The Women's International Democratic Federation, the Global South and the Cold War: Defending the Rights of Women of the 'Whole World'?

This book explores the Women's International Defense Federation's (WIDF) role in transnational women's activism during the Cold War, focusing on its connections to women's rights in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Combining global history and postcolonial theory, it examines the WIDF's ideology and politics, challenging whether it acted solely as a Cold War political instrument. It analyzes Soviet archival documents to provide a new perspective on the complexities of the global women's rights movement during the Cold War.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 212 pages
Publication date: 01 August 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive book delves into the profound impact of the Women's International Defense Federation (WIDF) on transnational women's activism during the Cold War era, particularly in relation to the rights of women from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. By employing a global history and postcolonial theory framework, the monograph sheds light on an understudied organization and its significant role in the Cold War, twentieth-century women's rights movements, and Soviet history. It poses critical questions about the WIDF's motives, examining whether it truly advocated for women's causes or if it served as a mere political tool during the Cold War. Through a meticulous analysis of the WIDF's ideology and the state socialist propaganda surrounding women's equality and rights, the book offers a fresh perspective on the complexities of the development of the global women's rights movement, which was often divided by the confrontations of the Cold War. This study is of utmost importance for students and scholars interested in Women's and Gender History, Eastern European History, and Gender Studies.

Weight: 410g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367504786