Women's agencies in transitional spaces of late socialism: gender orders, subjectivities, and transnational interconnections within and beyond the Eastern Bloc

The aim of the project is to hold an international conference that examines and discusses the topic of gender orders and women's agency in late socialism from an innovative, transnational perspective. The study focuses on transitional and transit spaces in which women developed new strategies for action beyond traditional roles, creatively utilized institutional structures, or rendered them ineffective. The aim is to shed light on the dynamics of agency in various contexts. These include situations of coercion, biopolitical negotiations, knowledge production, and transnational networks in the Eastern Bloc. The concept of liminality provides a new approach to capturing unexpected scope for action, fluid subjectivities, and self-narratives. A comparison of all Eastern Bloc countries and their interconnections with each other and with the Global South underscores the cross-border orientation. Archival and museum sources, visual materials, oral history, and personal documents are given equal weight alongside interdisciplinary innovations. The aim is not only to advance the academic debate, but also to conceptually and transnationally connect the previously fragmented research landscape.
In addition to panels, a podium discussion on practices of self-narration and a podcast series are planned, which are intended to appeal to a broad public and thus build bridges between scientific and social debates.