Women in the Structures of the Soviet Cultural Diplomacy of the Cold War: Between Mobilization and Participation

Abstract

This article discusses the involvement of women in structures of Soviet cultural diplomacy, as well as complicated negotiations between cultural-diplomatic actors and party-state structures, a complex interweaving of institutional and ideological influences “from above” with the stubbornness of lay diplomats. At the center of the investigation are their gradual professionalization and generational change. Archival materials on Soviet party-state authority and (quasi) civil organizations reflect a discursive, institutional, and partly individual dimension of the Soviet women’s movement and its activities at the international level. The author concludes that in attempting to exploit the potential of women’s issues outside the country, the Soviet party-state found no solution to contradictions between the ambitious role of women in the Cold War and their own patriarchal patterns. After the late 1960s, the women’s issue also developed in global contexts of human rights. If within the USSR the topic was perverted in public discussions, at the international level it developed independently. This questioned the image of the Soviet Union as a country where gender equality was already realized. The gradual discrediting of the USSR as the main peacemaker made further use of the peace issue within the women’s movement more problematic. Afterwards, activities of the Soviet Women’s Committee were formalized as a bureaucratic practice, more focused on domestic audiences.