Domestic Violence in Postcommunist States

The question presents itself often for feminist theorists living in Eastern Europe: how to deal with the politicization of domestic violence. . . in postcommunist societies where second-wave feminism was missing. By addressing the role of domestic and international actors in politicizing violence against women and thus achieving an important goal of second-wave feminism, this book represents an important answer. The essays included in the volume . . . are written from many disciplinary perspectives: history, economics, politics, sociology, cultural anthropology, public policy and gender analysis. An impressive bibliographic resource for scholars belonging to these fields, the essays are also highly relevant for political scientists.

[T]his book offers excellent insight into different aspects of developing domestc violence policies . . .

This edited volume . . . is a welcome addition to the still scarce literature on violence against women in postcommunist states. The contributing authors . . . deftly dwell on a unique combination of knowledge of the topic and expertise on the region to develop highly informatvie case studies. . . . The richness and novelty of the case studies included in this volume make it an exciting read.

Domestic Violence in Postcommunist States is significant in bringing together nuanced studies from different countries and offering the so far most comprehensive picture of local and transnational activism, as well as the development of state policies, on domestic violence in postcommunist Europe and Eurasia.

This important study of the origins and evolution of activism and policies in postcommunist countries around the problem of violence against women also has the advantage of being an integrated and well-written edited volume. Katalin Fabian . . . introduces the topic in a superb introduction, contributes two essays . . . and ensures conceptual and methodological coherence across the chapters.

By providing detailed analyses of domestic violence policies in different national contexts and how they have been shaped by various global forces, this volume constitutes a valuable source for everyone interested in transnational activism, violence, and the politicization of gender.