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Selected Writings
Alexandra Kollontai―the only woman member of the Bolshevik central committee and the USSR’s first Minister of Social Welfare―is known today as a historic contributor to the international women’s movement, and as one of the first Bolshevik leaders to oppose the growth of the bureaucracy in the young socialist state. Her Selected Writings discuss the social democratic movement before the First World War, the history of the Russian women’s movement, and the debate between “feminist” and “socialist” women; the effects of the war on European socialism; the revolutions; the part played by women in the revolutionary events; the early manifestations of bureaucracy and Kollontai’s role as spokeswoman for the “workers’ opposition”; and morality, sexual politics, the family, and prostitution. It also includes writings from her later life as a Soviet official. Each section is introduced by a commentary in which Alix Holt explains the background and critically sets Kollontai’s unique lifework in its historical and biographical contexts, demonstrating both its necessary limitations and its extraordinary range.
335 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 1977
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About the author
Alexandra Kollontai
113 books295 followersAlexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai (Russian: Александра Михайловна Коллонтай — née Domontovich, Домонтович was a Russian Communist revolutionary, first as a member of the Mensheviks, then from 1914 on as a Bolshevik. In 1923, Kollontai was appointed Soviet Ambassador to Norway, one of the first women to hold such a post (Diana Abgar was earlier).
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 15, 2020
This one was a tough read that left me feeling conflicted in many places; contemplative is what I am feeling after finishing this book. For a number of reasons. Fortunately as a Marxist, I know that historical materialism can help me understand this better.
Alexandra Kollontai was far ahead of her time. That much I can assert. Her views on the women's liberation movement as being tantamount to the struggle for Communism, was not something that was readily explored in depth for many decades after she wrote on it, not until Mao in the 1940s. But what of women's liberation? What did that mean to Kollontai? It meant the freedom to self-assurance, self-determination, and freedom the capitalist constraints that included marriage, prostitution, and exploited labor.
She breaks down marriage and strips it to its core, in terms of the history of modrrn marriage; its origins in private property and accumulation, its origins in patriarchy and controlling women. She is perhaps one of the first major voices to say that marriage as we understand it must be abolished and replaced with the collective work of community. I couldn't agree more. Being a queer/transgender person opposed to all forms of marriage, I relate to this -- maybe from a different angle, but I do relate.
Kollontai, as early the early 1910s, before the Revolution even happened, did something that no woman was doing [or doing as vocally]; she took on the male chauvinism in the Bolshevik Party, and not only that, the male chauvinism of the working class and peasant men who retained old bourgeois methods of control over their wives. She is one of the driving forces behind Marxist feminism [though she herself dismisses 'feminism' as bourgeois and liberalism, instead calling her work women's liberation], and of the connection made between revolutionary socialism and women's liberation. Even all the way down to local community meetings, she criticizes the male-dominated boards and speeches, calls out men who refuse to let their wives join the Communist Party while they themselves are members, and calls on women to take up the struggle for self-determination. It was this struggle that has made Alexandra Kollontai one of the most forward figures of the Bolshevik Revolution, but unfortunately, it also caused her eventual downfall, as she focused less and less on mass and party work, did not elaborate enough on her views on marriage, the family, and other factors, and eventually stepped away from most of her diplomatic work.
Three things in here that really unsettled me and honestly, what made me take a star away on the rating system, because up to then,.this book was phenomenal:
• Kollontai was a revolutionary Communist, but even then, revolutionary to someone 100 years ago, meant something totally different than what it means now. In saying that, I feel comfortable enough to say that Kollontai was incredibly conservative and sometimes outright reactionary in her views. Unfortunately, the views she supported on certain things were the popular views of the day, even in Communism. History is important, because we can look back at it and know what NOT to do. Kollontai,.despite her views on free love, the abolition of marriage, and women's liberation, was still insistent that it was the /duty/ of every Soviet woman to birth children. To be a mother and housewife in the new, revolutionary form of marriage. She dismissed polyamory, open relationships, etc. as a hindrance to a new Soviet society. No doubt she was excited and determined to struggle for a world of Communism, but this doesnt mean at all that cisgender women should be obligated to reproduce. Nowadays we'd call this traditionalism, or first-wave feminism [I would, anyway].
• Kollontai was a supporter of eugenics. This seems to contradict my last point, but Kollontai makes it very clear she does not believe that women with "certain inheritable genetic disorders" need to reproduce, meaning she also does not view them as fully human. This was perhaps the most unsettling part of this book, as obviously, well, this is eugenics. There's no way I could elaborate more on that. People who want children deserve to be able to have children, regardless of health. I had to remind myself reading this that Helen Keller was also a supporter of eugenics,.and that even in the most revolutionary circles back then, this was seen as "groundbreaking" in science. Of course now, Communists don't support that shit. Or they better not.
• Kollontai has confusing and contradictory views on prostitution. At first, she states that it is something women are forced into or turn to prostitution because of a patriarchal, capitalist society. A strong point. But then she claims that in the USSR, women had no reason to continue engaging in prostitution since the revolution, and that that they should be viewed as "labor deserters" who were hindering the USSR from moving forward. But she also is aware that the capitalist-imperialist state is withering away slowly, and therefore old elements remain, such as the oppression of women -- Kollontai acknowledges this too. So she acknowledges that women are still oppressed, but not so oppressed that their wages may have to come from sex work. It doesn't make sense.
There are also 2 fictional short stories in here written by Kollontai. They're interesting, but eh.
Overall? A necessary read to understand women and socialism, Marxist feminism, the early Women's Liberation Movement, etc. But it's a bumpy ride for sure.
I myself can admire and appreciate Alexandra Kollontai for her contributions to Marxism,.to the revolution, to the Women's Liberation struggle, and I can acknowledge she held very backwards, reactionary views as well -- views we must criticize and move away from.
Alexandra Kollontai was far ahead of her time. That much I can assert. Her views on the women's liberation movement as being tantamount to the struggle for Communism, was not something that was readily explored in depth for many decades after she wrote on it, not until Mao in the 1940s. But what of women's liberation? What did that mean to Kollontai? It meant the freedom to self-assurance, self-determination, and freedom the capitalist constraints that included marriage, prostitution, and exploited labor.
She breaks down marriage and strips it to its core, in terms of the history of modrrn marriage; its origins in private property and accumulation, its origins in patriarchy and controlling women. She is perhaps one of the first major voices to say that marriage as we understand it must be abolished and replaced with the collective work of community. I couldn't agree more. Being a queer/transgender person opposed to all forms of marriage, I relate to this -- maybe from a different angle, but I do relate.
Kollontai, as early the early 1910s, before the Revolution even happened, did something that no woman was doing [or doing as vocally]; she took on the male chauvinism in the Bolshevik Party, and not only that, the male chauvinism of the working class and peasant men who retained old bourgeois methods of control over their wives. She is one of the driving forces behind Marxist feminism [though she herself dismisses 'feminism' as bourgeois and liberalism, instead calling her work women's liberation], and of the connection made between revolutionary socialism and women's liberation. Even all the way down to local community meetings, she criticizes the male-dominated boards and speeches, calls out men who refuse to let their wives join the Communist Party while they themselves are members, and calls on women to take up the struggle for self-determination. It was this struggle that has made Alexandra Kollontai one of the most forward figures of the Bolshevik Revolution, but unfortunately, it also caused her eventual downfall, as she focused less and less on mass and party work, did not elaborate enough on her views on marriage, the family, and other factors, and eventually stepped away from most of her diplomatic work.
Three things in here that really unsettled me and honestly, what made me take a star away on the rating system, because up to then,.this book was phenomenal:
• Kollontai was a revolutionary Communist, but even then, revolutionary to someone 100 years ago, meant something totally different than what it means now. In saying that, I feel comfortable enough to say that Kollontai was incredibly conservative and sometimes outright reactionary in her views. Unfortunately, the views she supported on certain things were the popular views of the day, even in Communism. History is important, because we can look back at it and know what NOT to do. Kollontai,.despite her views on free love, the abolition of marriage, and women's liberation, was still insistent that it was the /duty/ of every Soviet woman to birth children. To be a mother and housewife in the new, revolutionary form of marriage. She dismissed polyamory, open relationships, etc. as a hindrance to a new Soviet society. No doubt she was excited and determined to struggle for a world of Communism, but this doesnt mean at all that cisgender women should be obligated to reproduce. Nowadays we'd call this traditionalism, or first-wave feminism [I would, anyway].
• Kollontai was a supporter of eugenics. This seems to contradict my last point, but Kollontai makes it very clear she does not believe that women with "certain inheritable genetic disorders" need to reproduce, meaning she also does not view them as fully human. This was perhaps the most unsettling part of this book, as obviously, well, this is eugenics. There's no way I could elaborate more on that. People who want children deserve to be able to have children, regardless of health. I had to remind myself reading this that Helen Keller was also a supporter of eugenics,.and that even in the most revolutionary circles back then, this was seen as "groundbreaking" in science. Of course now, Communists don't support that shit. Or they better not.
• Kollontai has confusing and contradictory views on prostitution. At first, she states that it is something women are forced into or turn to prostitution because of a patriarchal, capitalist society. A strong point. But then she claims that in the USSR, women had no reason to continue engaging in prostitution since the revolution, and that that they should be viewed as "labor deserters" who were hindering the USSR from moving forward. But she also is aware that the capitalist-imperialist state is withering away slowly, and therefore old elements remain, such as the oppression of women -- Kollontai acknowledges this too. So she acknowledges that women are still oppressed, but not so oppressed that their wages may have to come from sex work. It doesn't make sense.
There are also 2 fictional short stories in here written by Kollontai. They're interesting, but eh.
Overall? A necessary read to understand women and socialism, Marxist feminism, the early Women's Liberation Movement, etc. But it's a bumpy ride for sure.
I myself can admire and appreciate Alexandra Kollontai for her contributions to Marxism,.to the revolution, to the Women's Liberation struggle, and I can acknowledge she held very backwards, reactionary views as well -- views we must criticize and move away from.
September 5, 2023
It's sad to see her slowly disappear from theorising under Stalin but also a good collection of texts overall.
November 19, 2024
"Family and marriage are historical categories, phenomena which develop in accordance with the economic relations that exist at the given level of production. The form of marriage and of the family is thus determined by the economic system of the given epoch, and it changes as the economic base of society changes. The family, in the same way as government, religion, science, morals, law and customs, is part of the superstructure which derives from the economic system of society." (p.225)
This was overall pretty good, Kollontai was an incredible writer. A lot of the texts in this collection work in conversation with Engels's Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State, and she takes a very principled, materialist view of familial, sexual, and gender relations. She pushes back against the bourgeois feminist movement of her day, arguing that women's liberation can only be truly achieved through class struggle and the abolition of private property; she envisions a sort of withering away of the family in conjunction with the withering away of the state under socialism. This is all well and good and theoretically sound, but we have the benefit of hindsight to see now that this did not happen in the Soviet Union, for a variety of reasons based in the material conditions of the time (Civil war, the Cold War, revisionism, etc).
I think Kollontai's ideas in regards to proletarian womens' liberation and what gender/sexual relations will look like in a stateless, classless society are (mostly) fantastic, and should be studied and utilized. However, like Lenin in State and Revolution, she takes a very optimistic view of the future; we should apply her theories, learn from the past, and think about how women's liberation (ie. communism) can be concretely achieved.
I didn't like the excerpt from "The labor of women in the revolution of the economy" very much—Kollontai was very concerned with maternity and seems to advocate for the idea that childbirth is a social obligation on the part of women, an idea which I don't think is very useful or particularly good. I say "seems to" advocate, but she literally says it word-for-word:
"Soviet power realises that the need for abortion will only disappear on the one hand when Russia has a broad and developed network of institutions protecting motherhood and providing social education, and on the other hand when women understand that childbirth is a social obligation; Soviet power has therefore allowed abortion to be performed openly and in clinical conditions." (p.149)
Her argument is essentially that under a stateless, classless society, motherhood itself will have transformed into a collective act, and that material conditions will no longer cause women to be "afraid of motherhood"; this, again, is all well and good, but we are FAR from achieving communism, and with hindsight we can see that the Soviet Union was as well. This take by Kollontai just comes off as feeling very traditionalist and pro-life, and should be left in 1921.
There were also a couple of short stories by Kollontai in here, which were fun but came off as pretty utopian. Overall, a good collection of proletarian feminist texts and really important for understanding how true women's liberation can never be achieved under a bourgeois, capitalist society whose exploitative economic base gives rise to unequal marital, sexual, and economic relations based on gender.
January 18, 2025
A rare and carefully crafted book, published in 1977. The purpose of the book was to return the ideas of Kollontai to Soviet history that had parked, mocked and undermined her arguments and interpretations.
Stalin did not kill her, as he killed millions of others, but he did erase her in multiple ways. Her writing was particularly attacked - and buried. But this book - with a careful and respectful introductory essay by Alix Holt - returns Kollontai to her own history.
This is not an easy history. The essays on prostitution and domestic labour make for difficult and uncomfortable reading. But Kollontai wrote the arguments to be read, pondered and considered. She wanted debate, not bland acceptance.
This is a well organized book that captures the complexity and tenacity of Kollontai.
Stalin did not kill her, as he killed millions of others, but he did erase her in multiple ways. Her writing was particularly attacked - and buried. But this book - with a careful and respectful introductory essay by Alix Holt - returns Kollontai to her own history.
This is not an easy history. The essays on prostitution and domestic labour make for difficult and uncomfortable reading. But Kollontai wrote the arguments to be read, pondered and considered. She wanted debate, not bland acceptance.
This is a well organized book that captures the complexity and tenacity of Kollontai.
January 4, 2025
It was infinitely refreshing to read a feminist perspective that made no bones about male oppression. Feminist thinkers after 1990 are always couching their criticism in jokes, making caveats about how ~patriarchy affects men tooooo~ and men don't really *mean* to oppress women they're just bumbling silly billies! I forgot how good it feels to just read "divorce is necessary because men treat women poorly"
Unfortunately, some of the stuff she writes about comes across as wildly out-of-touch when she praises the soviet system for being soooo grand for women. I can't judge her too harshly, though. I just have the benefit of hindsight.
Unfortunately, some of the stuff she writes about comes across as wildly out-of-touch when she praises the soviet system for being soooo grand for women. I can't judge her too harshly, though. I just have the benefit of hindsight.
March 22, 2021
Insightful writings on the oppression of women under capitalism and the beginnings of women's liberation under socialism. The collection also includes Kollontai's utopian views of establishing workers' control of production - in the midst of a civil war - suggesting that she believed socialism in one country was a possibility, even a country devastated by war. This might explain Kollontai's capitulation to Stalin and apolitical rejection of the Left (or United) Opposition, covered in the last section of the book. The sections on women's liberation remain relevant today and are worth reading.
February 28, 2021
Reading women like Kollontai’s is important, not only for historical perspectives, but for theoretical ones too. The things Kollontai writes about, family and marriage abolition most importantly, need to be taken in by communists. Unfortunately her writing can get a little dry sometimes. On the bright side, her two fiction pieces are quite riveting!
April 1, 2022
Some hits and misses, but mostly hits written by Kollontai throughout her life. I think Communism and the Family as well as her many criticisms of bourgeois feminism are some of her best works, but there's a lot of valuable writing in here. I feel like the editor was a bit harsh in her comments and that Kollontai was a visionary. I hope we can one day live in the world she envisioned.
May 15, 2014
Details clearly about an entirely different volume to this classic collection of writing by a true hero in the fight for a better different life for all of us ...
February 23, 2021
Only read 'Working Woman and Mother'
January 31, 2019
Well selected and presented writings of a thinker who seems to have been before her time.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews