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Contemporary Women's Movement in Ukraine: Comparative Perspectives

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.

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?