The Palgrave Handbook of Communist Women Activists around the World

This Handbook addresses the role of women in communism as a global, social and political movement for the first time, exploring their lives, forms of activism, political strategies and transnational networks. Comprising twenty-five chapters, based on new and primary research, the book presents the lives of self-identified communist women from a truly international perspective and outlines their struggles against fascism and colonialism, and for women’s emancipation and national liberation. By using the lens of transnational political biography, the chapters capture the broader picture of these women’s lives, unpacking the links between the so-called public and private, the power structures and inequalities of their societies, the formal networks and politics in which they were involved, and the informal connections and friendships that supported their activism both at the national and international level. Challenging androcentric and Eurocentric narratives about communism, this Handbook reveals the active and significant roles of women in nineteenth- and twentieth-century communist movements and regimes, and highlights the importance of communist women in shaping the agenda for women’s rights worldwide.

• Social movements
• Women's history
• Nineteenth century
• Twentieth century
• Fascism
• Colonialism
• Women's rights
• Women's liberation
• Transnational networks
• Activism
• Transnational political biography
• Patriarchy
• Inequality
• Emancipation
• Communism

“Anyone who thinks that the history of communism was made exclusively by men – Marx, Engels, Lenin and a few other male leaders from all corners of the world – will find, with this volume edited by Francisca de Haan, that this was not the case. Collecting portraits of 25 communist women, active on all continents, the publication draws a rich picture of their commitment to the struggle for a better, more just world. From their perspective, the slogan of “equality of all people” could not be realized unless the “woman question” was resolved – not only in the sphere of political rights, but also regarding economic and social rights. This well-written, excellently documented work tells the story of leftist feminists who gave direction to women's movements both in their own countries and around the world during the 20th century. I have waited a long time for this book – and I am delighted that it has been released.” (Agnieszka Mrozik, Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences; editor (with Anna Artwińska) of Gender, Generations, and Communism in Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond (Routledge, 2021))

“This Handbook is a sophisticated, challenging, and important work that undermines the masculinist approach which until now has dominated communist historiography. I hope and expect that the efforts of Francisca de Haan and her co-authors will initiate a shift towards a fully gendered understanding of one of the most influential global political movements of the twentieth century.” (Marcel van der Linden, International Institute of Social History, The Netherlands)

“When Asia was under the yoke of European, American, and Japanese empires, countless women were arrested by imperialist forces while fighting for national liberation, workers' liberation, and women's liberation. After World War II, they set their programs and organizations into motion, filled with hope of creating the world they had dreamed of. While this history had its ups and downs, there is joy in this book—their struggles were not theirs alone, and women in different parts of the world shared the same dream.” (Sang-Kyung Lee, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology; author of Im Sun-deuk: Toward an Alternative Feminine Subjectivity (2009) and co-editor of Rat Fire: Korean Stories from the Japanese Empire (2013))

“This volume is much more than a collection of powerful communist women's lives, since it recreates the global community of activists from Deng Yingchao from China to Claudia Jones of Trinidad, the US and the UK. These biographies illuminate the network of visionary women who knit together demands for an end to patriarchy, colonialism, racism, fascism and capitalism. The biographical essays span generations of communist activism in the 19th and 20th centuries that seemed lost to our records, from Clara Zetkin to Nguyễn Thị Bình and Aoua Keita, women who dared to theorize their political moment from the conditions of working-class and agricultural women's lives. At last, we have a record of communist women's contributions that provides a nuanced analysis of our left feminist past, one that fosters a path to an emancipatory future. Long overdue, this collection is filled with revelations.” (Elisabeth Armstrong, Smith College; author of Bury the Corpse of Colonialism: The Revolutionary Feminist Conference in 1949 (University of California Press, 2023))

“This is a pioneering collection of essays which charts a dynamic, compelling and highly engaging history of Communist women activists around the world. It is a path-breaking volume which opens new avenues of inquiry and deep insights in gender and women’s history, the history of social movements, and the history of the left. By drawing together the lives and political activism of women globally and transnationally, this is an indispensable work for it significantly illuminates and profoundly advances our understanding of twentieth century political, social and cultural history in new ways.” (Joy Damousi, Director, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University)

“This collective book is an indispensable contribution to the knowledge of the global history of social and political struggles. For the first time, a book gathers portraits of communist women in their diversity, from the most famous to lesser known personalities who nevertheless had a crucial impact (Pak Chŏng-ae, Iijima Aiko, Edwarda Orłowska, Vilma Espín ...). The book describes with sympathy but critical distance these women’s unusual trajectories. Truly transnational, the history evoked in The Palgrave Handbook of Communist Women Activists around the World brings much to the knowledge of the international labor movement as well as to the history of women's struggles. Without nostalgia, it shows the complex dialectic between women's liberation and communism. It allows a new look at the international communist movement often perceived as essentially male.” (Jean-Numa Ducange, University of Rouen Normandie, Institut Universitaire de France ; co-editor of Histoire globale des socialismes: XIXe-XXIe siècle (Presses universitaires de France, 2021))

“For better or for worse, women have been participating in the communist movement, something that is hardly touched upon in the male-dominated historiography of the field. It is therefore worth noting that this is now being corrected in this broad-based anthology. The book complements and expands the perspective on the movement, while at the same time highlighting profiled women in a number of countries worldwide, from Italy and the United Kingdom to India, Iraq, Turkey, Argentina, Cuba, Australia and New Zealand. Throughout the book we also glimpse the great tragedy in the history of communism. On the one hand, the idealism that triggered it, ‘Communism as a passion of the brain and the heart.’ On the other side, the brutal violations of human rights that followed in the footsteps of the passion, and which many turned a blind eye to or even ended up defending. The book offers a nuanced and compelling reading of these complex histories.” (Gro Hagemann, Professor Emerita in Modern History, University of Oslo, Norway)

“This outstanding and excellently written work, edited by Francisca de Haan, expands in an extraordinary way the knowledge about communism as a militant and transnational movement, in all five continents. First, it highlights the key place women held in the movement, thus overcoming masculinizing visions that are also excessively focused on the European areas. Secondly, it is a counterpart to works written from the perspective of liberal feminism, since it shows the lengthy and committed struggle of many communist women. It is a history of the ongoing search for emancipation, to break the chains of oppression. Finally, this book is a fascinating proposal from the methodology of biographical studies. The portraits of 25 militant women illuminate public and private aspects of the communist political experience, and thus uncover what often does not appear explicit or enunciated in political histories. This Handbook will greatly boost studies on communism and feminist movements in Latin America from new and better points of view.” (Hernán Camarero, Full Professor of the Chair of Contemporary Argentine History at the University of Buenos Aires and Principal Researcher of the Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET))

“This Handbook completes and corrects androcentric narratives of communism that have been unable to understand the crucial contributions of women as political activists and as constructors of socialist policies in the Global North and South. Expanding from the late nineteenth century to the twenty-first century, the book illuminates the militant and personal lives of twenty-five women from around the world who believed in and struggled for the full emancipation of women and against social and economic injustice. Moreover, the wide- ranging multi-lingual and transnational selection of contributing authors successfully overcomes the language barriers of historical sources and the narrow focus of most national historiographies of the Left. The volume opens new avenues for research and stands as a model for a truly global and feminist history.” (Gabriela Cano, El Colegio de Mexico)

• Department of Gender Studies, Central European University, Vienna, Austria

  Francisca de Haan