Communist Women’s Movement, 1920-1922

Mike Taber is editor of The Communist Movement at a Crossroads: Plenums of the Communist International’s Executive Committee, 1922–1923 and Under the Socialist Banner: Resolutions of the Second International 1889–1912. He has also edited and prepared collections by Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, James P. Cannon, and Maurice Bishop.Daria Dyakonova is a history researcher who teaches at the International University in Geneva. She has recently finished a Ph.D. thesis on Canadian Communist Youth and ties with the International Communist Movement during the interwar period, and has published articles on Canadian Communism and the Communist International.

“Through The Communist Women’s Movement [...] we witness how communist women developed a revolutionary socialist approach to reproductive rights, marriage-rights, socialisation of housework, the sexual division of labour and women’s liberation in the global South. [This book] will be of interest not just to socialist feminists, but to activists in the Palestine solidarity movement, trade unionists and those organising oppressed groups.”—Fabian Van Onzen, Marx & Philosophy Review of Books

• PrefaceEditorial IntroductionDaria DyakonovaAbout This EditionList of AbbreviationsPrologue1 The Tasks of the Working Women’s Movement in the Soviet Republic2 Resolution on the Need to Draw Women Workers into the Struggle for Socialism, First Congress of Communist International, 1919First International Conference of Communist Women 30 July–3 August 192030 JULY 1920, EVENING. Opening CeremonyGreetings by Bukharin. Messages to Zetkin and Kollontai. Greetings by Levi; Wolfstein; Ströhmer; Balabanova; Newbold; Linderot; greetings from Turkey and Poland; Münzenberg; Gopner. Appeal to Polish working women.31 JULY 1920, 12:00 NOON. The Third International and Working WomenReport by Yaroslavsky. Discussion: Roy; Karymova; Wolfstein. Manifesto to the Working Women of the World.31 JULY 1920, 7:00 P.M. Delegate and Country ReportsWolfstein (Germany); Ströhmer (Austria); Linderot (Sweden); Kovács (Hungary); Newbold (Britain); Rosmer (France).1 AUGUST 1920, 12:00 NOON. Delegate and Country Reports (Continued)Balabanova (Italy); Maksimov (Bulgaria); Kazhukhanen (Finland); Nielsen (Denmark); Tumu (Latvia); Biti (Lithuania); Roy (Mexico); Dvorkina (Turkestan). Written reports: Norway; China; Korea; Iran; India; the Caucasus. The Situation of Working Women and Peasant Women in Soviet Russia: (a) report on economic and civil rights by Armand; (b) report on liberation from domestic bondage by Nikolaeva. Report on the RCP’s methods of work among women by Armand.1 AUGUST 1920, 7:00 P.M. Women’s Section of the CominternReport on theses of Russian delegation by Armand. Discussion on theses. Conference closing.Appendix: List of DelegatesGuidelines for the Communist Women’s MovementSecond International Conference of Communist Women 9–15 June 1921Conference Call9 JUNE 1921, EVENING SESSION. Inauguration of ConferenceConvening by Kollontai. Greetings by Thalheimer; Kalinin; Lozovsky; Gusev; Zetkin; Bukharin; Tskhakaia; Colliard; Podchufarova; Bloor; Chernyshova; Musabekova; Nam Man-ch’un; Kollontai.11 JUNE 1921, MORNING SESSION. International Women’s SecretariatZetkin convening. Election of committees. Agenda and rules. Message from Germany. Report on International Women’s Secretariat by Kollontai. Zetkin protest. Report on strengthening international ties by Zetkin.11 JUNE 1921, EVENING SESSION. Discussion on International Women’s SecretariatBraunthal; Bloch; Nikolaeva; Lilina; Colliard; Roland-Holst; Linderot; Csirs; Zorina; Areshian; Křenová; Moirova; Vinogradskaia. Kollontai summary.12 JUNE 1921, MORNING SESSION. Forms and Methods of WorkGliński greetings. Report on forms and methods of Communist work among women by Kollontai.13 JUNE 1921, MORNING SESSION. Discussion on Forms and Methods of WorkGreetings from Iran. Discussion on report: Volnaia; Kiiskinen; Smidovich; Golta; Zetkin; Mildner; Bloor; Nikolaeva; Krupskaia.13 JUNE 1921, EVENING SESSION. Discussion on Forms and Methods of Work (Continued)Reply to Zetkin protest. Continued discussion on report: Maimunkova; Smythe; Joska; Nam Man-ch’un; Areshian; Wertheim; Faber; Kudelli; Yanson. Kollontai summary.14 JUNE 1921, MORNING SESSION. Women in the Revolutionary StruggleReport on participation of women in the struggle for power and the dictatorship of the proletariat by Lilina. Report on the economic position of women by Sturm. Discussion on reports: Wertheim; Volnaia; Ströhmer; Geffke.15 JUNE 1921, MORNING SESSION. The Fight for Women’s EqualityReport on fight for political equality by Zetkin. Discussion on report: Smythe; Stal’; Moirova; Lilina; Podchufarova; Kaligna; Montagnana; Roland-Holst; Linderot; Leiciague; Bloch; Joska; Ströhmer; Sturm. Zetkin summary.15 JUNE 1921, EVENING SESSION. Greetings by Trotsky; Women of the East; Conference ClosingTrotsky greetings. Voting on resolutions. Motion on International Women’s Day. Credentials Commission report by Stal’. Greetings to Lenin and Zinoviev. Greetings from Eastern women: Tarijanova; Kaboulbaeva; Koussoumbaeva; Baisbekova. Closing of conference.List of DelegatesResolutions of Second ConferenceGreetings to the Heroes of the Struggle and the Martyrs of the White TerrorResolution on International Ties between Communist Women and the International Communist Women’s SecretariatResolution on Forms and Methods of Communist Work among WomenTheses on Methods and Forms of Work of Communist Parties among WomenTrade-Union WorkThe Participation of Women in the Struggle for the Capture and Consolidation of Proletarian Political Power and for the Proletarian DictatorshipThe Integration of Women into the Struggle for the Proletarian DictatorshipEqual Political Rights for Women in Law and in PracticeManifesto to Working Women of the Whole WorldAppeal to the Working Women of All CountriesWomen’s Correspondents Conferences, 1922The First Conference of International Women’s Correspondents (25–26 January 1922)Report from Die Kommunistische FraueninternationaleFirst Correspondents Conference Resolutions and AppealsInternational Women’s Day and the United Front of the ProletariatResolution on International Communist Women’s DayThe Second Conference of International Women’s Correspondents (24–25 October 1922)Report from Die Kommunistische FraueninternationaleSecond Correspondents Conference Theses and ResolutionsResolution on the Organisational Report of the International Women’s SecretariatResolution on Work in the Trade UnionsResolution on Work in the CooperativesResolution on International Workers’ Aid for Soviet RussiaNear East Women’s Conference, 1921The Communist Women’s Conference for the Near East in Tiflis (12 December 1921)Report from Die Kommunistische FraueninternationaleResolution of the Tiflis ConferenceForms and Methods of Communist Work among Women of the Near EastThe Communist Women’s Movement around the World1 Germany2 Czechoslovakia3 France4 Bulgaria5 Dutch East Indies6 Soviet RussiaChronologyGlossaryBibliographyIndex