Equality and RevolutionOn July 20, 1917, Russia became the world's first major power to grant women the right to vote and hold public office. Yet in the wake of the October Revolution later that year, the foundational organizations and individuals who pioneered the suffragist cause were all but erased from Russian history. The women's movement, when mentioned at all, is portrayed as meaningless to proletariat and peasant women, based in elitist and bourgeoisie culture of the tsarist era, and counter to socialist ideology. In this groundbreaking book, Rochelle Goldberg Ruthchild reveals that Russian feminists in fact appealed to all classes and were an integral force for revolution and social change, particularly during the monumental uprisings of 1905-1917. Ruthchild offers a telling examination of the dynamics present in imperialist Russia that fostered a growing feminist movement. Based upon extensive archival research in six countries, she analyzes the backgrounds, motivations, methods, activism, and organizational networks of early Russian feminists, revealing the foundations of a powerful feminist intelligentsia that came to challenge, and eventually bring down, the patriarchal tsarist regime. Ruthchild profiles the individual women (and a few men) who were vital to the feminist struggle, as well as the major conferences, publications, and organizations that promoted the cause. She documents political party debates on the acceptance of women's suffrage and rights, and follows each party's attempt to woo feminist constituencies despite their fear of women gaining too much political power. Ruthchild also compares and contrasts the Russian movement to those in Britain, China, Germany, France, and the United States. Equality and Revolution offers an original and revisionist study of the struggle for women's political rights in late imperial Russia, and presents a significant reinterpretation of a decisive period of Russian--and world--history. |
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.
Other editions - View all
Equality & Revolution: Women's Rights in the Russian Empire, 1905-1917 Rochelle Goldberg Ruthchild No preview available - 2010 |
Equality & Revolution: Women's Rights in the Russian Empire, 1905-1917 Rochelle Goldberg Ruthchild No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
activists activity Alexandra Kollontai All-Russian Anna Archive argued Arian Bolshevik bourgeois Chekhova committee conflict delegates demonstration deputies different Edmondson efforts Ekaterina February February Revolution female feminism Feminism in Russia feminist fight Filosofova Finland Finnish first Fond Gosudarstvennaia Duma Ibid International Women’s Day issue Kadet Kal’manovich Kollontai Kuskova League male March Menshevik Miliukov Mirovich Moscow Movement in Russia Mutual Philanthropic Society Octobrists official ofthe Olga opis organizations party Paul Miliukov peasant women Pervyi zhenskii kalendar Petersburg Petrograd political proposal prostitution reflected Revolution role Russian Empire Russian feminists Russian women Ruthchild Saratov sessiia Shabanova Shapir Shchepkina Shishkina-Iavein significant Social Democrats Soiuz zhenshchin Soviet Stenograficheskie otchety Stites struggle Trudoviks Trudy tsar tsarist TsIAM Tyrkova universal suffrage vote woman question women workers Women's Liberation Movement women's suffrage Women’s Congress Women’s Equal Rights women’s movement women’s rights women’s suffrage Women’s Union Yukina zemstvo Zhenskii vestnik Zhenskoe delo