The Soviet Union as a ‘Feminist Colonialist?’ The Women’s Question in Early Soviet Central Asia

Abstract

The Soviet Union as a colonial power in Central Asia decided to step up against the perceived traditional marginalisation of women. It intended to create an equal society for men and women, and treated women as important allies in the modernisation and the restructuration of traditional societies. However, in reality, while the Soviet initiatives contributed to the emancipation and empowerment of women on the surface, in the meantime they also served as a significant tool for the colonisation of Central Asia. The aim of the article is to shed light on this almost entirely overlooked process of the Soviet colonial power using the ideas of Marxist feminism to strengthen its power over the region, and to argue that this approach had contributed to the fact that the attempts of the Soviet Union aimed at the emancipation and empowerment of Central Asian women could only reach their declared objectives on the surface.