Global Feminisms Project: Project Site: Poland

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Project Description	The complex histories of feminism in Poland during the post-war communist rule and since its breakdown in 1989 intersect with a diversity of institutions ranging from governmental forces to Catholic institutions. Accordingly, the collection of Polish women's oral histories of activism and scholarship reflect these complexities as the women describe their interactions with the society and politics around them. The Women's Center eFKa in Krakow conducted ten interviews with women whose activities span the spectrum of Polish feminism across generations and approaches to scholarship and activism. For instance, Barbara Labuda, who was Secretary of State in President Aleksander Kwasniewski's Cabinet, tells stories of the male-dominated Solidarity movement and narrates her own attempts at breaking the glass ceiling of the otherwise progressive labor union. Another interviewee, Agnieszka Graff, author of opinion pieces published in major Polish magazines and newspapers, speaks to the difficulties confronting those whose feminist politics bring them into the public eye. In a country where feminism still invites a range of hostile responses, women like Labuda and Graff are pioneers in supporting women's independence, developing women's rights, and fighting discrimination. All of the interviewees are located in the contemporary post-socialist milieu and their stories emerge out of the history of state-sanctioned doctrine and post-1989 democratic freedom. Their feminist histories of national and community activism fill in the gaps created by the persistently male dominated public sphere.

Interviews	Interviewee Transcripts and Contextual Materials Poland Site Booklet (PDF) Poland Site Booklet with DVD Chapter Markers & Time Codes (PDF) Transcript of Thematic Film (PDF) Poland Site Bibliography (PDF) The transcripts and other materials on this Web site are intended for educational and research use. Any other use must be authorized. For such authorization, please contact the Poland site contact.
Site Contacts	Fundacja Kobiet eFKa (Women's Foundation eFKa) in Krakow, Poland Sławomira Walczewska - Poland Site Coordinator Magdalena Zaborowska - U.S. based Poland Site Coordinator Justyna Pas - U.S. based Poland Site Intern

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University of Michigan | Institute for Research on Women and Gender | Rackham Graduate School | Women's Studies Program

University of Michigan Global Feminisms Project
Institute for Research on Women and Gender • University of Michigan • 1136 Lane Hall Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1290
Phone: (734)764-9537 • Fax: (734)764-9533 • E-mail: um.gfp@umich.edu

The transcripts and other materials on this Web site are intended for educational and research use. Any other use must be authorized. For such authorization, please contact the relevant site(s). When using material from the interview transcripts and/or other materials on this Web site, we expect that sources will be properly credited.