The Marketization of Gender Equality: A Historical Perspective

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Notes

1 The Code on Marriage, the Family, and Guardianship of 1918 followed two previous decrees which abolished religious marriage in favor of civil marriage and allowed for either spouse to initiate divorce.

2 “Public–private” gap here refers to the shift from the private and family-oriented nature of reproduction, housework and caretaking to the state-socialized and waged nature of reproduction, housework and caretaking under the purview of the Bolshevik agenda.

3 Socialist legality here refers to the legal system particular to the Soviet Union which was primarily based on the civil procedure and sociopolitical philosophy of Marx and Lenin, emphasizing socialization, equity and universalism. Capitalist legality here refers to the legal system wherein the principles of private property and private means of production are strictly adhered to in both governance and the economy.

4 Here, the Modernization Theory, in broad terms, represents the argument that upon an increase of a society’s education levels and economic development, there will be a natural transition to bureaucratization and capitalist liberal democracy, dispelling the “pre-modern” vestiges of the previous regime and its sociopolitical & governmental mores.

5 I base my suggestion here that Russia’s global leadership in women’s corporate senior executive roles is largely due to its communist legacy on two considerations: (1) Russia is only rivaled in this respect by countries from the former soviet/communist bloc (Armenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, and Poland); and (2) Russia and these countries boasted the highest levels of female labor-force participation since the mid-20th century.

6 As with many laws in Ukraine aimed at gender equality and women’s health and rights, the Family Planning Programme is largely declarative because it lacks the necessary funding, education, or outreach to make it effective. For a more in-depth discussion about the inefficacious nature of gender equality programs in Ukraine, see Uvarova, O. “Women’s rights and gender equality in Ukraine.” Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University. 2016. https://helsinki.org.ua/en/women-s-rights-and-gender-equality-in-ukraine/.