Among Women across Worlds: North Korea in the Global Cold War

Suzy Kim's book Among Women across Worlds explores the transnational connections between North Korean women and a global women's movement, challenging the portrayal of Asian women as victims of a patriarchal Confucian state. Kim's research in the international women's press reveals that North Korean women asserted themselves in unexpected places from the late 1940s to 1975, defying convention and offering a new genealogy of the global women's movement. The Korean Democratic Women's Union (KDWU) emphasized the intersection of race, nationality, sex, and class in the fight for women's rights and peace.

Format: Hardback
Length: 348 pages
Publication date: 15 February 2023
Publisher: Cornell University Press

In her groundbreaking work, Among Women across Worlds, Suzy Kim delves into the intricate transnational connections between women from North Korea and the global women's movement. Often portrayed as victims or pawns of a patriarchal Confucian state, women of Asia, particularly those advocating communism, are subjected to a conventional analysis that overlooks their assertive roles. Kim challenges this narrative through extensive archival research in the international women's press, revealing that North Korean women actively asserted themselves in unexpected places from the late 1940s, just before the official commencement of the Korean War, to 1975, the year designated by the United Nations as International Women's Year.

By centering North Korea and the East, Kim disrupts conventional narratives and presents an entirely novel genealogy of the global women's movement. Women of the Korean Democratic Women's Union (KDWU), as part of the global left women's movement led by the Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF), tirelessly advocated for the inclusion of family and domestic issues in both national and international debates. They emphasized how race, nationality, sex, and class intersect to form systems of colonial and capitalist exploitation. Their intersectional program boldly asserted that peace cannot exist without justice, that the personal is political, and that women's rights are inherently human rights, many decades before activists in the West embraced similar agendas.

Among Women across Worlds serves as an excavation of forgotten movements and ideas that laid the groundwork for the movements and ideas that have shaped our contemporary world. It is a testament to the resilience and creativity of women who have fought for equality and justice across borders and generations. Through her meticulous research and compelling storytelling, Kim invites us to reimagine the history of the women's movement and recognize the profound impact that women from diverse backgrounds have had on shaping our collective future.

Weight: 907g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501767302