Women's Roles and Agency in Russian Society Before and During the War in Ukraine

Ann-Mari Sätre is professor of Eurasian studies at the Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University.

Based on decades of interviews with Russian women, this book is a detailed, personal account of women’s efforts to make an impact in entrepreneurship, local politics, and social welfare services from the early post-Soviet era to the present, and in the context of an increasingly repressive regime. Sätre finds that the gender division of labor persists inside and outside of the workplace, and that women remain responsible for social welfare and supporting the marginalized. A plethora of individual women’s stories contained in the book provide an unusual glimpse into the inner workings of local social and political systems in cities, towns, and villages far from Russia’s bustling capital.

• List of TablesAcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction Chapter 1: Women and Women’s Work in the 1990sChapter 2: Women’s EntrepreneurshipChapter 3: Women in PoliticsChapter 4: Women Take Social ResponsibilityChapter 5: Women’s Groups, Conservative Waves, and Authoritarian DevelopmentChapter 6: The Roles of Women and Women’s Organizations Under Increasing RepressionChapter 7: After the InvasionEpilogue Selected BibliographyIndexAbout the Author