Eastern Europe's Silent Revolution: Gender

Abstract

The present paper argues that the transformation of the relationship between public and private spheres lies at the heart of the process of change in Eastern Europe, and that the exclusion of women and the de-grading of feminine identity currently in train are not contingent to, but rather a fundamentally constitutive feature of, the democratisation of Eastern Europe. This contrasts with existing accounts of social transition which have focused exclusively on the reconstruction of the public sphere. The paper characterises the changing nature of patriarchy in Eastern Europe, and explains why such changes have as yet not met with serious feminist challenge. It does so by highlighting the way in which the formal structures of state socialism acted to foster neo-traditionalism and traditional gender identity, and by showing how traditional gender identity has acted as a vital vehicle for change. Drawing on historical comparisons, it is argued that Eastern Europe's silent revolution may in fact be seen as a dramatic illustration of the masculinism at the heart of Western democracy.