An examination of women's roles in politics and society in the contemporary Russian Federation as it creates a new market economy and democratic course born of a millennium of history and nearly 75 years of authoritarian communist rule.The stage is set in the introduction followed by an examination of the history of the Bolshevik socialist state in 1917 through the participation of women in recent multiparty elections in 1993. The tsarist and Communist gender culture is presented, and the book then considers why and how, the Soviet Union disintegrated. Next the editors explore the reborn Russia of President Boris Yeltsin and women's rights under Soviet and post-Soviet rule. The book is enriched by statistical tables and glossaries of the names of leaders and terms for easy identification.

PrefaceIntroduction: Equal Players or Back to the Kitchen? by Wilma RuleWomen in Politics: Past and PresentWomen's Participation: From Lenin to Gorbachev by Carol NechemiasThe Communist Era and Women: Image and Reality by Joel C. MosesWomen in Russia's First Multiparty Election by Wilma Rule and Nadezhda ShvedovaThe Changing Gender Culture and Women's PlaceWomen in Russian Society from the Tsars to Yeltsin by Marcelline HuttonThe Bolshevik Legacy and Russian Women's Movements by Norma C. NoonanThe Fall of the Soviet Union, The Rise of Capitalism and the Impact on WomenBefore the Fall: Economic and Social Problems by Alexander ArdishviliThe Gorbachev Leadership: Change and Continuity by Norma C. NoonanThe Yeltsin Presidency, Economic Reform, and Women by Luba RacanskaThe Changing Constitutions and Women's Human RightsRussian Constitution and Women's Political Opportunities by Richard D. Anderson, Jr.Law and Policy: Women's Human Rights in Russia by Dorothy McBride StetsonCrossroads in Russian History: A Brighter Road Ahead for Women? by Norma C. NoonanGlossary of Russian and Soviet LeadersGlossary of Russian TermsSelect BibliographyIndex