Invisible Revolutionaries: Women’s Participation in Ukraine’s Euromaidan

Women play a prominent role in pro-democracy movements and contemporary revolutions around the globe. The book proposes an original typology of women’s participation in a revolution. Based on three dimensions (women’s motivations for engagement, the performance of certain roles during mass mobilization, and gender outcomes), the book distinguishes three models: (1) patriarchal, (2) emancipatory, and (3) hybrid. Reinforcing preexisting patriarchal norms in society, the patriarchal model of women’s participation in a revolution assumes that motherhood is a key driver of women’s activism, women primarily perform “support tasks” during mass mobilization, and female revolutionaries retreat into the private sphere in the wake of the revolution. The emancipatory model, on the contrary, views feminism as a catalyst for women’s activism, assumes women’s access to formal positions of leadership within the movement, and anticipates considerable progress in gender equality in the post-revolutionary period. 

Located between these two extremes, the hybrid model encompasses a variety of motivations for women’s engagement in a revolution, identifies the diversity of women’s roles over the course of mass mobilization, and acknowledges various degrees of success in gender equality in different spheres. Using the case of the 2013–2014 Revolution of Dignity (Euromaidan) in Ukraine, the book illustrates a hybrid model of women’s participation in a contemporary revolution. Drawing on data from large-N surveys and oral history projects, the book uncovers various motivations for women’s involvement in a revolution, identifies diverse forms of women’s participation, and traces the multifaceted outcomes of women’s activism. The book builds upon and contributes to contentious politics literature by elucidating patterns of women’s participation in a contemporary revolution. In addition, the book improves our understanding of the sources of Ukraine’s fierce resistance to Russia’s invasion and the role of Ukrainian women in the struggle for national independence and democratic development.

This event is organized by The Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University and co-sponsored by the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. 

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