Women’s Public Organizations in Yakutia in the Second Half of 20^th - beginning of 21^st Centuries

Abstract

The article presents a pioneer attempt to analyze the role and place of women’s organizations and associations in the daily life of female residents of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The relevance of the article is due to both the presence of a historiographical lacuna on the topic and the existing public demand for coverage of regional women’s history and gender history. Special attention is paid to the chronological period from the turn of 20th-21st century to the present time. As a historical excursus the subjects of 1970-1980-ies were used as an example of active involvement of the Soviet women’s councils in the daily life of the Northern settlements. For a comparative analysis of changes in the women’s movement, the results of historical and sociological studies conducted in Yakutia almost 20 years ago were used. The alarming stability of some factors within women’s organizations is revealed, in particular, the age gap in the group of leaders that threatens the continuity of the women’s movement; there is also no tangible dynamics in the estimates of the female population of their own prospects for professional and career growth. The author dwells on the preserved traditions in the activities of the Union of women’s organizations as the successor of the women’s councils of Yakutia, she also reveals new trends in the development of the women’s movement. It is noted that with the quantitative growth of women’s organizations and the expansion of the palette of their work, there are few political associations among them. The article uses the materials of the project of the Union of women’s organizations of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) “Women of the North: realization of social potential.”

Keywords

• social history
• everyday life
• women
• public organizations
• indigenous peoples of the north
• gender
• yakutia