Full Description
This book examines the role of the Women's International Defense Federation (WIDF) in transnational women's activism in the context of the Cold War, and in connection to the rights of women from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Combining a global history and postcolonial theory approach, this monograph shines light on an underrepresented organisation and its important role in the Cold War, Twentieth Century women's rights and Soviet history. Questioning whether the organization acted for women's causes or whether it was merely a Cold War political instrument, the book analyzes and problematizes the place that the WIDF had in the politics of the Soviet Union, examining the ideology and politics of the WIDF and state socialist propaganda regarding women's equality and rights. Using Soviet archival documents of the organizations, the book offers a new perspective on the complexities of the development of global women's rights movement divided by the Cold War confrontations.
This is an important study suitable for students and researchers in Women's and Gender History, Eastern European History and Gender Studies.
Contents
Chapter 1. A Forgotten Women's Organization? The WIDF, in Between Women's History and Cold War Studies; Chapter 2. The WIDF, the Soviet State, and Cold War Battles ; Chapter 3. Protecting Peace, Mothers, and Children - WIDF's Ideology and Activities in its First Decades ; Chapter 4. Anti-Colonialism, Anti-Racism and Social Rights - the WIDF Defends Women in the Global South ; Chapter 5. The State Socialist Model of Women's Emancipation as an Example to Follow for the "Whole World" ; Chapter 6. Women from Asia, Africa and Latin America Make Themselves Visible in the WIDF ; Chapter 7. Activists from the Global South and the WIDF - A Biographical Perspective; Chapter 8. The WIDF on the Eve of IWY and During the UN Decade for Women ; Chapter 9. The WIDF and the End of the Three Worlds: Concluding Remarks;
