainian women’s organizations in the post-Soviet period and variety of ways women participate in the construction of new institutions. Analyses of post-Soviet collective forms of political subjectivation using feminist methodology. Deconstruction of women’s identities, tracking of the basic features of contemporary women's movement in the context of new politics of identification in Ukraine. Corellations with Western feminist politics of identification. Ukrainian women’s movement as important actor at the grassroots level.

Readings:

Zherebkina, I. 1999. “Who is Afraid of Feminism in the Former USSR?” Femina Postsovietica, Ukrainian Woman in a Transitional Period: From Social Movements to Politics, ed. by I. Zherebkina, 11-82. Kharkov: KCGS.

Lutsenko, H. 1999. “Modern Woman’s Movement in Ukraine,” in Femina Postsovietica, Ukrainian Woman in a Transitional Period: From Social Movements to Politics, ed. by I.Zherebkina, 152-200. Kharkov: KCGS.

Rubchuck, M. 2002. “Transformation of Femininity in Modern Ukraine,” in Gender Stories of East Europe, ed. by Е. Gapova, A. Usmanova, and A. Peto, 396-410. Minsk, Balarus, European Instutute for Humanities.

Smolyar, L. 1998. Мynule zarady maybutn'ogo. Zhinochyj rukh NadDnipryanska Ukrayna II pol. XIX- poch. XX st.. Stirynky istorii. Оdessa, Ukraine: Аstroprynt. (In Ukrainian)

Women’s Political View. 2004. Collection of materials of a project supported by Fund Beil.

Pavlychko, S. 2002. Feminism. Peredmova by V. Aheeva. Кyiv: Vydavnytsvo of Sоlоmija Pavlychko „Osnovy.” (In Ukrainian)

Porovska,V. 2003. Internet Sources for Women (Reference book). International Fund “Vidrodzhennija.” Kyiv: Ukrainian Women’s Fund. (In Ukrainian)

Kupryashkina, S. 1997. “Women’s Studies in Ukraine,” in Transitions, Environments, Translations: Feminisms in International Politics, ed. by J. Scott and C. Kaplan. New York: Routledge. (In English)

Database of Ukrainian women’s organizations in the Internet: <http://portal.uwf.kiev.ua/?p=org>

Writing assignment:

Students should read the material for this section, and will also need to conduct some on-line research in order to complete this assignment. It may be helpful to have students work in pairs and produce a joint-paper for this assignment.

Answer the following questions in a 3-4 page report:

How did the women’s liberation movement arise in Ukraine?
What are the special features of the women’s movement in Ukraine as compared to the West?
What Ukrainian women’s movement leaders do you know? How have they contributed to the movement’s development?
Are principles of gender equality observed by political organizations in your region?
What are the basic differences between activities of contempopary women’s Ukrainian organizations and the Soviet women’s organizations?
Are independent women’s organizations part of the structures of contemporary “civil society”?
What are the basic forms and types of non-governmental women’s organizations (NGOs) activity in Ukraine today? How many NGOs in Ukraine do you know? Which of them exist in your region?
What are the goals of independent women’s organizations in your region?
What are the possibilities for and obstacles to activities of NGOs?

Activities:

1st hour: Lecture/class discussion on readings and writing assignment.

2nd hour: Small group work, reflecting on what we’ve learned and what more we want to learn. In addition to the key questions revisited, groups should reflect on the following questions:

How has our knowledge of the meaning of the women’s movement in political life influenced our understandings of our everyday lives?
What can we do to employ this new knowledge in our everyday practices?
What can we do to employ this new knowledge in our professional practices?

Evaluation:
Students will be asked to fill out a Delphi evaluation after the first and second sessions. This consists of four general questions:

What did the instructor do well in class to facilitate my learning?
What might the instructor do better to facilitate my learning?
What did I do well to facilitate my learning?
What might I do better to facilitate my learning?

valuation of student learning will be informal while engaged in the course module. Formal evaluation will be included in larger course assignments and examinations, as deemed appropriate by course instructor.