Entramado de forjado

Tracing the language of transformation within the journal over the decade of the Zhenotdel’s involvement in Central Asia aids a fuller understanding of the tensions in its programme. Initially Kollontai believed that indigenous women would be “awoken” from their slavery to liberation. In announcing a programme to bring about that awakening in November 1920, she stated that the Russian Revolution

22 _{E. A. Wood, The Baba and The Comrade: Gender & Politics in Revolutionary Russia (Indiana University}

Press 1997), pg. 15

23 _{S. Liubimova, ‘Pis’ma iz Turkestana’, Kommunistka, 1-2 (1924), pp. 40-41} 24 _{Tineva, ‘Vostok i 8 Marta’, Kommunistka, 5-6 (1924), pp. 48-49}

would be taken to these women by the Zhenotdel and would “rouse the masses of the East in bright and brilliant numbers.”25 _{It would bring them news of liberation} from slavery:

[she], who has been a semi-human, treated like a household object, submissive and mute, a helpless drudge, is now summoned by the power of the working class, by the red banner of communism, called to equal work and equal property rights and to the gains of the revolution.26

Thus, the struggle was one of consciousness-raising. Konkordiia Samoilova concurred with this approach. In her view indigenous women who were still mired within oppression and religious fanaticism needed to “be raised to an understanding of their own mission”, as “the revolutionary fighters for their own liberation.”27

The development of revolutionary consciousness would be facilitated by drawing women toward experiences of life outside the home. The creation of opportunities for work, social and political engagement and education outside the home would mean that “life itself will provide the impetus for their awakening.”28 _Effective methods had to be found to draw indigenous women toward the Zhenotdel, through cooperatives, “women’s schools, clubs and other forms of agitation” being “the best way to attract Eastern women to the struggle for communism.”29 As a highly respected and popular leader, Samoilova’s demand that “the liberation of the women of the East must be the work of their own hands” would have carried considerable weight among activists.30 _{In 1920, Samoilova argued that all} education was to be targeted at enabling “the women of the East to come to an understanding of their own tasks.”31 _{In 1921, Putilovskaya described “cultural} education” for indigenous women as including basic literacy, professional skills training and an introduction to world affairs. The “Zhenotdel must educate [an

25 _{A. Kollontai, ‘Posledniaia rabynia (k s’ezdu zhenshchin narodov Vostoka)’, Kommunistka, 7 (1920), pp. 24-}

26

26 _{A. Kollontai, ‘Posledniaia rabynia (k s’ezdu zhenshchin narodov Vostoka)’, Kommunistka, 7 (1920), pp. 24-}

26

27 _{K. Samoilova, ‘Rabota sredi zhenshchin vostoka’, Kommunistka, 6 (1920), pp 31-32} 28 _{K. Samoilova, ‘Rabota sredi zhenshchin vostoka’, Kommunistka, 6 (1920), pp 31-32} 29 _{K. Samoilova, ‘Rabota sredi zhenshchin vostoka’, Kommunistka, 6 (1920), pp 31-32} 30 _{K. Samoilova, ‘Rabota sredi zhenshchin vostoka’, Kommunistka, 6 (1920), pp 31-32} 31 _{K. Samoilova, ‘Rabota sredi zhenshchin vostoka’, Kommunistka, 6 (1920), pp 31-32}

indigenous woman] in the spirit of the common interests and goals which unite her with the international working class.”32 _{She needed to be made aware of the} world that lay outside the village and of her place in a global struggle for socialism. This promotion of internationalism accorded with a general view within the CPSU that the project was still going forward despite the hardships of the Civil War. This optimism was still apparent in 1922 with one activist announcing in January that the birth of a new woman” was in progress in the East.33 _{Another report} described nomadic women as ecstatic at “the news that the Soviet government cares about them and wants to create a new life for them, like all other working women.”34 _{There was thus a belief that the women of Central Asia were part of a} global project of liberation.

With the fading sense of revolutionary potential, however, Zhenotdel leaders began to accept that indigenous women were not about to flood into struggle. The initial buoyancy of 1920 gave way to frustration with the “accursed legacy of the Tsarist past, with poverty, illiteracy and economic backwardness.”35 _{Instead of} acting as a catalyst for indigenous women to escape their oppression, Zhenotdel activists now appeared to see themselves as their liberators. This shift in focus is reflected in claims that indigenous women needed to be rescued from “centuries of darkness and religious prejudices.”36 _{They had to be “released from a life} shrouded in religious fanaticism and an uncivilised culture” and directed toward Soviet organisations.37 _{They were trapped within the patriarchal family and “vile} conditions” of life which had led to “profound ignorance and religious prejudices” among indigenous women.38 _{The clergy too were blamed for keeping women} “hidden in the harem and wrapped in the veil.”39 _{There was a subtle shift here,} in that such statements suggest a belief that indigenous women had not managed to break out of their chains of bondage and needed their Russian sisters to emancipate them. This language illustrates a deeply negative attitude toward indigenous culture, in particular aspects of that culture that were perceived as

32 _{Putilovskaya, ‘Rabota Kommunistcheskikh Partii sredi zhenshchin narodov Vostoka’, Kommunistka, 12-13}

(1921), pp.52-54

33 _{Dryzhinina, ‘Probuzhdenie zhenshchiny vostoka’, 18 (1) (1922), pp.19-20} 34 _{RT, ‘O rabote sredi Kalmychek’, Kommunistka, 8-9 (1922), pp. 36-37} 35 _{S. Liubimova, ‘Rabota na Vostoke’, Kommunistka, 3-4 (1923), pp. 27-29} 36 _{E. Ralli, ‘Zhenskie musul’manskie kluby’, Kommunistka, 6-7 (1922), pp. 30-32} 37 _{RT, ‘O rabote sredi Kalmychek’, Kommunistka, 8-9 (1922), pp. 36-37}

38 _{RT, ‘O rabote sredi Kalmychek’, Kommunistka, 8-9 (1922), pp. 36-37} 39 _{S. Liubimova, ‘Rabota na Vostoke’, Kommunistka, 3-4 (1923), pp. 27-29}

key obstacles to women’s liberation – the patriarchal family and the clergy. The cities of Uzbekistan were the primary focus of the Zhenotdel’s organisational initiatives, where many women were veiled and lived in seclusion. Yet nomadic women were also seen as very backward, with women from the Kirghiz, Turkmen and Kalmuck regions needing to be “freed” from a “profoundly uncivilised life.”40 Yet in 1924 a definite optimism began to creep back into the language of

Kommunistka writers. In June that year a comrade Tineva wrote of how “in the

past the Eastern woman was a non-person but now she raises her voice and demands freedom and equality”. The “slave of yesterday, today this woman speaks out against the powers that oppress her and breaks her ties with those men who do not agree to her demands for change.”41 _{There were reports of the “brave} women who have taken action against their enslavement” and left their families to attend training courses organised by the Zhenotdel.42 _{In February 1925 it was} reported that indigenous women were becoming increasingly involved in Zhenotdel activities, with “peasant women in many villages enthusiastically attending meetings, discussions and readings.”43 _{In March 1925 Kasparova argued} that “the first period of awakening of Eastern women is now complete.”44 _{By June} 1926 Zavaryan was describing with pride the success of women only shops and clubs and the “drawing in of even broader sections of the female population.”45 She proclaimed that “yesterday’s voiceless slaves are now striving for knowledge and an independent life.”46 _{These reports of greater participation of indigenous} women confirms the trends described by Marianne Kamp and discussed in chapter two.

Despite the apparent breakthrough in recruiting indigenous women based on the twin strategy of broad education and practical training, a more instrumental approach emerged in 1927. Some writers, in particular Anna Nukhrat, who had

40 _{RT, ‘O rabote sredi Kalmychek’, Kommunistka, 8-9 (1922), pp. 36-37}

41 _{M. Seifi, ‘K trekhletnemu Iubileiu komm. universitetu trudiashchikhsia vostoka’, Kommunistka, 5-6 (1924),}

pp.46

42 _{S. Liubimova, ‘Kursy volostnykh organizatorov’, Kommunistka, 10 (1924), pg. 49}

43 _{G. Semenova, ‘Soveshchanie sekretarei iacheek i organizatorov v zhenshchin v Samarskom uezde’,} Kommunistka 2 (1925), pg.61

44 _{V. Kasparova, ‘K vostochnomu soveshchanaiu’, Kommunistka 3 (1925), pp.21-27}

45 _{N. Zavaryan, ‘Nekotopye momenty iz raboty sredi zhenshchin Sredi Azii’, Kommunistka, 6 (1926), pp. 66-}

69

46 _{N. Zavaryan, ‘Nekotopye momenty iz raboty sredi zhenshchin Sredi Azii’, Kommunistka, 6 (1926), pp. 66-}

begun to write on Central Asia late in 1926 was extremely disparaging about the ability of indigenous women to dictate their own lives and be involved in debates about the general direction of the Soviet East. She complained in July of 1926 that the work of the Zhenotdel was too focused on intellectual education and argued that “no native woman can be stuffed full of knowledge on issues of world significance”. Her primitive nature had to be acknowledged and it had “to be remembered that she is in the habit of thinking in certain ways” and “might not be able to understand the concept of dictatorship of the proletariat and class struggle.”47 _{For Nukrat there should be no attempt to educate such women while} they apparently remained mired in filth and backwardness.

Nukrat welcomed the announcement of the Five Year Plan as an important opportunity for the Zhenotdel, and demanded that activists step up to play “a decisive role in the necessary re-education of the mass of enslaved and culturally backward women of the East.”48 _{She warned that conservative attitudes to this} task would not be tolerated.49 _{The term ‘emancipation’ was now deployed in a} drive to mobilise women into factories and collective farms. In an article in June 1928 on the Five Year Plan, Nukrat stated that “it is necessary to train the woman of the East to properly become a builder of socialism”. This meant “raising her up from a deeply indoctrinated native life” to be able to operate within industry.50 _A comrade Sachudri complained of “the low cultural level of native women and their failure to understand industrial discipline.”51 _{We “need to eliminate the} disparities in cultural levels between European and native women workers in the shortest possible time.”52 _{There was a need to immediately eradicate “backward} practices such as sitting on the floor of factories and talking” and the “tendency not to go to work when the weather is bad.”53 _{Central Asian peasant and nomadic} women were expected to transform themselves into a Soviet working class and to adopt habits in keeping with the new industrial programme. By 1929 the litmus test for an indigenous woman was “not only if she has unveiled but if she is taking

47_{A. Nukhrat, ‘Delegatskie sobraniia na Vostoke’, Kommunistka, 7 (1927), pp.31-36}

48 _{A. Nukhrat, ‘XV s”ezd i zadachi raboty sredi vostochnits krest’ianok’, Kommunistka, 1 (1928), pp. 53-56} 49 _{A. Nukhrat, ‘XV s”ezd i zadachi raboty sredi vostochnits krest’ianok’, Kommunistka, 1 (1928), pp. 53-56} 50 _{A. Nukhrat, ‘Pora gotovit’sia’, Kommunistka, 7 (1928), pp.55-61}

51 _{Sakhudri, ‘Vovlechenie vostochnits v proizvodstvo’, Kommunistka, 4 (1928), pp.71-73} 52 _{Sakhudri, ‘Vovlechenie vostochnits v proizvodstvo’, Kommunistka, 4 (1928), pp.71-73} 53 _{Sakhudri, ‘Vovlechenie vostochnits v proizvodstvo’, Kommunistka, 4 (1928), pp.71-73}

part in all aspects of building a cultured society.”54 _{Women were expected to} “learn how to deal with dirt in the home, with superstition, with illness and with ridding themselves of the darkness of their past lives.”55 _{They were to be perfect} housewives and perfect workers. The concept of self-liberation had given way to a demand for conformity.

My research illustrates that while it is true that Central Asian women were viewed by the Zhenotdel as uniquely backward, the policy of transformation aimed to overcome that backwardness was not inevitably repressive. Instead, it was believed that through voluntary participation in social and economic activities in women-only facilities, indigenous women would achieve the confidence to take action on their own behalf. It was hoped that once women experienced a different environment to their domestic life, and had been educated about the world outside and the achievements of the Russian Revolution, they would begin to become conscious of their own oppression. As put by Dryzhinina in 1922, this “voiceless slave who has been nearly beaten to death by her husband will want to break free of her economic dependence on him and begin her road to self- liberation.”56 _{But in 1927 this policy was overridden by the demands from the} Central Committee and Sredazburo that indigenous women be coerced into adapting to the plan for mass industrialisation. Previous notions of liberating indigenous women to fulfil their own potential were absent in the new political conditions of Soviet Central Asia.