The End of the AFŽ – The End of Meaningful Women’s Activism? Rethinking the History of Women’s Organizations in Croatia, 1953 – 1961 - Jelena Tešija
Submitted to Central European University Department of Gender Studies In partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Arts in Gender Studies. Supervisor: Professor Francisca de Haan
This thesis, as part of emerging scholarly work on rethinking the complex relations between feminism and socialism, explores the Savez ženskih društava Hrvatske (Union of Women’s Societies of Croatia, SŽDH), the women's organization that existed in Yugoslavia from 1953 to 1961. The SŽDH was the successor of the Antifašistički front žena (Antifascist Women’s Front, AFŽ), and while there is ample literature about the activities of the AFŽ, the activities of its successor organizations are hardly researched. This thesis examines the case of the SŽDH in order to understand better what was happening in a forgotten period of Yugoslav women’s history. I first discuss second-wave feminist historians’ perspectives on the AFŽ, and in particular the fact that that most historians who have written about the AFŽ claim that its dissolution in 1953, as an autonomous organization, was detrimental for meaningful work on women’s problems in Yugoslavia. Second, I look at archival documents of the SŽDH. I approach the material from a bottom-up perspective, which goes against the hegemonic narrative on communist women’s organizations as being simply obedient “Party tools”. I research the activities and goals of the SŽDH, the discussions and debates within the organization as well as the problems that the SŽDH women were facing in their practical work. I focus on the SŽDH women’s own perspective and the terms which they used themselves when discussing and explaining their work. Using a bottom-up approach and avoiding to apply the second-wave feminist “autonomy principle” for a state socialist women’s organization, this analysis shows that the SŽDH was not simply a “Party tool”. This research proves that the SŽDH women had their voices and opinions; that they had a well-thought-out strategy and ideas on how to enhance women’s position in the context they lived in; and that they extensively discussed the SŽDH’s position in the new circumstances of self-management in Yugoslavia.
From Partisans to Housewives: Representation of Women in Yugoslav Cinema - Marijana Stojčić, Nađa Duhaček
Ovaj rad analizira načine na koje se predstavljanje žena promijenilo od partizanki kao revolucionarnih tema, do kućanica i potrošačica u kasnim 60tim godinama. Ova je promjena vezana uz društveno-političke promjene u jugoslavenskom kontekstu i uz napuštanje ideje ženske emancipacije koja je osmišljena i prihvaćena tijekom i nakon rata. Naime, partizanska borba za oslobađanje od nacističke okupacije te socijalistička revolucija dva su temeljna mita Socijalističke Jugoslavije. Žene su igrale aktivne uloge u toj borbi, kao borci ali i daleko od borbenih linija (logistička podrška, špijuniranje, liječenje i dr.). Također, jednakost između muškaraca i žena je bio važan segment službene ideologije države. Ovi su se narativi kasnije i zabilježili u kolektivnoj memoriji kroz književnost, film, glazbu i stripove. U našem radu istražujemo pet načina prikazivanja ženstvenosti u jugoslavenskom filmu: (1) partizanka, (2) žena u pozadini, (3) suradnica, (4) radnica i (5) domaćica, kako bi prikazali načine na koje predstavljanje žena između 1947. i kasnih 60tih korespondira službenoj politici emancipacije te na koji način ovi prikazi korespondiraju svakodnevici tog vremena. Nadalje, ovo predstavlja analizu filma sagledanog kao skup priča koje su jugoslavenski muškarci i žene sami iznosili o sebi. Ovakav pristup ima potencijal ukazati na antagonizme unutar društvenog konteksta u kojem su ovi filmovi nastajali, tako što naglašava nedostižne ideala slobode i emancipacije. Istovremeno, cilj ove analize nije samo otvoriti još jedan vid istraživanja prošlosti, već također ponovno razmotriti emacipacijski potencijal kojeg ovakvo istraživanja pruža danas.
Udruženje za kulturu i umjetnost Crvena Časopis za povijest Zapadne Hrvatske
Časopis za povijest Zapadne Hrvatske, XI./11., 2016. Revolutions and revolutionaries: from the gender perspective
Fusnota u globalnoj istoriji. Kako se može čitati istorija jugoslovenskog feminizma? - Adrijana Zaharijević
Tekst nastoji da pruži alternativno čitanje istorije jugoslovenskog feminizma, usredsređujući se na godine njegovog razvoja u socijalizmu i na periodkoji je usledio neposredno po raspadu zajedničke države. Kakve je putanje imao feminizam koji je ponikao u socijalističkoj državi? I kako se razvijao kada su isocijalizam i država prestali da postoje? Pojmovni okvir unutar kojeg se izvodiovo čitanje oslanja se na koncept režima državljanstva, koji treba da ponudisloženiju sliku od onih koje se uobičajno koriste u preispitivanju postjugoslovenskog feminizma. U tekstu se utoliko pokazuje da je okvir koji počiva na poređenju feminizma i nacionalizma nedostatan, ali se takođe kritičkim čitanjem uticajnogteksta Nensi Frejzer „Feminizam, kapitalizam i lukavstvo istorije“ pokazuje da jeu lokalnom kontekstu neophodno iskoračiti izvan okvira koji počiva na poređenjurazvoja feminizma i kapitalizma. Tekst utoliko poziva na pažljivo čitanje paradoksalokalne istorije feminizma.
SOCIOLOGIJA, Vol. LVII (2015), N° 1 Udruženje za kulturu i umjetnost Crvena
Drugarice i (ne)prijateljice - učešće Antifašističkog fronta žena Jugoslavije u radu Međunarodne demokratske federacije žena 1945 - 1950 - Aleksandra Đorđević
Arhiv, časopis Arhiva Jugoslavije, Aleksandra Đorđević
Čije je žensko pitanje - Antifašistički Front Žena unutar i izvan socijalističke transformacije društva - Andrea Jovanović
Antifascist Front of Women within the socialist transformation of society - Andrea Jovanović
Partizanke - Their dangerous legacy in the post-Yugoslav space - Chiara Bonfiglioli
Partizanke, Drugi svjetski rat, Jugoslavija, AFŽ, NOB
The Dangerous Women Project is an initiative of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh.
Udruženje za kulturu i umjetnost Crvena The Dangerous Women Project
Revolutionary networks - Women’s Political and Social Activism in Cold War Italy and Yugoslavia (1945-1957) - Chiara Bonfiglioli
Doctoral dissertation, Utrecht University, 2012.
Udruženje za kulturu i umjetnost Crvena, Utrecht University
Cold War Internationalisms, Nationalisms and the Yugoslav-Soviet Split: The Union of Italian Women and the Antifascist Women's Front of Yugoslavia - The Union of Italian Women and the Antifascist Women's Front of Yugoslavia - Chiara Bonfiglioli
Women’s Activism brings together twelve innovative contributions from feminist historians from around the world to look at how women have always found ways to challenge or fight inequalities and hierarchies as individuals, in international women’s organizations, as political leaders, and in global forums such as the United Nations. The book is divided into three parts. Part one, brings together four essays about organized women’s activism across borders. The chapters in part two focus on the variety of women’s activism and explore women’s activism in different national and political contexts. And part three explores the changing relationships and inequalities among women. This book addresses women’s internationalism and struggle for their rights in the international arena; it deals with racism and colonialism in Australia, India and Europe; women’s movements and political activism in South Africa, Eastern Bengal (Bangladesh), the United Kingdom, Japan and France. Essential reading for anyone interested in women’s history and the history of activism more generally
Women's Activism Global Perspectives from the 1890s to the Present Edited by Francisca de Haan, Margaret Allen, June Purvis, Krassimira Daskalova, www.academia.edu
Becoming citizens: the politics of women's emancipation in socialist Yugoslavia - Chiara Bonfiglioli