Feministički pokret u Jugoslaviji 1978-1989

Marijana Stojčić

Proleteri svih zemalja – ko vam pere čarape? Od partizanke do Drug-ce Žene[*]

Prekretnica za razvoj feminističkog pokreta u bivšoj Jugoslaviji bila je međunarodna konferencija “DRUG-CA ŽENA. Žensko pitanje. Novi pristup?” u Studentskom kulturnom centru (SKC) u Beogradu 1978. godine, koje su organizovale žene iz Beograda, Zagreba, Sarajeva i Ljubljane. To je prvi feministički događaj feminizma drugog talasa u Istočnoj Evropi.

Prodor drugog talasa feminizma sedamdesetih godina 20. veka na prostore onoga što danas imenujemo kao prostor bivše Jugoslavije vremenski koincidira sa s jedne strane, ozbiljnom krizom političke legitimacije jugoslovenskog socijalističkog projekta i konstituisanjem specifične scene koju u bazičnoj klasnoj liniji možemo locirati kao nove srednje klase/slojeve[1]. S druge, vrhuncem države blagostanja na Zapadu, krizom stare levice i radničkog pokreta u klasičnom smislu, kao i usponom novih društvenih pokreta okupljenih oko kritike etatizma, autoritarnosti i paternalizma države blagostanja i zahteva za fleksibilizacijom društvenih odnosa, slobodom životnih stilova i ličnom samorealizacijom.  Uopšteno govoreći, iako se može raspravljati o tome da li su novi društveni pokreti doneli nove forme politike, ili je u pitanju promena akcenta – kako u pogledu orijentacije, tako i u smislu organizacije i aktivnosti[2], ono što jeste bilo novo je socijalni kontekst u kome su pokreti nastali s obzirom na “sve manje izraženu identifikaciju oslonjenu na klase, izostalu podršku političkih partija organizovanih u cilju zastupanja klasnih interesa i politizaciju identiteta kao što su pol, seksualno opredeljenje, etnička pripadnost i nacionalnost koji su ranije marginalizovani u konvencionalnoj politici”[3]. Uspesi države blagostanja na Zapadu su već bili normalizovani, a tamošnji model se smatrao uspešnijim i po pitanju obezbeđivanja materijalnih dobara i socijalne sigurnosti, uz bitno veći stepen političkih sloboda u odnosu na zemlje real-socijalizma. Stara levica je identifikovana sa uskim ekonomističkim zahtevima koji su u velikoj meri bili ostvareni ili na putu da budu ostvareni. Okvir klasne borbe činio se suviše ograničenim za kritiku nejednakosti, neslobode i isključenosti koje su i dalje postojale. U prvi plan dolaze drugi oblici društvene represije – prvenstveno rodna i rasna koje je istorijski radnički pokret često stavljao u drugi plan

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The Feminist Movement in Yugoslavia 1978-1989

Marijana Stojčić

Proletarians of the world – who washes your socks? From female Partisans to Comrade Woman[*]

A key milestone in the development of feminist movements in former Yugoslavia was the international conference “Comrade Woman: The Women’s Question. New Approach?” in the Student Cultural Centre (SKC) in Belgrade in 1978, organized by women from Belgrade, Zagreb, Sarajevo and Ljubljana. This was the first feminist event of the second wave of feminism in Eastern Europe.

The impact of second wave feminism in the 1970s in the space which we now call former Yugoslavia coincides, on the one hand, with a serious crisis of political legitimation of the Yugoslav socialist project and the constitution of a specific group which in basic class terms we can locate as a new middle-class[1]. On the other hand, at the height of the welfare state in the West, the crisis of the old left and the workers’ movement in the classical sense, as well as the rise of new social movements gathered around a critique of the statism, authoritarianism and paternalism of the welfare state, led to demands for more flexible social relations, freedom of life-styles, and personal self-realisation. In general terms, one can easily discuss whether the new social movements introduced new forms of politics, or whether the change was more subtle, in terms of orientation, organization, and activities[2], in the new social context in which the movements found themselves, considering “the ever decreasing extent of explicit class-based identification, the lack of support of political parties organized to represent class interests, and the politicization of identities such as gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and nationality previously marginalized in conventional politics[3]”. The success of welfare states in the West had already become normalized, with that model judged successful in terms of the provision of material goods and social security, together with a significantly higher level of political freedom in comparison with the countries of real-socialism. The old left had identified itself with wide-ranging economic demands which had more or less been achieved or were on the road to being achieved. The framework of class struggle had seemed to be too limited in terms of a critique of the inequalities, lack of freedoms, and exclusions which still persisted. To the forefront came other forms of societal repression – primarily gender and race which, historically, workers’ movements had routinely relegated to second place.

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