Gender and Sexuality in the Post-Post-Soviet Space

Study Course Description

Course Description Statuss:Approved

Course Description Version:1.00

Study Course Accepted:14.03.2024 10:28:20

Study Course Information
Course Code:		SZF_065		LQF level:		Level 7
Credit Points:		2.00		ECTS:		3.00
Branch of Science:		Politics		Target Audience:		Political Science
Study Course Supervisor
Course Supervisor:		Elizabete Elīna Vizgunova-Vikmane
Study Course Implementer
Structural Unit:		Faculty of Social Sciences
The Head of Structural Unit:
Contacts:		Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szfrsu[pnkts]lv
Study Course Planning
Full-Time - Semester No.1
Lectures (count)		6	Lecture Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Lectures		12
Classes (count)		5	Class Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Classes		10
Total Contact Hours								22
Part-Time - Semester No.1
Lectures (count)		2	Lecture Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Lectures		4
Classes (count)		4	Class Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Classes		8
Total Contact Hours								12
Study course description
Preliminary Knowledge:
General knowledge of the cultural, socio-economic and political features of the societies of the Baltic States, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, Belarus, the South Caucasus, Central Asia and contemporary Russia.
Objective:
To provide knowledge of the gender prism for the analysis of political and socio-economic dynamics in the post-Soviet space (Baltic States, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Belarus, South Caucasus, Central Asia and contemporary Russia); to provide students with critical analysis skills by introducing them to gender and sexuality studies.
Topic Layout (Full-Time)
No.	Topic			Type of Implementation		Number	Venue
1	Introductory lecture. Gender and Sexuality – Key Legal, Political and Social Concepts and Definitions			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
2	Gender and Sexuality – Key Legal, Political and Social Concepts and Definitions: Essay Presentation and Discussion			Classes		0.50	auditorium
3	Feminism and Social Change in the Post-Post-Soviet Space			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
4	Feminism and Social Change in the Post-Post-Soviet Space: Essay Presentation and Discussion			Classes		0.50	auditorium
5	The Formation of Gender and Sexuality: Religious and Economic Factors			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
6	The Formation of Gender and Sexuality: Religious and Economic Factors: Debate			Classes		0.50	auditorium
7	Gender and Sexuality in the Baltic States. The Challenges of a Post-Post-Soviet Model Child			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
8	Gender and Sexuality in the Baltic States. The Challenges of a Post-Post-Soviet Model Child: Presentation and Discussion of Interview Results			Classes		0.50	auditorium
9	Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Russia. The ‘Remasculinisation’ of the New Nationalism			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
10	Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Russia. The ‘Remasculinisation’ of the New Nationalism: Essay Presentation and Discussion			Classes		0.50	auditorium
11	Intersectional Feminism Analysis: The Case of Central Asia. The Factors of Islam, Social Class, Sexuality, Age, Disability and Belonging			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
12	Intersectional Feminism Analysis: The Case of Central Asia. The Factors of Islam, Social Class, Sexuality, Age, Disability and Belonging: Essay Presentation and Discussion			Classes		0.50	auditorium
13	Global Gender Gap ‘Worst Student’ in the Post-Soviet Space – Tajikistan. Challenges in Ensuring Gender Equality and LGBT+ Rights			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
14	Global Gender Gap ‘Worst Student’ in the Post-Post-Soviet Space – Tajikistan. Challenges in Ensuring Gender Equality and LGBT+ Rights: Essay Presentation and Discussion			Classes		0.50	auditorium
15	An Analysis of Feminist International Relations Theory in Conflict. The Impact of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict on the Development of Gender Roles in Society			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
16	An Analysis of Feminist International Relations Theory in Conflict. The Impact of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict on the Development of Gender Roles in Society: Essay Presentation and Discussion			Classes		0.50	auditorium
17	Moving Closer to Europe, but Resisting European Values: EU ‘Good Students’ Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova and the Challenges of Equality			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
18	Moving Closer to Europe, but Resisting European Values: EU ‘Good Students’ Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova and the Challenges of Equality. Presentation of Policy Documents			Classes		0.50	auditorium
19	Lecture devoted to current issues [For example, the 2020 Revolution in Belarus and the subjectification of women from a critical feminist perspective; the impact of COVID-19 on equality; Challenges related to the ratification and implementation of the Istanbul Convention]			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
20	Open-Book Essay			Classes		0.50	auditorium
Topic Layout (Part-Time)
No.	Topic			Type of Implementation		Number	Venue
1	Introductory lecture. Gender and Sexuality – Key Legal, Political and Social Concepts and Definitions			Lectures		0.25	auditorium
2	Gender and Sexuality – Key Legal, Political and Social Concepts and Definitions: Essay Presentation and Discussion			Classes		0.50	auditorium
3	Feminism and Social Change in the Post-Post-Soviet Space			Lectures		0.25	auditorium
4	Feminism and Social Change in the Post-Post-Soviet Space: Essay Presentation and Discussion			Classes		0.50	auditorium
5	The Formation of Gender and Sexuality: Religious and Economic Factors			Lectures		0.25	auditorium
6	The Formation of Gender and Sexuality: Religious and Economic Factors: Debate			Classes		0.50	auditorium
8	Gender and Sexuality in the Baltic States. The Challenges of a Post-Post-Soviet Model Child: Presentation and Discussion of Interview Results			Classes		0.50	auditorium
9	Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Russia. The ‘Remasculinisation’ of the New Nationalism			Lectures		0.25
10	Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Russia. The ‘Remasculinisation’ of the New Nationalism: Essay Presentation and Discussion			Classes		0.50	auditorium
11	Intersectional Feminism Analysis: The Case of Central Asia. The Factors of Islam, Social Class, Sexuality, Age, Disability and Belonging			Lectures		0.25	auditorium
12	Intersectional Feminism Analysis: The Case of Central Asia. The Factors of Islam, Social Class, Sexuality, Age, Disability and Belonging: Essay Presentation and Discussion			Classes		0.50	auditorium
13	Global Gender Gap ‘Worst Student’ in the Post-Soviet Space – Tajikistan. Challenges in Ensuring Gender Equality and LGBT+ Rights			Lectures		0.25	auditorium
14	Global Gender Gap ‘Worst Student’ in the Post-Post-Soviet Space – Tajikistan. Challenges in Ensuring Gender Equality and LGBT+ Rights: Essay Presentation and Discussion			Classes		0.50	auditorium
15	An Analysis of Feminist International Relations Theory in Conflict. The Impact of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict on the Development of Gender Roles in Society			Lectures		0.25	auditorium
16	An Analysis of Feminist International Relations Theory in Conflict. The Impact of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict on the Development of Gender Roles in Society: Essay Presentation and Discussion			Classes		0.25	auditorium
18	Moving Closer to Europe, but Resisting European Values: EU ‘Good Students’ Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova and the Challenges of Equality. Presentation of Policy Documents			Classes		0.25
19	Lecture devoted to current issues [For example, the 2020 Revolution in Belarus and the subjectification of women from a critical feminist perspective; the impact of COVID-19 on equality; Challenges related to the ratification and implementation of the Istanbul Convention]			Lectures		0.25	auditorium
Assessment
Unaided Work:
Within the module, students will prepare for seminars, read recommended readings, write an essay and prepare a presentation and a policy document. The objective of the seminars is to develop students’ ability to justify their point of view; to stimulate activity; to test their knowledge of the topic and the material. The objective of the policy document and essay – to develop the ability to identify the main problem of the topic; to identify and evaluate alternative arguments and points of view; to present one’s own point of view, explaining and arguing why this point of view is more acceptable and superior to any other. The report must compare all possible alternatives, considering all their weaknesses and strengths. Another objective is to develop the skills to independently research situations and problems, evaluate them and develop solutions.
Assessment Criteria:
Attendance – 10% Activity and preparedness during classes – 30% Presentations, essays, debate and policy document – 30% Group work – 10% Final examination (open-book essay) – 20%
Final Examination (Full-Time):		Exam (Written)
Final Examination (Part-Time):		Exam (Written)
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge:		Students will have an in-depth understanding of the concepts of gender and sexuality. By specialising in this topic in relation to the post-post-Soviet space, students will demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of these issues in the post-post-Soviet space, as well as be able to describe the impact of concepts of gender and sexuality on the development of the post-post-Soviet space. While detailed, this knowledge will bring with it a broad contextual grasp of the historical, current and prospective framework of the political, academic and business environment.
Skills:		Students will analyse a large body of data on the historical development of concepts of gender and sexuality and their emergence in the post-post-Soviet space, including the factors that characterise them. It will strengthen students’ general ability to critically select sources of information, as well as to comprehensively present their conclusions and reasoned answers to questions not only on the study course topics, but also on other directly and indirectly related topics. Students will explain in a reasoned and a more in-depth way the possible perspectives and challenges of the development of concepts of gender and sexuality in the post-post-Soviet space and critically analyse problematic situations.
Competencies:		At the end of the study course, students will evaluate and explain in a reasoned way the influence of different factors on the formation of gender and sexuality in the post-post-Soviet space. Students will provide recommendations and generate new predictions on the prospective impact and role of gender and sexuality in the development of post-post-Soviet space. In other words, drawing on past experiences of the Soviet Union’s role in gender and sex issues and historical and present development perspectives, students will predict future trajectories and apply the established regularities in creating future scenarios.
Bibliography
No.	Reference
Required Reading
1	ILGA-Europe’s Annual review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People covering events that occurred in Europe and Central Asia between January-December 2019.
2	EIGE 2019 Gender Equality Index. Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia.
3	‘The social construction of sexuality. Interview with Jeffrey Weeks’ in: Introducing the New Sexuality Studies, Second Edition, ed. By Steven Seidman, Nancy Fischer and Chet Meets (Routledge, 2011), pp. 13-20.
4	Judith Butler, ‘Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire’, in: Judith Bulter, Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Routledge, 2007), pp. 3-45.
5	J. Jack Halberstam, ‘Gaga Genders’, in: J. Jack Halberstam, Gaga Feminism, Sex, Gender and the End of Normal, (Beacon Press, 2013), 66-113.
6	Thekla Morgenroth, M. Gustafsson Senden et al. ‘Defending the Sex/Gender Binary: The role of Gender Identification and Need for Closure’, in: Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2020.
7	Margaret Walters, Chapters 6 ‘Fighting for the vote: suffragists’, 7 ‘Fighting for the vote: suffragettes’, 8 ‘Early 20th century feminism’, 9 ‘Second-wave feminism: the late 20th century’, and 10 ‘Feminists across the world’ in: Margaret Walters, Feminism: A Very short Introduction, (Oxford, 2005), pp. 68-137.
8	Georgina Waylen, Chapter II, ‘Women’s Organising’ in: Engendering Transitions: Women’s Mobilization, Institutions and Gender Outcomes (Oxford, 2007), pp. 56-101.
9	Michel Foucault, Part one ‘We ‘Other Victorians’’, Part two ‘The Repressive Hypothesis’, in: Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction, (Pantheon Books, 1979), pp. 1-57.
10	‘Unpaid Work and Economy’, in: Unpaid Work and the Economy. Gender, Time Use and Poverty in Developing Countries, ed. By Rania Antonopoulos and Indira Hirway, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), pp. 1-22.
11	Nadieszda Kizenko, ‘Feminized Patriarchy? Orthodoxy and Gender in Post-Soviet Russia’, in: Signs, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 595-621.
12	Heleen Zorgdrager, ‘Shaping Public Orthodoxy: Women’s Peace Activism and the Orthodox Churches in the Ukrainian Crisis’, in: Orthodox Christianity and Gender Dynamics of Tradition, Culture and Lived Practice, ed. by Helena Kupari, Elina Vuola (2000), pp. 103-156.
13	‘Introduction’, in: Islam, Gender and Social Change, ed.by Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad et al. (Oxford University Press, 1988), pp. ix-1.
14	Jose Casanova, ‘Catholicism, Gender, Secularism and Democracy: Comparative Reflections’, in: Islam, Gender, and Democracy in Comparative Perspective, ed. By Jocelyne Cesari and Jose Casanova, (Oxford, 2017), pp. 46-63.
15	Dirk H. de Jong, ‘Conceptualization of Gender: from Biblical to Queer’, in: Dirk H. de Jong, Conservative Christianity, Gender Identity, and Religious Liberty: A Primer and a Proposal, (Palgrave MacMillan, 2020), pp. 9-29.
16	Kolen Slootmaeckers and Conor O’Dwyer, ‘Europeanisation of attitudes towards homosexuality: exploring the role of education in the transnational diffusion of values’, in: Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, Vol. 31, 2018, pp. 147-167.
17	Katrina Schwartz and Conor O’Dwyer, ‘Return to (Illiberal) Diversity? Resisting Gay Rights in Poland and Latvia’, in: Diversity and European Integration, ed. by Elisabeth Prugl and Markus Thiel, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), pp. 115-133.
18	Charlie Walker, ‘In search of ‘stability’: working class men, masculinity and wellbeing in contemporary Russia’, in: Andrea Cornwall et al., Masculinities under Neoliberalism (Zed Books, 2016), pp. 57-98.
19	Sergei Kukhterin, ‘Fathers and patriarchs in communist and post-communist Russia’ and Marina Kiblitskaya, ‘Once we were kings: male experience of loss of status at work in post-communist Russia’ and Elena Mashcherkina, ‘New Russian men: masculinity regained?’ in: Gender, State and Society in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia, ed. by Sarah Ashwin, (Routledge, 2000), pp. 71-105.
20	Francesca Stella, ‘Introduction. Locating Russian Sexualities’ and ‘Same-Sex Sexualities and the Soviet/Post-Soviet Gender Orders’ in: Francesca Stella, Lesbian Lives in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia. Post/Socialism and Gendered Sexualities, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), pp. 1-67.
21	Valerie Sperling, ‘Nashi Devushki: Gender and Political Youth Activism in Putin’s and Medvedev’s Russia’, in: Post-Soviet Affairs, Vol. 28, 2012, Issue 2, pp. 232-261.
22	Anya Bernsein, ‘Body politics and sovereign power in the Pussy Riot Affair’, in: Critical Inquiry, Vol. 40, Issue, 1, 2013.
23	Yvette Taylor, ‘Complexities and Complications: Intersections of Class and Sexuality’, in: Theorizing Intersectionality and Sexuality, ed. by Yvette Taylor et al. (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), pp. 17-34.
24	Anna Carastathis, ‘The concept of Intersectionality in Feminist Theory’, in: Philosophy Compass, Vol. 8, Issue 5, 2014.
25	UN Women, The value of intersectionality in understanding violence against women and girls, 2016.
26	Unicef, Rapid review on inclusion and gender equality in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Centra Asia, 2016.
27	World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap report, Methodology and Technical notes, pp. 45-56.
28	Inaki Permanyer, ‘A critical assessment of the UNDP’s Gender Inequality Index’, in: Feminist Economics, Vol. 19, 2013, pp.1-32.
29	Colette Harris, ‘Introduction’, in: Colette Harris, Control and Subversion: Gender Relations in Tajikistan, (Pluto Press, 2004), pp. 1-15.
30	J. Ann Tickner, ‘Feminism meets International Relations: some methodological issues’, in: Feminist Methodologies for International Relations, ed.by Brooke A. Ackery, Maria Stern, and Jacki True, (Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 19-42.
31	Charlotte Hooper, Chapter Three, ‘Masculinities and International Relations’, in: Charlotte Hooper, Manly states. Masculinities, International Relations, and Gender Politics, (Columbia University Press, 2001), pp. 1-16.
32	Nona Shahnazarian, ‘A good soldier and a good mother: new conditions and new roles in the Nagorno-Karabakh war’, in: The Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Space, Issue 17, 2016.
33	UNFPA, Men and gender equality in Armenia, 2016, pp. 14-27.
34	Sinead Walsh, ‘Feminism in Azerbaijan: Gender, Community and Nation-building’, in: Women's Everyday Lives in War and Peace in the South Caucasus, ed. by U. Ziemer, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), pp. 157-198.
35	Alissa V. Tolstokrova, ‘A Mosaic Model of Gender Democracy in Ukraine’ and Anastasia Ribachuk, ‘Homeless Men and the Crisis of Masculinity in Contemporary Ukraine’, in: Gender, Politics and Society in Ukraine, ed. by Olena Hankivsky, Anastaiya Slanyjkova (University of Toronto Press, 2015), pp. 3-29 and 205-225.
36	Elise Ketelaars, ‘Geographical value spaces and gender norms in post-Maidan Ukraine: the failed ratification of the Istanbul convention’, in: Review of International Studies, Vol. 45, Special Issue 5, pp. 227-268.
37	Sarah D. Phillips, ‘Disability, masculinity, and sexuality in post-Soviet Ukraine’, in: Journal of Social Policy Studies, 2012, Vol. 10, Issue 2, pp. 235-258.
38	Tetyana Bureychak, ‘Nationalism, Masculinities and Neo-traditionalism in Contemporary Ukraine: Patterns of Intersection’, AFP Working Papers, Vol. 1, 2010-2011.
39	Tamar Tskhadadze, ‘‘The West’ and Georgian ‘Difference’: Discursive Politics of Gender and Sexuality in Georgia’, and Nana Sumbadze, ‘Gender Equality: Still a Disputed Value in Georgian Society’ and Anan Rekhviashvili, ‘Tracing the LGBT Movement in the Republic of Georgia: Stories of Activists’, in: Gender in Georgia. Feminist Perspectives on Culture, National and History in the South Caucasus, ed. by Maia Barkaia and Alisse Waterson, (Berghain Books, 2017), pp. 166-187 and 207-221, 230-257.
Additional Reading
1	Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990)
2	International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (1969)
3	International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (1990).
4	Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2008).
5	Rebecca Kay, “Gender, Equality and the State from “Socialism to “Democracy”? in: Gender, Equality and Difference During and After State Socialism, ed. by Rebecca Kay (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), pp. 115-157.
6	Rochelle Ruthchild, “Feminist dissidents in the “Motherland of Women”s Liberation”, in: Women’s Activism and “Second War” Feminism, ed. By Barbara Molony and Jennifer Nelson, (Bloomsbury, 2017), pp. 4-56.
7	A. Lāce. “Sievietes “vieta” darba tirgū: nevalstiskais sektors un sieviešu līderība Latvijā” and G. Reire, “Esi lēdija, viņi teica. Sievietes un politiskā līderība Latvijā” in: Sievietes Latvijas Ārpolitikā un Drošības politikā, ed. by E. Vizgunova, A. Sprūds (Latvijas Ārpolitikas institūts) (latviešu plūsmas studijām)
8	Calvert Journal – a Guide to the New East
9	Pussy Riot meets Judith Butler and Rosi Braidotti (2014)
10	Leila Ahmed, Women and Gender and Islam, Princeton University Press, 1991.
11	Fatima Mernissi, The Veil and the Male Elites: A Feminist Interpretation of Women”s Rights in Islam, (Addison-Wesley, 1991).
12	Anksana Ismailbekova, “Constructing the authority of women through custom: Bulak village, Kyrgyzstan”, in: Nationalities Papers, Vol. 44, Issue 2, 2016.
13	Cynthia Werner, “Bride Abduction in Post-Soviet Central Asia: Marking a Shift towards Patriarchy through Local Discourses of Shame and Tradition.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 15, no. 2, 314-331.
14	Stephan Klasen, Human Development Indices and Indicators: A Critical Evaluation, 2018.
15	Meghan Simpson, “Local strategies in globalizing gender politics: Women”s organising in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan”, in: Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 26, Issue 1, 2006, pp. 9-31.
16	Anita Alves Pena, “Economies of scale and gender discrimination in transition: the case of the Republic of Tajikistan”, in: Applied Economics, Vol. 44, Issue 56, 2011, 2265-2281.
17	Casey D. Hall, “Actives, passives and power: heteronormative gender norms and their implications for intimate partner violence among men who have sex with men in Tajikistan”, in: Culture, Health & Sexuality. Jun2020, Vol. 22 Issue 6, p630-645.
18	Lerna Ekmekcioglu, Recovering Armenia: The Limits of Belonging in Post Genocide Turkey, (Stanford Univeristy Press, 2016).
19	Beijing Platform +25 National Reports