Soviet Policies on Gender, Education and Culture

This edited collection is more than just an invitation to re-engage with the lessons of Soviet policies in education and culture a hundred years after they were introduced. Christina Engelmann, Franziska Haug, and Ingrid Miethe invite us to 'unlearn' socialist educational modernity as we know it by offering space to feminist, queer, and indigenous perspectives alongside new research on established figures in the field.

Dr. Tatiana Klepikova

University of Regensburg, Germany

The anthology edited by Engelmann, Haug, and Miethe offers a factually nuanced and critically engaged examination of Soviet gender, education, and cultural policies. Focusing on, though not limited to, the early Soviet period, the volume brings together ten contributions examining thought-provoking Soviet approaches to education, culture, and equality policies that were intended to foster the development of a just society of free and equal individuals. Drawing on careful analyses of historical documents and empirical data, the studies also correct several misconceptions that have shaped Western public and media discourse on these issues. The contributions show that a sober, non-ideological consideration of alternatives to Western models—particularly in light of the deep economic and political crises of our time—remains both necessary and valuable.

Prof. Dr. Irina Mchitarjan

University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Germany