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Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: September 19, 2020 at 11:45:27 AM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Diplo]: Haefner on Ghodsee, 'Second World, Second > Sex: Socialist Women's Activism and Global Solidarity during the Cold War' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Kristen Ghodsee. Second World, Second Sex: Socialist Women's > Activism and Global Solidarity during the Cold War. Durham Duke > University Press, 2019. Illustrations. 328 pp. $27.95 (paper), ISBN > 978-1-4780-0181-2; $104.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-4780-0139-3. > > Reviewed by Julianne H. Haefner (Central Michigan University) > Published on H-Diplo (September, 2020) > Commissioned by Seth Offenbach > > In June and July of 1975, over two thousand participants from 133 > United Nations member states descended on Mexico City for the First > World Conference on Women. Participants from the First World and the > Second/Third World primarily differed on whether the conference was > supposed to only discuss women's issues or whether the activists > present should also discuss other matters, including issues like > South African apartheid or the peace process in the Middle East. The > activists from the Second and Third World argued that women should in > fact discuss all matters that their male counterparts were discussing > at the UN. This meeting in Mexico City was not the only one during > the 1970s and 1980s that drew participants from First, Second, and > Third World nations. Kristen Ghodsee's book Second World, Second Sex: > Socialist Women's Activism and Global Solidarity during the Cold War > examines the activism of women in two Second World nations, Bulgaria > and Zambia, and their contributions to a range of meetings of women > activists during the Decade for Women (1976-85). Her main argument is > that in the writing of history the contributions of the women from > Eastern Europe and socialist-leaning African nations have been > largely obscured by giving credit to women from the West in advancing > women's rights throughout the Decade for Women. Ghodsee's main > purpose in writing this book is to uncover this forgotten history of > the Cold War to show how women from the Second World championed > women's rights much earlier than some of their Western counterparts. > > _Second World, Second Sex_ is divided into two main parts. In the > first part of the book, Ghodsee discusses some of the context of the > Cold War and feminism. In this part she also presents two case > studies of women activists: Bulgaria and Zambia. She examines the > contributions Zambian and Bulgarian women made to the advancing of > women's rights in their respective countries. For example, the > Women's Brigade in Zambia organized classes to fight against infant > mortality and taught women how to use the decimal-based currency, an > important precursor to become economically involved in Zambian > society. > > The second part of the book focuses on some of the individual events > throughout the Decade for Women. Throughout the Decade for Women > female activists from across the world convened in multiple places, > from training courses to workshops to conferences, allowing many of > these women activists to cross paths. While the activists displayed > solidarity for their shared causes, tensions still developed between > representatives from different nations, and in particular between > First World and Second/Third World nations. > > Geopolitical issues and topics contributed to tensions between the > activists from different parts of the world. This is evident, for > example, in the debates about whether or not to include the word > "Zionism" in the final conference document of the 1985 World > Conference on Women in Nairobi. The US delegation threatened that it > would leave the conference if Zionism was to be included. Some > nations concurred with this sentiment, but Eastern bloc nations and > some of their allies tried to purposely antagonize the United States > on this matter and advocated for the inclusion of the term. On the > final day of the conference several delegations, among them the US, > the Soviet, and the Palestinian, met up in private to discuss the > matter. Finally, under pressure from the Kenyan government a > compromise was reached and the following statement was included in > the final conference document: "all forms of racial discrimination" > (p. 213). This compromise was largely considered a victory for the > US. > > Of course, relations between the Eastern bloc countries and the > African nations were not without tensions either. Racism, for > example, was persistent in the Eastern bloc and many African women > spoke of the racism they encountered at some of the events. For > example, one Zambian woman recalled instances of segregation and > discrimination when she attended a training course in the German > Democratic Republic. Despite proclamations of solidarity from the > Eastern European activists, stereotypes about Africa and African > culture persisted. > > Throughout her work Ghodsee continues to make connections between the > story of Zambian and Bulgarian women activism and today's feminist > movement. She remains critical of today's liberal feminism and its > connections to capitalism. Ghodsee closes the book by pointing toward > the future of feminism, expressing her hope that "this book > contributes to building a future in which feminism is no longer the > handmaiden of neoliberal capitalism but a broad-based social movement > that fights ignorance, prejudice, and injustice in all its form" (p. > 243). One can interpret part of Ghodsee's work also as a call for > action, challenging today's feminist movement. > > Ghodsee draws her evidence from a variety of sources: Bulgarian and > Zambian government archival sources, personal archives, and oral > interviews with many of the activists conducted by the author > herself. She skillfully weaves the different sources together to > provide a cohesive narrative. Methodologically _Second World, Second > Sex_ can serve as a building block to merge oral interviews and > archival sources, providing a nuanced and human-centered > understanding of historical developments. > > The book has multiple strengths, among them centering the narrative > on women and their activism, and secondly focusing on women from > Second World nations. The book adds layers to multiple histories and > can be beneficial for a number of historians. Often the story of the > Cold War is told from the perspective of the United States, its > European allies, and the Soviet Union. But Ghodsee's focus on Zambia > and Bulgaria provides a different understanding of the events > surrounding the Decade for Women, one in which the Cold War > superpowers remain side actors. Thus, the book makes valuable > contributions to the study of the Global South, and placing the women > in Zambia and Bulgaria as main actors shows their agency in the > larger narrative of women's rights and the Cold War. In addition, > Ghodsee's work also illuminates the global networks and connections > between women's rights activists throughout the Cold War.[1] > > Additionally, the book is very readable; Ghodsee's writing style of > incorporating oral interviews with secondary sources and archival > sources makes for an enjoyable read. The author does at times discuss > her personal recollections surrounding some of the interviews, but > this does not take away from the overall objectiveness and academic > rigor. On the contrary, Ghodsee's personal recollections add > positively to understanding the craft of oral history. Obviously, any > kind of oral history can have its pitfalls, something the author > readily acknowledges. It is helpful for the reader that Ghodsee did > not just rely on the oral interviews but also supplemented the > personal memories with other sources to verify and fact-check. > > For the most part the book is a well-rounded account of the events. > However, it would have been helpful if the author had engaged more > with news coverage of the events during the Decade for Women. Did any > major news outlets report on the events? How were these reports > framed and presented? Did news media outlets report on the events as > being just focused on domestic matters, or did they include reports > about the above-mentioned debates regarding the term "Zionism"? This > would have added another dimension to the story and would have given > an impression of how this kind of activism had been viewed outside of > the activist circles. > > Overall, _Second World, Second Sex_ is an excellent account of > women's activism in Bulgaria and Zambia throughout the Decade for > Women. Using oral history and archival sources, the author skillfully > examines this forgotten Cold War history. Her work makes meaningful > contributions to a range of historiographies, from activism, to > feminism, to the Cold War. Her work is particularly meaningful > because it places women in these Second World nations at the > forefront of the narrative. > > Note > > [1]. Other works that discuss women's rights, global developments, > and the Cold War include Karen Garner, _Shaping a Global Women's > Agenda: Women's NGOs and Global Governance, 1925-1985_ (Manchester: > University of Manchester Press, 2010); Yulia Gradskova, "Women's > International Democratic Federation, the 'Third World' and the Global > Cold War from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s," _Women's History > Review_ 29, no. 2 (2020): 270-88; Bonnie Smith, _Women's History in > Global Perspective_ (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004); and > Lucy Delap, _Feminisms: A Global History_ (Chicago: The University of > Chicago Press, 2020). > > _Julianne Haefner is a doctoral candidate in Central Michigan > University's transnational and comparative history PhD program. She > is currently working on her dissertation exploring US foreign policy > toward Angola under the Gerald R. Ford administration (1974-77)._ > > Citation: Julianne H. Haefner. Review of Ghodsee, Kristen, _Second > World, Second Sex: Socialist Women's Activism and Global Solidarity > during the Cold War_. H-Diplo, H-Net Reviews. September, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55334 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#1754): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/1754 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/76962165/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
