Women at the Gates: Gender and Industry in Stalin's Russia / Edition 1

by Wendy Z. Goldman

Overview

In the annals of Industrialization, the Soviet experience is unique in its whirlwind rapidity. The vast transformations that shook Europe over the centuries—proletarianization, industrialization, urbanization—were telescoped into a mere decade. The working class grew at an unprecedented rate, changing in size and social composition, and in no other country of the world did women constitute such a significant part of the working class in so short a time. Women at the Gates is the story of a world remade when women entered the waged labor force in unprecedented numbers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521785532
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/25/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	316
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.71(d)
Lexile:	1440L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Guarding the gates to the working class: women in industry, 1917–29; 2. The struggle over working class feminism; 3. The gates come tumbling down; 4. From exclusion to recruitment; 5. The five-year plan for women: planning above, counter planning below; 6. Planning and chaos: the struggle for control; 7. Gender relations in industry: voices from the point of production; 8. Rebuilding the gates to the working class; Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

"Goldman's excellent book is a valuable reference for scholars and students alike." The Russian Review

"Goldman presents a well-crafted, well-researched portrayal of women's roles in Soviet industrial development. It makes a contribution to our understanding of women's role in Soviet society and Soviet industrial development and can be used as a supplementary text in Russian history or women's studies' courses." History

"...this is a fine book. Its story is interesting, original, and important. Diligently researched, carefully presented, and excellently written, it deserves to be widely read." Autumn 2002

"This excellent study...is an engaging work that will interest both Russian specialists and those interested in women's issues." Canadian Slavonic Papers

"Goldman contributes to a deepening picture of Soviet life..." American Historical Review

"Goldman draws on an impressive amount of archival research to demonstrate the role of the party, government planning officials, women activists, and factory managers in promoting the participation of women in industrial production....Goldman's work is less convincing in its attempts to explain the contradictions in Soviet gender policy....Nonetheless, Goldman's book is an important and well-researched contribution to the social history of women during Soviet industrialization." Slavic Review

From the Publisher