Rozwój ruchu kobiecego w Ukrainie
Development of women’s movement in Ukraine

Author(s): Switłana Krawczenko
Subject(s): Gender Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: Ukrainian women’s movement; magazines; ideological principles of feminism; civilization goals
Summary/Abstract: An article devoted to the development of the Ukrainian women’s movement, which was shaped in two directions on two separate areas. The lands of eastern and central Ukraine were under the Russian partition, the lands of western Ukraine – under the Austrian partition. The socio-political situation in these countries conditioned the development of women’s movement in these areas. In both partitions, it was possible to find common slogans referring to independence and women’s rights. Ideas of the Ukrainian feminist movement found themselves in the pages of women’s magazines. These magazines were published by the founder of Ukrainian feminism, the writer Natalia Kobryńska. After 1918, the development of the Ukrainian women’s movement developed in the territories of the Second Polish Republic, in Galicia and in Volhynia. At the same time, the women’s movement developed in the environment of Ukrainian emigration in the areas of Western and Central Europe and North America. The development of the women’s movement was related to the activities of women’s organizations and the functioning of magazines. Whereas in the eastern territories of Ukraine, which were in the Soviet Union, the Soviet authorities used the rights and movement of women for their political purposes. The Soviets were propaganda about the authorities taking care of women. The Soviets have succeeded in establishing the belief that the authorities care for women’s rights and the women’s movement has the right to achieve their goals. In the Soviet Union, the truth about women’s rights was different. Women were exploiting, their role in a marginal society. The Ukrainian women’s movement has gained a new spirit during the independent Ukraine at the end of the 20th century. At that time, the circles and the women’s organization were banned during the Soviet regime. Before the women’s movement there were new goals: in this the most important participation in the fight for building a civil society, for the modernity of the state. The events of 2013–2014, the Kiev Maidan and the war in the south of Ukraine set new challenges ahead of the feminist movement. At present, the Ukrainian feminist movement actively participates in social life, creating new solutions, pursuing the civilizational goals Ukraine is facing.

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