Post socialism is not a term that can be used to blanket entire regions and nations and categorize entire systems and populations. “Post-socialism cannot be reduced to neoliberal economic restructuring nor just the legacies of socialism (and pre-socialism), nor indeed to the passage of transition. It is all three.” (Stenning, 124) Stenning emphasizes that the varied range of these places in the post-socialist world “…is vast and diverse, incorporating the cosmopolitan cities of central Europe and the steppes of Siberia and Asia…” (114). More or less, we can understand post-socialism to indicate the “erosion, even disintegration, of the post-war system which had certain features… (which were) the prominent role played by the state in social, economic and international affairs, planning, paternalism and militarization, mass production and the privileged position accorded to organized workers.” (Einhorn, 1996; 14)
[...] “Reassertion of control over women's bodies and returning women to the home signifies men's regaining control over what is ‘theirs,' a reappropriation of (male) collective identity and a symbol of having wrestled away from a dead state socialism Both were viewed as symbols of socialism.” (Funk, In Poland, a bill was sponsored for the complete elimination of abortion, and “contraceptives were withdrawn from pharmacies.” (Titkow, 256) With the exception of Romania, abortion rights are under attack in almost every post-socialist country. [...]
[...] The extensive maternity and sick benefits served to reinforce women's traditional role in the home, legitimize gender inequality and discrimination in employment, and were a means of removing women from the work force.”(Funk, Sixteen years after the transition, the Gender inequality has worsened. “Gender inequalities certainly existed under socialism, since women always bore the brunt of the domestic burdens, but they were also given considerable support in the public domains.” (Hann, 93) 1989 can be seen as a turning point for women. [...]
[...] Women's interests, needs and issues were being sacrificed in the name of transition. After socialism, women were pushed back into the private sphere, which was a vital tool for transformation from full employment economic-political system to a quasi-capitalist system.” (Funk, One of the biggest issues facing women in these post-socialist countries is the lack of employment. In Poland alone, there is a 60% unemployment rate amongst women. For example, in Nowa Huta, Poland, Stenning contends that relatively low levels of employment, as labor at the steel works paid a family wage, large enough to support a wife and children, reinforcing the paternalism of socialist employment.” (117) Men are favored in the employment sector over women. [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
