This lecture series looks into the changes and constants in the gender system of the Soviet Union and modern-day Russia. The lectures offer a chronological overview of the symbolic meanings of gender, the ways gender relations are constructed, and the fluidity of gender and sexuality. The course focuses on examining the gender system of contemporary Russia, but students will also familiarise themselves with the key concepts and theories of gender studies and consider their explanatory power in interpreting socialist and post-socialist gender politics.

Preliminary programme:

Introduction: The legacy and significance of Pussy Riot ( Prof.Arja Rosenholm)

Gender System in Late Socialism (Prof. Suvi Salmenniemi)

Perestroika and the representation of femininity (Dr. Saara Ratilainen)

Upwardly mobile women: Celebrity, glamour and gender in post-Soviet Russia (Dr. Saara Ratilainen)

Fashion, Gender and Class in Russia (Dr. Olga Gurova)

Gender, Generation and Political Activism in Russia (Dr. Laura Lyytikäinen)

Women's literature as Cultural Resistance (Dr. Marja Sorvari)

Russian family culture in the midst of post-socialist and transnational changes: anthropological perspective  (DrTatiana Tiaynen)

Orthodox materiality in Russian women’s everyday religion: transnational family-making and self-therapy  (Dr. Tatiana Tiaynen)

Conclusion and discussion (Arja Rosenholm and Saara Ratilainen)

The course is organized in cooperation with Aleksanteri Institute's Russian and East European Master's School.