The problem of engaging the women of Kabardino-Balkaria inti industrial manufacturing in the 1920s – 1930s

Abstract

The subject of this research is the examination of socioeconomic development of post-revolutionary Kabardino-Balkaria. The experience of engaging women in public space and industrial manufacturing draws particular interest. In the conditions of transition towards large-scale enterprise, women turns into an active participant of public life and social structure. Highlanders were engaged to industries that did not require high skills. Professional activity was accompanied by educational work, as well as organization of meetings and conferences. The article explores archival documents that are newly introduced into the scientific discourse, which reflect the transitional stage of inclusion of women in the Soviet sociopolitical space. The scientific novelty lies in the study of the participation of women of Kabardino-Balkaria in the industrial manufacturing over the period from 1920s to 1930s, ethnic peculiarities of overcoming the difficulties related to industrialization, and creation of conditions for its liberation. It is demonstrated that in the conditions of personnel shortage, the participation of female highlanders in the industrial manufacturing was not only of ideological and political importance, but also contributed to the formation of a new social and cultural infrastructure. The emergence of labor force, growth of urban population and engagement of women in manufacturing had progressive meaning and significantly changed the people’s mentality. Women became a full member of society, their rights were codified by law, and the plan for gender equality outlined by the Soviet state was on the path to implementation.