The Economic Empowerment of Women in Russia - A study of the changing position of women in Russian society since the collapse of the Soviet Union

Details

Supervisors

Denis, Sabine

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion

Abstract

The place of women in Russia’s political economy and their associated economic empowerment, has been a complicated, if not volatile, issue throughout Russia’s modern history. In imperial times, despite the formidable reign of Catherine The Great, women were almost all illiterate and destined to perform maternal duties. The arrival of the Soviet way of life initially announced some increased opportunities for women, but Stalinist rule reversed these meagre improvements and almost annihilated the role of the women as a valuable economic actor in the Russian economy, beyond her role as child bearer and servant to the patriarchy. After the fall of communism, a new era of hope came about. An era in which women, free from the communist restrictions, could finally play their part in the Russian economy and gain economic empowerment as Western nations were. However, under Putin’s leadership, and despite some advances both in the job market and rights, Russian society persisted in the propagation of limiting and biased gender norms, which all but cast women in their historical second place, behind men.