This dissertation presents Lithuanian Catholic Women's Organization (LKMD) in its ideological context, discussing how this organization involved unsophisticated women in society, enriching their lives and that of their communities while expanding civic involvement in Lithuania. As the limitations of Civil Society are still felt in Lithuania, it is worth paying attention to interwar public organizations in search of civil society structures during modern Lithuania's first independence. The work was motivated by the rarity of studies on Lithuanian women's activities. The first chapter features the emergence of feminism and Catholic social thought in Europe and their influence on ideas of Lithuanian Catholics. The second chapter covers the establishment of LKMD, Catholic women's engagement in political life of independent Lithuania and cooperation with other organizations. The third chapter contains an analysis of how women's role in their families, profession and society were understood in the Catholic women's press. The fourth chapter investigates activities of LKMD, the development of its branch network, festivals and provision of care institutions. Catholic women's social engagement shows an understanding of the necessity of civic activity in support of civil society. Raising attention, however cautious, to discrimination and women's susceptibility to poverty highlights an awareness of pressures in society. Looking for cooperation not only with Catholic but also with liberal groups to support their ideals and increase the organization's effectiveness provides evidence that the Catholic women of LKMD believed in the benefit of association for reaching common aims. That implies they were rational actors of civil society within the circumstances limiting them.
This dissertation presents Lithuanian Catholic Women's Organization (LKMD) in its ideological context, discussing how this organization involved unsophisticated women in society, enriching their lives and that of their communities while expanding civic involvement in Lithuania. As the limitations of Civil Society are still felt in Lithuania, it is worth paying attention to interwar public organizations in search of civil society structures during modern Lithuania's first independence. The work was motivated by the rarity of studies on Lithuanian women's activities. The first chapter features the emergence of feminism and Catholic social thought in Europe and their influence on ideas of Lithuanian Catholics. The second chapter covers the establishment of LKMD, Catholic women's engagement in political life of independent Lithuania and cooperation with other organizations. The third chapter contains an analysis of how women's role in their families, profession and society were understood in the Catholic women's press. The fourth chapter investigates activities of LKMD, the development of its branch network, festivals and provision of care institutions. Catholic women's social engagement shows an understanding of the necessity of civic activity in support of civil society. Raising attention, however cautious, to discrimination and women's susceptibility to poverty highlights an awareness of pressures in society. Looking for cooperation not only with Catholic but also with liberal groups to support their ideals and increase the organization's effectiveness provides evidence that the Catholic women of LKMD believed in the benefit of association for reaching common aims. That implies they were rational actors of civil society within the circumstances limiting them.
This dissertation presents Lithuanian Catholic Women's Organization (LKMD) in its ideological context, discussing how this organization involved unsophisticated women in society, enriching their lives and that of their communities while expanding civic involvement in Lithuania. As the limitations of Civil Society are still felt in Lithuania, it is worth paying attention to interwar public organizations in search of civil society structures during modern Lithuania's first independence. The work was motivated by the rarity of studies on Lithuanian women's activities. The first chapter features the emergence of feminism and Catholic social thought in Europe and their influence on ideas of Lithuanian Catholics. The second chapter covers the establishment of LKMD, Catholic women's engagement in political life of independent Lithuania and cooperation with other organizations. The third chapter contains an analysis of how women's role in their families, profession and society were understood in the Catholic women's press. The fourth chapter investigates activities of LKMD, the development of its branch network, festivals and provision of care institutions. Catholic women's social engagement shows an understanding of the necessity of civic activity in support of civil society. Raising attention, however cautious, to discrimination and women's susceptibility to poverty highlights an awareness of pressures in society. Looking for cooperation not only with Catholic but also with liberal groups to support their ideals and increase the organization's effectiveness provides evidence that the Catholic women of LKMD believed in the benefit of association for reaching common aims. That implies they were rational actors of civil society within the circumstances limiting them.
This article presents an analysis of Soviet law on the family which was valid in Lithuania from 1940, in order to ascertain how it reflected gender equality, how (or if) it was formed, the legal measures the state harnessed in order to create family and gender relation models in various areas of life, and what kind of family and gender policy formed as a result. The law is contextualised in this paper by immersing it in the social reality of its time. This allows us to determine what norms and provisions determined the political and legal resolutions of the Soviet authorities, and to discuss their influence on society. The two most impor-tant periods in Soviet gender policy are distinguished. Initially revolutionary and radical in Lithuania, with the aim of changing society to realise its goals, after the 1950s, state policy became more reactive, and adapted to the changed, modernised society and its needs. This paper proposes to see changes to women's situation during the Soviet period not as emancipation, but as (double) mobilisation. The reasons for the stagnation in masculinity in Soviet law and policy, for not keeping up with or adapting to the rapidly changing social reality, are also analysed. The contradictions in Soviet policy regarding the family and gender are shown, where it proved impossible to unambiguously apply 'conservative-liberal' or 'tradition-al-liberal' distinctions in both policy and reality.
This article presents an analysis of Soviet law on the family which was valid in Lithuania from 1940, in order to ascertain how it reflected gender equality, how (or if) it was formed, the legal measures the state harnessed in order to create family and gender relation models in various areas of life, and what kind of family and gender policy formed as a result. The law is contextualised in this paper by immersing it in the social reality of its time. This allows us to determine what norms and provisions determined the political and legal resolutions of the Soviet authorities, and to discuss their influence on society. The two most impor-tant periods in Soviet gender policy are distinguished. Initially revolutionary and radical in Lithuania, with the aim of changing society to realise its goals, after the 1950s, state policy became more reactive, and adapted to the changed, modernised society and its needs. This paper proposes to see changes to women's situation during the Soviet period not as emancipation, but as (double) mobilisation. The reasons for the stagnation in masculinity in Soviet law and policy, for not keeping up with or adapting to the rapidly changing social reality, are also analysed. The contradictions in Soviet policy regarding the family and gender are shown, where it proved impossible to unambiguously apply 'conservative-liberal' or 'tradition-al-liberal' distinctions in both policy and reality.
This article presents an analysis of Soviet law on the family which was valid in Lithuania from 1940, in order to ascertain how it reflected gender equality, how (or if) it was formed, the legal measures the state harnessed in order to create family and gender relation models in various areas of life, and what kind of family and gender policy formed as a result. The law is contextualised in this paper by immersing it in the social reality of its time. This allows us to determine what norms and provisions determined the political and legal resolutions of the Soviet authorities, and to discuss their influence on society. The two most impor-tant periods in Soviet gender policy are distinguished. Initially revolutionary and radical in Lithuania, with the aim of changing society to realise its goals, after the 1950s, state policy became more reactive, and adapted to the changed, modernised society and its needs. This paper proposes to see changes to women's situation during the Soviet period not as emancipation, but as (double) mobilisation. The reasons for the stagnation in masculinity in Soviet law and policy, for not keeping up with or adapting to the rapidly changing social reality, are also analysed. The contradictions in Soviet policy regarding the family and gender are shown, where it proved impossible to unambiguously apply 'conservative-liberal' or 'tradition-al-liberal' distinctions in both policy and reality.
This article presents an analysis of Soviet law on the family which was valid in Lithuania from 1940, in order to ascertain how it reflected gender equality, how (or if) it was formed, the legal measures the state harnessed in order to create family and gender relation models in various areas of life, and what kind of family and gender policy formed as a result. The law is contextualised in this paper by immersing it in the social reality of its time. This allows us to determine what norms and provisions determined the political and legal resolutions of the Soviet authorities, and to discuss their influence on society. The two most impor-tant periods in Soviet gender policy are distinguished. Initially revolutionary and radical in Lithuania, with the aim of changing society to realise its goals, after the 1950s, state policy became more reactive, and adapted to the changed, modernised society and its needs. This paper proposes to see changes to women's situation during the Soviet period not as emancipation, but as (double) mobilisation. The reasons for the stagnation in masculinity in Soviet law and policy, for not keeping up with or adapting to the rapidly changing social reality, are also analysed. The contradictions in Soviet policy regarding the family and gender are shown, where it proved impossible to unambiguously apply 'conservative-liberal' or 'tradition-al-liberal' distinctions in both policy and reality.
As the First World War drew to an end, a number of political actors in the east Baltic Sea region declared the independence of new states. This independence had to be defended by their governments in armed conflicts. The army loyal to the Lithuanian government was engaged in active hostilities until the end of 1920. So far, the historiography on these military actions has concentrated on the tactical-operational actions of the armies, and biographical studies of their military leaders. The participation of women in the Lithuanian war of independence and violence by combatants against civilians, including women, have been studied in a rather fragmentary way. This article fills this research gap, by analysing the collective initiatives of women that emerged in Lithuanian society between 1918 and 1920 to provide public relief to the Lithuanian armed forces that were engaged in military operations. By perceiving these initiatives as a response to a military threat, the article seeks to identify the internal and external factors that underpinned the determination of women to provide material assistance to the Lithuanian army. By taking a sociological theoretical approach of stimulus-induced social interaction, it provides an analysis of the reasons for the formation and the development of 13 women's associations, and the nature and the extent of their activities.
As the First World War drew to an end, a number of political actors in the east Baltic Sea region declared the independence of new states. This independence had to be defended by their governments in armed conflicts. The army loyal to the Lithuanian government was engaged in active hostilities until the end of 1920. So far, the historiography on these military actions has concentrated on the tactical-operational actions of the armies, and biographical studies of their military leaders. The participation of women in the Lithuanian war of independence and violence by combatants against civilians, including women, have been studied in a rather fragmentary way. This article fills this research gap, by analysing the collective initiatives of women that emerged in Lithuanian society between 1918 and 1920 to provide public relief to the Lithuanian armed forces that were engaged in military operations. By perceiving these initiatives as a response to a military threat, the article seeks to identify the internal and external factors that underpinned the determination of women to provide material assistance to the Lithuanian army. By taking a sociological theoretical approach of stimulus-induced social interaction, it provides an analysis of the reasons for the formation and the development of 13 women's associations, and the nature and the extent of their activities.
Despite the relevance of social factors in the etiology of violence against women, there are not enough measuring instruments in Guatemala to objectively assess the impact of social variables on this problem. In Guatemala, this problem remained hidden. Assembling a completely normalized and socially sanctioned violation of rights, which is replicated in family, institutional, and social patterns of coexistence in general. This is due to the country's patriarchal culture, particularly in rural areas, where women's roles are viewed as marginal and subject to exclusionary power relations. Therefore, this thesis attempts to contribute to studies on violence against women by offering not only theoretical information but empirical information by providing the Guatemalan population's perspective in this regard. Therefore, the research question was: What connections have been discovered between the theoretical and empirical analyses of violence against women in Guatemala? As a result, the objective is to compare data from empirical and theoretical studies in Guatemala on violence against women. This is to create awareness among government institutions so that measures to educate and sensitize the general public and key stakeholders can be developed, as well as programs to help prevent violence against women. The objectives, then, were to give a theoretical foundation for violence against women; describe violence against women in the Guatemalan context; explore what steps Guatemala has made in terms of violence against women, and analyze Guatemalan community attitudes about violence against women. This was accomplished utilizing a hybrid of qualitative and quantitative approaches, including literature analysis, document analysis, and a survey. It should be noted that this is Guatemala's first survey on women's perceptions of violence. This research consists of three chapters, the first chapter dealing with the conceptual framework concerning violence against women, in which fundamental concepts, categories, views, and ...
The paper analyzes the descriptive representation of women in post-communist countries, that is, the factors determining the representation of women in parliaments in postsocialist states. The main problem is that women are underrepresented in the analyzed sample of countries. With the average of 17 percent, the number of women falls behind the world's average and lags severely behind Western countries. The paper sets its primary goal: to test a set of theories developed from studies of women's access to political power in Western democracies. I wished to see how those theories fared in a significantly different context, the newly developing democracies of post-communist space. Three hypotheses were raised: 1. The main factor, determining the representation of women in parliaments of post-communist states is the design of electoral system; 2. The prevailing patriarchal attitude towards the role of women in the society is important, but not the essential factor; 3. Socioeconomic conditions do not explain the variance of the proportion of women found in legislative institutions of post-communist countries. Three last elections of 17 electoral democracies of post-communist countries have been included in the analysis. The model of legislative recruitment process has been used as the main theoretical framework. This process is highly influenced by cultural, political and socioeconomic contexts within which it occurs. The dependent variable in the research is the number of women legislators in parliaments. 3 independent variables – political, socioeconomic and cultural factors – have been divided into subfactors. Statistical analysis has been undertaken: correlation coefficients have been calculated and multivariate regression analysis has been made. Results demonstrate that the first hypothesis cannot be confirmed, but its statement is close to the truth. It appears that the main factor, determining the representation of women in post-communist countries, is fertility rate per woman. The higher the rate of fertility, the less women will be found in the legislatures. Electoral system is a very important variable. The proportional representation electoral system, characterized by high district magnitude and high electoral thresholds, is highly favourable to representation of women in parliaments. The second hypothesis, stating that patriarchal attitude towards women is important, but not the essential factor, has been confirmed. Countries where patriarchal attitude is prevalent, fare worse in representation of women. However, considering the remarkable differences between the attitudes of Western and post-communist countries, it could have been reasonable to expect that this factor would be the main determining the number of female legislators. However, this is not the case. Such attitude is common to all post-communist countries, so it probably operates as a main factor determining the relatively low number in post-communist states as a whole, and not as important in explaining the variation across the region. The third hypothesis, stating that socioeconomic factors do not affect the representation of women, has not been confirmed. Fertility rate, unemployment, and participation in labor force are all important factors explaining the variance of female MPs. The only factor that proved to be unimportant was level of development. So it can be stated, that the theories, developed in Western countries, with little nuances, are able to explain the variance of women MPs in post-communist states. The only difference is that fertility rate plays a particularly important role in post-communist context, and the relation between the participation of women in the labor force and the number of women in parliaments is negative. This can be due to the fact that participation in labor force refers to completely different things in Western and Eastern societies.
The paper analyzes the descriptive representation of women in post-communist countries, that is, the factors determining the representation of women in parliaments in postsocialist states. The main problem is that women are underrepresented in the analyzed sample of countries. With the average of 17 percent, the number of women falls behind the world's average and lags severely behind Western countries. The paper sets its primary goal: to test a set of theories developed from studies of women's access to political power in Western democracies. I wished to see how those theories fared in a significantly different context, the newly developing democracies of post-communist space. Three hypotheses were raised: 1. The main factor, determining the representation of women in parliaments of post-communist states is the design of electoral system; 2. The prevailing patriarchal attitude towards the role of women in the society is important, but not the essential factor; 3. Socioeconomic conditions do not explain the variance of the proportion of women found in legislative institutions of post-communist countries. Three last elections of 17 electoral democracies of post-communist countries have been included in the analysis. The model of legislative recruitment process has been used as the main theoretical framework. This process is highly influenced by cultural, political and socioeconomic contexts within which it occurs. The dependent variable in the research is the number of women legislators in parliaments. 3 independent variables – political, socioeconomic and cultural factors – have been divided into subfactors. Statistical analysis has been undertaken: correlation coefficients have been calculated and multivariate regression analysis has been made. Results demonstrate that the first hypothesis cannot be confirmed, but its statement is close to the truth. It appears that the main factor, determining the representation of women in post-communist countries, is fertility rate per woman. The higher the rate of fertility, the less women will be found in the legislatures. Electoral system is a very important variable. The proportional representation electoral system, characterized by high district magnitude and high electoral thresholds, is highly favourable to representation of women in parliaments. The second hypothesis, stating that patriarchal attitude towards women is important, but not the essential factor, has been confirmed. Countries where patriarchal attitude is prevalent, fare worse in representation of women. However, considering the remarkable differences between the attitudes of Western and post-communist countries, it could have been reasonable to expect that this factor would be the main determining the number of female legislators. However, this is not the case. Such attitude is common to all post-communist countries, so it probably operates as a main factor determining the relatively low number in post-communist states as a whole, and not as important in explaining the variation across the region. The third hypothesis, stating that socioeconomic factors do not affect the representation of women, has not been confirmed. Fertility rate, unemployment, and participation in labor force are all important factors explaining the variance of female MPs. The only factor that proved to be unimportant was level of development. So it can be stated, that the theories, developed in Western countries, with little nuances, are able to explain the variance of women MPs in post-communist states. The only difference is that fertility rate plays a particularly important role in post-communist context, and the relation between the participation of women in the labor force and the number of women in parliaments is negative. This can be due to the fact that participation in labor force refers to completely different things in Western and Eastern societies.
