Following the Russian 1917 revolution and the foundation of the Communist International, communist women stepped forward to mobilise female workers internationally for both revolutionary struggle and their own liberation. The transnational network of Communist women fought for a number of specific measures that concerned only women. These revolutionary women shared common demands with a number of feminist currents on such issues as universal suffrage and reproductive rights. Thus the emancipation policy devised by Communist women did not target women workers exclusively. It sought to attract wider audience among women by addressing specific gender-related issues.

Based on archival documents from the early 1920s, this presentation will focus on the transnational character of the Communist Women’s Movement and its limitations; Communist Women’s agenda and their relationship with “bourgeois feminists”; and on the revolutionary women’s approach to questions of motherhood, child care and reproduction rights. It will assess the contribution of the Communist Women’s Movement to the struggle for women’s liberation and thus challenge the still persisting vision of feminism as a movement led by upper and middle class, liberal, and predominantly white Western women.

About the author

Daria Dyakonova is currently finishing a doctoral dissertation in history at the University of Montreal. Her thesis studies the under-researched topic of transnational ties of Young Canadian Communists during the interwar period. Daria participated in a number of research projects studying left-wing international networks, transnational social movements and international relations. She has also published academic articles on international socialism and communism. Daria’s latest project is a co-edited collection of documents (including archival sources) on the international communist women’s movement in the 1920s.

Within the Gender Seminar Series

The purpose of this seminar is to offer a platform of exchange for students, doctoral students in particular, whose research includes a gender perspective. During this monthly series, students will have the opportunity to discuss their work, meet peers from different disciplines at the Graduate Institute, as well as interact with guest speakers and faculty members.