Part 2: Comparative studies of gender issues under Russia's wars of the 21st century

Сlasses are developed on research based comparative analysis of core issues related to challenges of gendered war and peace: war refugees\forced migrains, activism and solidarity, anti-gender movement, gender and law in wartimes, and the other with cases of Ukraine, Georgia, Romania, Nordic countries.

Description: Rethinking how gender matters in the issues of war refugeeing is based on intersectional analysis as a theoretical framework. Empirically this lecture gives research-based insights within a comparative perspective on the experiences of Ukrainian refugees and the application of the EU Temporary Protection Directive in the migration policies in Scandinavian countries, focusing on the cases of Sweden and Norway. The lecture also explores the concept of the "Nordic dream" in terms of the welfare state in the experiences and daily practices of Ukrainian refugees, examining the intersection of gender-focused issues within this context. We delve into the similarities and differences in approaches employed by the national authorities of Sweden and Norway in regard to the registration, settlement, and integration of Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia's full-scale war. A particular emphasis is the social agency of women refugees, viewed as their capacity and activity to contribute positively to both the host country and their homeland in the hardships of wartime. The authors reflect on the role and core actors within civic society in host countries as an essential part of the integration policies, as well as an active part of networking and women's empowerment in bridging host and home countries aimed at working together for the Victory.

Lecturer: Svitlana Babenko, Lund University / Malmö University, Oleksandra Deineko, Karazin University / Oslo MET

Video recording on the YouTube

Reader:
1. Vilde Hernes, Oleksandra Deineko, Marthe Hånda Myhre, Tone Liodden and Anne Balke Staver. (2022). Ukrainian refugees – experiences from the first phase in Norway.
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2. Sweden: Ukrainians and Third-Country Nationals under Temporary Protection: Needs, Intentions and Challenges (April-May 2023)
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3. Panel discussion «Helping Refugees from Ukraine and Preventing Exploitation».
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Description: Women and girls are disproportionately affected by armed conflicts, they are primarily targeted by sexual violence, which is one of the tactics of war. The course will center around protection of women's human rights in armed conflicts.

According to the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine
published in October 2022, in Ukraine sexual violence has affected victims of all ages. "The Commission investigated cases of rape committed by some soldiers of the Russian armed forces during the period under review in localities that came under their control, which are war crimes. Victims ranged from 4 to over 80 years old. Perpetrators raped the women and girls in their homes or took them and raped them in unoccupied dwellings. In most cases, these acts also amount to torture and cruel or inhumane treatment for the victims and for relatives who were forced to watch." By discussing examples, students will learn how to assess whether sexual violence is conflict related.

The course will also address UN Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security, we will discuss Resolution 1820 (2008), specifically addressing sexual violence in conflict situations, and other follow-up resolutions.

The seminar will cover other important topics like access to essential services for women and girls during armed conflicts. According to the UN report on conflict-related violence published in 2023, "attacks on health centers occurred in Ethiopia, Haiti, Mali, Ukraine and elsewhere, limiting access to life-saving services, including sexual and reproductive care. In some contexts, the operating space for service providers virtually vanished, as in Afghanistan, where women have been progressively erased from public life”.

Lecturer: Tamara Gurchiani, Ilia State University

Video recording on the YouTube

Reader: in the description
Description: The lecture will address various ways in which the EU aspirations or integration of some East European and post-Soviet states and geopolitical tensions/conflicts in the region confound with and shape politics of gender and sexuality in these societies. Specifically, the lecture and following discussion will deal with such questions as: 1. How is the East-West difference construed and how does it function in various East European and post-Soviet societies? 2. How are gender equality and sexual rights initiatives, including activism, informed and shaped by this divide? 3. What are the deployments of this divide in the hands of far right / conservative groups and parties in their anti-gender mobilization? 4. What are the implications or apparent effects of this deployment for struggles for gender democracy in these societies? Based on recent scholarship, the lecture will focus on cases of Georgia and Ukraine to disentangle some analytical and normative aspects involved in these issues.

Lecturers: Tamar Tskhadadze, Ilia State University

Video recording on the YouTube

Reader:
- Maryna Shevtsova. 2020. Fighting ‘Gayropa’: Europeanization and Instrumentalization of LGBTI Rights in Ukrainian Public Debate. Problems of Post-Communism, 67: 500–510. DOI: 10.1080/10758216.2020.1716807.
- Laura Luciani. 2023. Where the Personal is (Geo)Political: Performing Queer Visibility in Georgia in the Context of EU Association. Problems of Post-Communism, 70:2, 197–208, DOI: 10.1080/10758216.2021.1937228
- Recommended Readings
- Tamta Gelashvili. 2023. The Far Right in Ukraine, in The Routledge Handbook of Far-Right Extremism in Europe, edited by Katherine Kondor and Mark Littler, 21-38. London: Routledge.
- Martijn Mos. 2023. Routing or Rerouting Europe? The Civilizational Mission of Anti-Gender Politics in Eastern Europe. Problems of Post-Communism, 70:2, 143-152, DOI: 10.1080/10758216.2022.2050927
- Maryna Shevtsova. 2023. Religion, Nation, State, and Anti-Gender Politics in Georgia and Ukraine. Problems of Post-Communism, 70:2, 163–174, DOI: 10.1080/10758216.2022.2085581
- Eszter Kováts. 2021. Anti-gender politics in East-Central Europe: Right-wing defiance to West-Eurocentrism. GENDER – Journal for Gender, Culture and Society, 1-2021, pp. 76–90.
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- Tamar Tskhadadze. 2017. ‘The West’ and Georgian ‘Difference’: Discursive Politics of Gender and Sexuality in Georgia. In Gender in Georgia. Feminist Perspectives on Culture, Nation, and History in the South Caucasus, edited by Maia Barkaia and Alisse Waterston, 47–60. New York; Oxford: Berghan Books
Description: This lecture takes as its point of departure the multifaceted manifestations of anti-gender politics in the Eastern European context, with an explicit focus on comparing two neighboring countries (Romania, Ukraine). The ambition is to deploy a gender lens to flesh out the complex realities at work in the two polities, focusing on the role of dominant religious institutions, the effects of uneven Europeanization, the long shadows of Russian imperialism, and the processes of nation and state-building.

Lecturers: Ov Cristian Norocel, Lund University

Video recording on the YouTube

Reader:
- Norocel OC & Paternotte D (2023) The Dis/Articulation of Anti-Gender Politics in Eastern Europe: Introduction. Problems of Post-Communism 70(2): 123–139.
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- Norocel OC & Baluta I (2023) Retrogressive Mobilization in the 2018 “Referendum for Family” in Romania. Problems of Post-Communism: 153–162.
  URL (10 pages; Open Access)
- Shevtsova, M (2023) Religion, Nation, State, and Anti-Gender Politics in Georgia and Ukraine. Problems of Post-Communism 70(2): 163–174.
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Description: In this lecture, I take a closer look into practices of solidarity across borders, belongings, and movements. Recognizing solidarity practices as affective engagements of working together, I introduce notions of solidarity as practices of community- and coalition-building that are embedded in imagined and concrete relationships. An approach to solidarity as affective modes of engagement and as practices of shared labor, I suggest, can allow us to recognize both material and emotional dimensions of solidarity work, which otherwise might become overshadowed. The lecture is based on narratives from the Ukrainian refugees’ care networks and on ethnographic fieldwork in Sapmi, in Kirkenes in northern Norway.

Lecturers: Mia Liinason, Lund University

Video recording on the YouTube

Reader:
- Dutchak, Oksana (2023) "Together we stand: Enforced single motherhood and Ukrainian Refugees care networks", pp. 1–8
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- Hemmings, Clare (2012) “Affective solidarity: Feminist reflexivity and political transformation”, Feminist Theory 13(2) 147–161