Central European University A Program for University Teachers, Advanced Ph.D. Students, Researchers and Professionals in the Social Sciences and Humanities Summer University

Course Directors:  

Joanna Regulska (Central European University, Budapest)
Mindy Roseman (Central European University, Budapest)
 

The Program on Gender and Culture offers a two week program consisting of two interrelated segments. There are two courses in the first week: in the morning, an introductory course on "Feminist Political Thought" and in the afternoon, a course on "State Action and Family Values". The second week's courses are "Gender, Family and Rights Discourses"  and  the "Construction of  Alternative Political Spaces". In addition, a few late afternoon workshops on  Gender Studies in  Central and Eastern Europe  will be offered.

The course will address women's problematic relations with politics and the political in Central and Eastern Europe with the aim to: 1)  rethink the relation between the individual and the state, particularly from a feminist perspective;  2)  examine the notion of the family as it is defined in political theory, political science, jurisprudence and related social sciences such as anthropology, psychology ; and 3) generate paradigms of analysis grounded in particular post-socialist experiences.

The relationship of women, as individuals, and the state has plagued political theorists for as long as the political has been theorised. From Aristotle to Habermas, Plato to Rawls, the category of "women" has posed problems for political identity. At the same time female philosophers from Mary Wollstonecraft and Henriette Taylor have been occupied with the same question. Feminist scholars have therefore had great opportunity to rethink some of the founding notions of political theory from the vantage point of women. For example, the limited ability to provide for adequate representation of marginalized groups thorough the conventional political structures has been observed by feminist scholars. In western democracies the invisibility of women as political actors has been seen in patriarchy and patriarchal culture. Feminist scholars have also argued about the role that the state plays in perpetuating women's marginal position in the public sphere. Some have asserted that the public-private divide relegates women to the private sphere and that therefore the separation of the private sphere from the public has impinged on women's capacities to exercise their political power.

In theory the official ideology of State Socialism  overcame gender based inequalities. In practice, equality was translated in unequally along the axis of gender in the social, political and economic sphere. The State, moreover, had a keen interest in the reproduction of labour, which had a nefarious impact on the reproductive choices of women.  The transition to post Socialism initially promised to make real the claims of freedom and autonomy described in liberal political thought, and the initial moments of the post-socialist politics raised expectations for social justice and change. The emphasis on liberal individualism, with only a passive provision of social and economic rights, was seen as sufficient to build wealth and ensure its equal distribution. Now, seven years after the transition, the gendered nature of political inequality (and its consequences) has resurfaced.  Women have suffered significant inequalities in employment, income and rights, compared to men.  The loss of  social benefits, the erosion of  an economic base, the ambiguous role of the state and at the same time the re-emergence of patriarchal values are but just a few of the new challenges that women face in the region. Academic theories and tools to understand these changes have been increasingly in demand, and a new gender sensitive scholarship should therefore have a critical impact on policies, practices and the lives of all citizens in the region.

Course Description
Week 1 (July 20 - 24)
Course 1: Feminist Political Thought
Resource Persons: Dasa Duhacek, Dr. Julie Mostov
 This will be compulsory one week course.  The course will trace the evolution of  feminist political theories and feminist critiques of liberalism, social contract theory, communitarianism, etc. Using these theoretical frameworks this course will  examine the notion of  the public/private dichotomy, participatory politics and  the limits of democracy.  Topics such as community and individual autonomy, particularly in the context of East Central Europe, will be addressed.  This course will set the stage for the other courses to be offered during the two week period.

Course 2: State Action and Family Values
Resourse Person: Joanna Regulska
 This course will examine the meaning  of the family as constructed through social practices, law and shaped by state policies. It will focus on the way in which family values are appropriated and transformed into state policies and are shaped through cultural norms, mass media and new political discourses.