Baba and the Comrade

Elizabeth A. Wood is Associate Professor of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

" ... a highly persuasive, revealing, and well-documented account of early Bolshevik policy, practice, and language pertaining to the 'baba problem' and the unexpected ways female and male comrades responded to the party-state's tutelary role toward women." --Slavic Review "... a well-organised, sophisticated analysis of the difficulties involved in attempting to reconcile ideology with political, economic, and cultural realities." --The Russian Review "Meticulously researched, impressively documented, and engrossingly written, [the] work is much more than an examination of the successes, tribulations, and obstacles experienced by the zhenotdely (Soviet women's sections)... contributes to a long-overdue reconception of the New Economic Policy" Choice " ... a well-organised, sophisticated analysis of the difficulties involved in attempting to reconcile ideology with political, economic, and cultural realities." --The Russian Review " ... a highly persuasive, revealing, and well-documented account of early Bolshevik policy, practice, and language pertaining to the "baba problem" and the unexpected ways female and male comrades responded to the party-state's tutelary role toward women." --Slavic Review "This is a rich and densely argued study that embeds the story of the zhenotdel in the context of the political struggles and institutional structures of this formative period of the Russian Revolution. Wood demonstrates clearly the dilemma of whether women party activists should serve the party or their constituents." --American Historical Review "Wood's convincing work is a welcome addition to the growing literature on the gender-role traditionalism the Communists reinstitutionalized with their revolution." --The Women's Review of Books "Wood enriches the existing tradition of women's history by focusing not only on the experience of real women's lives, but also on 'gender as an organising principle.' ... This book will be of particular interest to specialists in and students of the early Soviet state and gender studies." --H- Russia

• Preliminary Table of Contents:AcknowledgmentsIntroductionI. The Woman Question1. The Bolsheviks and the Genealogy of the Woman QuestionII. Gender in the Context of State-Making and Civil War2. Sharp Eyes and Tender Hearts: Passing New Legislation and Fighting the Civil War3. Identity and Organization: Creating the Women's Sections of the Communist Party4. War Communism at Its Height: Lobbying on Behalf of Women WorkersIII. The New Threat to the Social Contract5. The Liquidation Crisis in Zhenotdel Politics6. The Crisis in Economics: The Social Contract Endangered7. The New Threat: Zhenotdel Criticisms of the Social Costs of NEP8. Daily Life and Gender TransformationConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex