REVISITING THE ISSUE OF WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN NATIONAL-STATE BUILDING THE KOMI AUTONOMY IN 1920–1930s

Natalia V. Kirosova

DOI: 10.47026/2712-9454-2020-1-3-30-37

Key words

history of the Komi Republic, regional party conferences, social portrait, social characteristics, women’s movement.

Annotation

The study of the gender aspect in the personnel policy of the RCP (b) – ACP (b) during the period of the Soviet power establishment is one of the most interesting historical issues. The article discusses the experience of involving women in the political life of the Komi Autonomous Region – the Komi ASSR in the first years of statehood formation. On the example of creating women’s organizations in the party-state apparatus and their participation in delegate meetings, the first experience of women’s socialization into the “new life” is summarized. The article presents as well the results of analyzing the social-demographic and social-professional information about women-participants of Komi regional party conferences held during the specified period. The study was carried out using such sources as questionnaires and registration lists of women-delegates containing personal data on their age, nationality, party experience, social position, education level. Documents and materials of sixteen party conferences were processed – from January 1922 to January 1940. Based on the study of social characteristics of activists of the women’s movement it is established that mainly representatives of the indigenous nationality took part in the work of the supreme governing body, of whom a significant part belonged to the peasant community. In the composition of the women’s delegate corps of the 1920s there were more women who had secondary education, while at the regional conference held in the 1930s, mainly delegates with primary level of education were present. Personal data obtained from the archival sources give the opportunity to form a generalized social portrait of women, occupying the managerial positions in the party-state authorities. Most of them were communists of indigenous nationality, employees by their social status; they had a secondary or higher education and had the teaching background. The author analyzes their movement through the ranks which changed the social status of the women’s movement activists. However, despite the comprehensive women’s involvement in the socio-political life of the Komi region, in the community of the supreme party-state leadership there was a considerable gender asymmetry.

References

1. Dmitrikov M. P. Administrativno-territorial’noe ustrojstvo Komi ASSR v 20–30-e gody [Administrative-territorial structure of the Komi ASSR in the 20–30s]. In: Iz istorii nacional’no-gosudarstvennogo stroitel’stva, nacional’nyh otnoshenij i social’no-ekonomicheskogo razvitiya Komi ASSR [From the history of national-state construction, national relations and socio-economic development of the Komi ASSR]. Syktyvkar, 1989, pp. 30–42.
2. Smetanin F., ed. Istoriya Komi s drevnejshih vremen do konca XX veka [History of the Komi Republic from ancient times to the end of the XX century]. Syktyvkar, Komi Publ., 2004, vol. 2, 704 p.
3. Komi oblastnaya organizaciya KPSS v cifrah. 1921–1976: sb. [Komi regional organization of the CPSU in numbers. 1921–1976: statistical comp.]. Syktyvkar, Komi Publ., 1977, 95 p.
4. Konstituciya RSFSR: utv. V Vserossiiskim s”ezdom Sovetov 10.07.1918 [Constitution of RSFSR: approved by the V all-Russian Congress of Soviets 10.07.1918]. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR, 1918, no. 51, p. 582.
5. Miroshnichenko M. I. Soderzhanie pervoi sovetskoi gendernoi modeli v 1920-e gg. [Content of the first Soviet gender model in the 1920s]. Vestnik Yuzhno-Ural’skogogosudarstvennogo Universiteta. Ser. Social’no-gumanitarnye nauki, 2015, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 35–42.
6. Nacional’nyi arkhiv Respubliki Komi. Fond P-1. Opis‘ 1 [The National Archives of the Komi Republic. Archives P-1. Anagraph 1]. D. 15, 16, 32, 44, 45, 62, 78, 113, 116, 130, 155, 208, 298, 317, 335, 360.
7. Ob obrazovanii Rabochego i Krest’yanskogo pravitel’stva: dekret II Vserossiiskogo s”ezda Sovetov i soldatskikh deputatov 26.10.1917 [On the formation of a workers and peasants government: decree of the II all-Russian congress of soviets and soldiers deputies 26.10.1917]. In: Dekrety Sovetskoi vlasti [Decrees of the Soviet government]. Moscow, 1957, vol. 1, 20 p.
8. Perebinos YU.A. Gendernye aspekty kar’ery v regional’nom partiino-sovetskom apparate v 1930-e gody (na materialakh Evropeiskogo Severa Rossii) [Gender aspects of career in the regional party and Soviet apparatus in the 1930s (based on the materials of the European North of Russia)]. Beznik A., ed. Istoriki. Pokoleniya. Vzglyady: materialy Vseros. nauch. konf. [Proc. of Rus. Conf. «Historians. Generations. Conviction»]. Vologda, State University Publ., 2018, pp. 200–205.
9. Rodionov M.A., Volkova T.A. Gendernye aspekty politicheskogo elitizma [Gender aspects of political elitism]. Social’no-gumanitarnye znaniya, 2017, no. 2, pp. 65–76.
10. Taskaev M.V. Social’no-politicheskie processy na Evropejskom Severo-Vostoke Rossii (1901 – pervaya polovina 1930-h gg.) [Socio-political processes in the European North-East of Russia (1901 – the first half of the 1930s)]. Ekaterinburg, Ural branch of the RAS Publ., 2011. 610 p.

 Information about the author

Natalia V. Kirosova – Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Socio-Political Sciences, Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University, Russia, Syktyvkar (knata2409@yandex.ru).

For citations

Kirosova N.V. REVISITING THE ISSUE OF WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN NATIONAL-STATE BUILDING THE KOMI AUTONOMY IN 1920–1930s. Historical Search, 2020, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 30–37. DOI: 10.47026/2712-9454-2020-1-3-30-37 (in Russian).

Download the full article