From Socialism to Social Media: Women's and Gender History in Post-Soviet Russia*

Women's and gender history in Russia has been developing since the 1990s and began to be institutionalized in the 2000s and 2010s. Throughout that period, unfavorable intra-academic and sociopolitical conditions hindered the development of women's and gender history in Russia. Those who tried to establish a new field of study under these conditions sought various strategies by which to legitimize their research and build up authority among peers. This article analyzes their strategies for legitimizing women's and gender history in the Russian academy and beyond, using Bourdieu's work in the scientific field. I argue that in the 2000s, at the stage of institutionalization, researchers in the field of women's and gender history tried to legitimize their field by applying a number of strategies. These included appeals to scale, geography, and a connection with the generalized "West," as well as attempts to ascertain the practical significance of women's and gender history and, finally, highlight their connections to the classical heritage of the humanities and social sciences. Despite arguing with an explicitly feminist gist in mind, researchers of this generation had little to do with activism and were comparatively less active in the media than before. In the 2010s, however, as the development of new media and a new wave of feminism in Russia significantly changed the strategies for legitimizing the field, researchers started coming to women's and gender history by way of feminist activism. Lacking prospects within the academy, young researchers turned to social media and journalism to establish their authority through popularity with the general public.