Political transformations of interwar feminisms: The Case of Yugoslavia
This dissertation focuses on the changes and transformations that Yugoslav feminism experienced during the interwar period, a period marked by political instability, the Great Depression, a crisis of liberal democracy, and the rise of ultranationalism and fascism. It explores how Yugoslav feminists organized in the interwar period, how the domestic and international political contexts shaped their feminist activism, and what the main ideas and concepts of their feminist political thought were. The study finds that interwar feminisms in Yugoslavia were closely intertwined with both the domestic and international political contexts. It shows how feminists actively developed their movement and ideas in response to the volatile political climate of their time by building alliances across ethnic divides, across political divides, and in and through international organizations. By arguing that the 1930s were not a period of crisis or demise of feminisms, but rather a time of significant continuity and change in terms of organizing, feminist agendas, and conceptual frameworks, the dissertation fills an important gap in the existing scholarship.
Examination Committee:
Elissa Helms - chair (Department of Gender Studies)
Francisca de Haan, Balazs Trencsenyi – co-supervisors (Department of Gender Studies, Department of History, CEU)
Jasmina Lukic - internal member, (Department of Gender Studies, CEU)
Celia Donert - external member (Faculty of History, University of Cambridge)
Katherine Marino - external reader (Department of History, University of California)
The doctoral dissertation is available for inspection. Should you wish to access it, please contact
Margaretha Boockmann (boockmannm@ceu.edu)
The defense takes place in hybrid format, a Zoom link will be sent upon request. Please contact Margaretha Boockmann (boockmannm@ceu.edu)
Picture source: Žena danas, March 1937