The main vectors of social and political activities of rural women in Volyn in the late 1920s-early 1930s

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to determine the main directions of social and political activities of rural women in Volyn during the period of deployment of the policy of collectivization in agricultural economy in the late 1920s - early 1930s. The research methodology is based on general scientific (analysis, synthesis, abstraction and generalization) and specifically historical methods (historical-typological, historical-systemic and method of diachronic analysis of socio-historical reality) in combination with the principles of historicism, objectivity, systematic and development. The scientific novelty of the research is as follows. For the first time the subject of the study was rural women in Volyn during the first Stalinist Five-Year Plan. The main factors which influenced the dynamics of the inclusion of Volyn peasants in the process of socialist transformations in the village are identified. The author determines the forms and ways of involving activists women in the organization of agitation and propaganda work among their fellow villagers on their participation in local council elections, elimination of illiteracy, struggle against "class hostiles" in the village and creation of collective farms. Conclusions. During the 1920s, the Soviet government paid considerable attention to solving the so-called "women's issue." During the deployment of the course for the socialist reorganization of the village, women's departments activated their efforts to involve activists women in the process of implementation the tasks of the Bolshevik Party, primarily regarding creation of collective farms. In the period studied there were following important vectors of social and political activities of women in Volyn villages: 1. Political socialization of peasant women by involving them in local council elections; to work in village councils as part of both departments, deputies and officials (chairmen and secretaries of village councils). 2. Participation in the campaign to eliminate low literacy and illiteracy among adult population, whose literacy rate in this region was one of the lowest in Ukraine. 3. Carrying out an agitation and propaganda campaign to support the Stalin's policy of collectivization of agricultural economy and the struggle against the "class-hostile elements" of the village.