The 1920s were when Soviet emancipation in Ukraine, which was large-scale in terms of its proclaimed objectives, was implemented and played an essential role in state policy towards the subordinate republics. In the official discourse, it was interpreted as a solution to the “women's question”, a rather broad concept that included the problems of marriage, family, education, and employment, and most importantly, the formation of a “new Soviet worldview” among women.
The rapid implementation of the tasks of Soviet emancipation policy in Ukraine proved to be difficult, and Zaporizhzhia was one of the regions where the situation was one of the most difficult. The region's socio-economic development was characterised by a distinct masculinisation, which, combined with the uneven success of the women's movement in the pre-revolutionary period, increased the complexity of “women's emancipation”. An unexpected “bonus” that revived the Bolsheviks' emancipatory practices in the region was the visit of Alexandra Kollontai to the city of Oleksandrivsk in 1919. After she spoke at a meeting of the town's residents in the Narodnyi dim (National House), a women's activist group was formed, enthusiastically addressing “women's liberation”. Its activities were also visible in the first half of the 1920s, in the functioning of the Zaporizhzhia District Women's Department.
Women's delegate assemblies were created to intensify and reach as many women as possible through the practice of Soviet emancipation. Delegates had to undergo an intensive programme, the main components of which were: listening to lectures, internships in institutions, and participation in various Soviet activities. At the same time, in the first half of the 1920s, many female delegates showed interest in participating in meetings, but this interest faded later. At the same time, the number of women delegates increased, but the leading factor in the formation of meetings was the pursuit of quantitative indicators by women's departments.
One of the main tasks of Soviet emancipation was to involve women in production. The Soviet authorities saw women as a labour resource whose involvement would strengthen Soviet industry. The Zaporizhzhia women's department was particularly active in this task, using some tools: organising training courses for women, quotas, and agreements with the management of enterprises. However, despite all efforts, the proportion of women in industrial enterprises remained low due to the established masculinity of this area of employment, which the quick administration could not overcome. For example, at the end of the 1920s, only 8.7% of women worked at large enterprises in Zaporizhzhia. The construction of the Dnipro hydroelectric power station became a centre of women's spontaneous labour emancipation.
To eliminate any obstacles to women's participation in production, the Soviet authorities also tried to ‘free’ them from providing for domestic life. For that purpose, they created an infrastructure of childcare, healthcare, and public services. The success in this area was also relatively modest. For example, in Zaporizhzhia in 1927, there were two women's consultations, one orphanage, two nurseries, two canteens for schoolchildren, and a children's sanatorium. The district had ten consultations, two maternity hospitals, one playground, and fourteen summer nurseries in the countryside. This was not enough to meet the needs of women. But gradually, women began to organise themselves to create social infrastructure facilities.
An indispensable component of the Soviet emancipation programme was the expansion of women's representation in the Bolshevik Party. To attract women, both individual ‘work’ was carried out with female candidates for the party, and at the level of delegate meetings, which were the primary mechanism of ‘recruitment’. However, the proportion of women in the party remained small. According to 1929 data, there were 544 women in the party organisation of the Zaporizhzhia district (10% of the total).
At the same time, Soviet emancipation policy had ‘unexpected’ results. Women began to go beyond the imposed framework of ‘Soviet activity’, addressing government officials and women's organisers with questions/demands that they did not expect. For example, during the regular elections to delegate assemblies in 1930, reports mention that peasant women asked numerous questions unrelated primarily to delegate assemblies, but to grain procurement companies. ‘Why is the last of the bread taken from the village, while the bread in the city is rotting?’ ‘Is the bread being taken away because the Soviet government wants to pay off the war?’ These and other similar activities demonstrated the growth of women's understanding of their social role, which did not coincide with the vision of the actors of Soviet emancipation.
In the early 1930s, women's departments and delegate assemblies in Ukraine, and Zaporizhzhia in particular, ceased to exist as liberal trends in state policy faded. The Soviet emancipation policy of the 1920s did not achieve most of its goals, but it allowed women who were ready for change to try out new roles. However, society ambiguously perceived these roles and, ultimately, by the government itself.
The translation from Ukrainian was created with the help of DeepL.
Жінки та влада на Запоріжжі 1920 х років: практики та результати керованої емансипації - Genderculture Space
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