CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2015
| Author | Kallay, Kristina |
|---|---|
| Title | THE CZECHOSLOVAK WOMEN'S UNION (1950-1990) A UNION FOR THE WOMEN, A UNION FOR THE PARTY? |
| Summary | This thesis deals with the history of the Czechoslovak Women’s Union (CSWU), the only mass women’s organization in socialist Czechoslovakia, which existed between 1950 and 1990. The central research question of the thesis is “what was the CSWU, and what did it do as an organization?” The existing historiography of the CSWU is mainly based on the archives of the Communist Party and it focuses on the directives the Communist Party gave to the CSWU, thereby producing an account of the CSWU through the “lens of the state” and/or Party. Using the “close reading technique,” this thesis gives an analysis of some of the extensive archival material of the CSWU itself, and thereby challenges the prevailing historiographical narrative of the CSWU as being merely or primarily a “cog” in the socialist state apparatus. The main findings of this work are, firstly, that the CSWU in important ways was a continuation of the interwar socialist women’s movement in Czechoslovakia, rather than “the end of all free association of women.” This continuity is also shown also in the contextualized biographies of five CSWU leading women, whose international and local involvement in the women’s movement, as well as their involvement in the anti-fascist resistance has been neglected by historians until now. The second finding of this thesis is that the international activities and connections of the CSWU with the global left women’s movement, particularly with the Women’s International Democratic Federation, were a strong aspect of the CSWU’s identity as a women’s organization. Thirdly, archived correspondence between the CSWU and its member base from the 1980s shows that women from across Czechoslovakia found a platform for solidarity in the CSWU. As a women’s organization, the CSWU was actively involved in bettering the lives of women and in lobbying for their interests in the Government. Hence, I conclude that the CSWU was a Union not for the Party, but for women. |
| Supervisor | De Haan Francisca |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2015/kallay_kristina.pdf |
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