Engendering Russia's History: Women in Post-Emancipation Russia and the Soviet Union

Abstract

Whether or not scholars adopted a self-consciously feminist perspective, its content places much of this initial scholarship in "contribution" history, to borrow Gerda Lerner's phrase. Such histories describe "women's contribution to, their status in and their oppression by male-defined society." 5 Partly because of the intrinsic importance of those topics, but also because they left a relatively accessible paper trail, they focus either on women of the intelligentsia or on the bolshevik attempt to liberate women after 1917. 6 While such works revealed hitherto unknown or neglected aspects of Russian women's experiences, they primarily discussed only the educated, the articulate and the radical; they told us almost nothing about the lives and experiences of "ordinary" Russian women-lives which activist women rejected and which revolutionaries aimed to transform. They also left unchallenged the ways that historians have traditionally conceptualized and periodized Russia's past. More recendy, the focus has broadened, the questions have grown more multi-faceted and the methodologies more diverse. Evolution and diversity were evident at a conference on "The History of Women of the Russian Empire," held in Akron, Ohio in August 1988. Scholars from England, the Soviet Union, Germany, Australia and the United States contributed papers on a broad range of topics that offered new perspectives on women's experience and on the role of gender in structuring historical change. In 1991, selected articles from the conference were published. 7 Together with the scholarship that has appeared in the last decade or so, the collection provides a basis for reassessing Russia's past.

Female representation on boards andCEOperformance‐induced turnover: Evidence from Russia

“…Compared with female directors in Anglo‐Saxon countries, Russian women on boards place greater emphasis on expressing moral support, empathy, and patience for their executives (Gvozdeva & Gerchikov, 2000; Yarushkin & Satonina, 2009), deeply rooted attributes in Russia's patriarchal history (Engel, 1992; Sechiyama, 2014) that remain imbedded in core social norms and guide Russian female directors in the board decision‐making process (Buck, 2012; Feifer, 2010; McCarthy & Puffer, 2008).…”

“…Russia's geography, which occupies a significant portion of both Europe and Asia, contributes to the formation of a unique type of patriarchy at the core of Russian culture (Ryabov, 2000; Sergeeva, 2006; Shubart, 1938). Russian patriarchy maintains that family values are shaped by women, an attitude that remained unchanged during the era of the Soviet Union and feminist movements in Western countries (Buck, 2012; Engel, 1992; Pushkareva & Zolotukhina, 2017; Ryabov, 2000). Describing the main features of a Russian woman, Ryabov (2000, p. 2) states that, to them, “the beauty of a Russian woman is not in her looks but is rather in her ability to express empathy.” Indeed, according to the World Value Survey (Wave 6, 2010–2014), compared with Russian males, Russian females generally place greater value on showing “tolerance and respect for other people.” They also believe that support and respect for authority is an important societal norm.…”

“…One credible explanation for the weak effects of women in the boardroom is lack of gender disparity in Anglo‐Saxon countries (Ferreira, 2010; Jurkus, Park, & Woodard, 2011; Kugler, Tinsley, & Ukhaneva, 2017; Post & Byron, 2015). This study focuses on Russia, a country with a well‐known history of patriarchy and a large degree of gender disparity (Berdyaev, 1918; Buck, 2012; Engel, 1992; Shubart, 1938; Zdravomyslova, 2012). We investigate the association between female representation on boards and chief executive officer (CEO) performance‐induced turnover as well as subsequent firm value in Russian firms…”

Performing Political Opposition in Russia

“…Several scholars have shown that women tend to be very active in the civic sector (Henderson 2003;Hemment 2007;Salmenniemi 2005;Sperling 1999). Women were also actively involved in both the socialist revolution and the feminist movement from the 1860s onwards (Stites 1978;Engel 1992).…”

Dialogues/Dialogi: literary and cultural exchanges between (ex)Soviet and American women

“…By the nineteenth century, women of all classes were brought up within the resulting cultural matrix, dominated by polarities of veneration and contempt, adoration and anxiety. What is remarkable, in fact, is just how stable those polarities remained despite the changing social struc tures and growing intellectual ferment that characterized the century (Engel 1983, Heldt 1987.…”