What do you think?
Rate this book
Red Valkyries: The Revolutionary Women of Eastern Europe
The overlooked revolutionary women of Eastern Europe and their contribution to socialist feminist history, from the author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism.
Through a series of lively and accessible biographical essays, Red Valkyries explores the history of socialist feminism by examining the revolutionary careers of five prominent socialist women active in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Alexandra Kollontai, the aristocratic Bolshevik
• Nadezhda Krupskaya, the radical pedagogue
• Inessa Armand, the polyamorous firebrand
• Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the deadly sniper
• Elena Lagadinova, the partisan turned scientist turned global women’s activist
None of these women were “perfect” leftists. Their lives were filled with inner conflicts, contradictions, and sometimes outrageous privilege, but they still managed to move forward their own political projects through perseverance and dedication to their cause.
Always walking a fine line between the need for class solidarity and the desire to force their sometimes callous male colleagues to take women’s issues seriously, these five women fought for social change with important lessons for feminist activists today.
In brief conversational chapters Ghodsee tells the story of the personal challenges faced by earlier generations of socialist and communist women and renders the big ideas of socialist feminism accessible to those newly inspired by the emancipatory politics of left feminist movements around the globe.
Through a series of lively and accessible biographical essays, Red Valkyries explores the history of socialist feminism by examining the revolutionary careers of five prominent socialist women active in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Alexandra Kollontai, the aristocratic Bolshevik
• Nadezhda Krupskaya, the radical pedagogue
• Inessa Armand, the polyamorous firebrand
• Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the deadly sniper
• Elena Lagadinova, the partisan turned scientist turned global women’s activist
None of these women were “perfect” leftists. Their lives were filled with inner conflicts, contradictions, and sometimes outrageous privilege, but they still managed to move forward their own political projects through perseverance and dedication to their cause.
Always walking a fine line between the need for class solidarity and the desire to force their sometimes callous male colleagues to take women’s issues seriously, these five women fought for social change with important lessons for feminist activists today.
In brief conversational chapters Ghodsee tells the story of the personal challenges faced by earlier generations of socialist and communist women and renders the big ideas of socialist feminism accessible to those newly inspired by the emancipatory politics of left feminist movements around the globe.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published July 12, 2022
36 people are currently reading
1748 people want to read
About the author
Kristen R. Ghodsee
21 books468 followersKristen R. Ghodsee an award-winning author and ethnographer. She is professor of Russian and East European Studies and a member of the Graduate Group in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work has been translated into over twenty-five languages and has appeared in publications such as Foreign Affairs, Dissent, Jacobin, Ms. Magazine, The New Republic, Le Monde Diplomatique, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, She is the author of 12 books, and she is the host of the podcast, A.K. 47, which discusses the works of the Russian Bolshevik, Alexandra Kollontai. Her latest book is Everyday Utopia: What 2000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life, which appeared with Simon & Schuster in May 2023.
She loves popcorn, manual typewriters, and Bassett hounds.
Website: www.kristenghodsee.com
Podcast: ak47.buzzsprout.com
She loves popcorn, manual typewriters, and Bassett hounds.
Website: www.kristenghodsee.com
Podcast: ak47.buzzsprout.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
May 13, 2022
The subtitle ‘Feminist Lessons from five revolutionary women’ is key to understanding the reasoning behind this latest work from award-winning, academic and writer, Kristen R. Ghodsee. It’s a group biography that also posits an alternative perspective on twentieth-century, feminist history. But it’s a history that comes with a plea to view this not purely as a chronicle of past lives, but as a pointer for approaches that might inform future, political action on behalf of women worldwide. Here Ghodsee takes a select group of Soviet and Bulgarian feminists who were, at different moments in time, devising strategies for improving women’s lives while attempting to operate within the broader strictures of communism and/or state socialism. Ghodsee views these women as possible role models for contemporary activists. Ones who represent an opposing form of feminism to the kind of liberal version espoused by writers like Sheryl Sandberg.
Ghodsee’s women were united in their belief in collective action, their fierce opposition to any notion of capitalism as inevitable or unassailable. They promoted the need to fight against the status quo for the rights of all women, and for that fight to include compromises, such as alliances with men. The women portrayed here are sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko who hailed from Kiev and became a poster child for the Soviet cause during WW2, after her extraordinary record of success in defeating fascist forces. In 1942, she toured the US, Canada and the UK drumming up support for the fight against Nazi Germany. Then there’s novelist and activist Alexandra Kollontai born over forty years earlier, dubbed the ‘red rose of revolution’ for her part in the Russian Revolution and her radical views on sexual freedom and women’s rights. Later the USSR’s ambassador to Sweden. Nadezhda Krupskaya is often encountered as a footnote in history. Her personal successes overshadowed by her marriage to Lenin which drained her energies and took up much of her time. Although she’s also achieved brief, online fame for her uncanny resemblance to Scarlett Johansson. But Krupskaya, who was also deeply influenced by Tolstoy, was instrumental in putting forward radical schemes to tackle Russia’s illiteracy problems and educational shortfalls – the majority of Russian women in pre-revolutionary Russia were illiterate and poorly educated. She set up playgroups and education facilities and her ideas later influenced people like Freire. Although her theories were later suppressed under Stalin. Next up’s Inessa Armand, again her personal life has often eclipsed any memory of her political achievements. She’s a particularly tantalising figure, she died young from cholera and rumour suggests that she and Krupskaya may have been lovers or alternatively formed a ménage à trois with Lenin. But she also devised strategies for improving the lot of women and fought against patriarchal assumptions. Last up’s Bulgarian Elena Lagadinova, a child partisan during WW2, later lauded as a folk hero. Her career in agrobiology rested on increasing affordable food sources. She then took up the role of advocating for better conditions for working mothers, that included extensive international campaigns. Although after the fall of Communism she ended up in relative obscurity.
As Ghodsee, rightly, points out during the Pandemic something that became increasingly, painfully, clear was the way in which the burden of domestic life fell disproportionately on women: juggling work, parenting, housework, and often home education in extremely difficult circumstances. Ghodsee makes it clear that - unlike many recent Western, liberal feminists - Eastern European feminists living under Communist rule were embroiled in designing systems to overcome, and fighting to combat, this kind of disparity in the ways societies are organised - and had been doing so since the late Victorian era. Another thing Ghodsee's keen to stress is the way in which the activism of these kinds of women counters dominant perspectives on Communist history, which often focus on Stalin and/or the roles of similarly prominent men. Her other goal’s to put forward suggestions for how contemporary women might come together to challenge social problems such as unequal domestic organisation, restricted access to education, and the lack of suitable, affordable childcare provision. It’s a slightly unusual book in that sense, part biography, part surprisingly personal manifesto. It reminded me of an expanded version of the concluding sections of Rachel Holmes’s biography of Eleanor Marx which applies aspects of her stance on the needs and rights of women and the poor to reflections on contemporary social ills.
I appreciated Ghodsee’s commitment, and sided with elements of her stance, but I’m not sure that her hybrid approach's entirely successful. Part of the issue’s that this is such a brief study, so there’s a sense of her material being overly compressed and her key points more than a little rushed. I also disagreed with some of her assertions about Western feminism’s past. In particular, her claim that western second-wave feminism was solely centred on self-actualisation, Ghodsee omits a consideration of the significant theoretical and campaigning work carried out by those who weren’t allied to radical, anti-patriarchal factions, such the then-influential Marxist and/or socialist feminist theorists like Michele Barrett. I also thought that Ghodsee’s portrayal of figures like Kollontai was slightly too partial, glossing over some of the more controversial chapters of her life, in particular her willingness to compromise the freedoms of others to further her own career and position. But even so, I think this is a fairly lucid, accessible piece, it comes with extensive notes and a very decent list of suggestions for further reading. And I especially enjoyed finding out about lesser-known characters like Lagadinova which also shed light on Bulgarian society behind the 'iron curtain'.
Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Verso for an ARC
Ghodsee’s women were united in their belief in collective action, their fierce opposition to any notion of capitalism as inevitable or unassailable. They promoted the need to fight against the status quo for the rights of all women, and for that fight to include compromises, such as alliances with men. The women portrayed here are sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko who hailed from Kiev and became a poster child for the Soviet cause during WW2, after her extraordinary record of success in defeating fascist forces. In 1942, she toured the US, Canada and the UK drumming up support for the fight against Nazi Germany. Then there’s novelist and activist Alexandra Kollontai born over forty years earlier, dubbed the ‘red rose of revolution’ for her part in the Russian Revolution and her radical views on sexual freedom and women’s rights. Later the USSR’s ambassador to Sweden. Nadezhda Krupskaya is often encountered as a footnote in history. Her personal successes overshadowed by her marriage to Lenin which drained her energies and took up much of her time. Although she’s also achieved brief, online fame for her uncanny resemblance to Scarlett Johansson. But Krupskaya, who was also deeply influenced by Tolstoy, was instrumental in putting forward radical schemes to tackle Russia’s illiteracy problems and educational shortfalls – the majority of Russian women in pre-revolutionary Russia were illiterate and poorly educated. She set up playgroups and education facilities and her ideas later influenced people like Freire. Although her theories were later suppressed under Stalin. Next up’s Inessa Armand, again her personal life has often eclipsed any memory of her political achievements. She’s a particularly tantalising figure, she died young from cholera and rumour suggests that she and Krupskaya may have been lovers or alternatively formed a ménage à trois with Lenin. But she also devised strategies for improving the lot of women and fought against patriarchal assumptions. Last up’s Bulgarian Elena Lagadinova, a child partisan during WW2, later lauded as a folk hero. Her career in agrobiology rested on increasing affordable food sources. She then took up the role of advocating for better conditions for working mothers, that included extensive international campaigns. Although after the fall of Communism she ended up in relative obscurity.
As Ghodsee, rightly, points out during the Pandemic something that became increasingly, painfully, clear was the way in which the burden of domestic life fell disproportionately on women: juggling work, parenting, housework, and often home education in extremely difficult circumstances. Ghodsee makes it clear that - unlike many recent Western, liberal feminists - Eastern European feminists living under Communist rule were embroiled in designing systems to overcome, and fighting to combat, this kind of disparity in the ways societies are organised - and had been doing so since the late Victorian era. Another thing Ghodsee's keen to stress is the way in which the activism of these kinds of women counters dominant perspectives on Communist history, which often focus on Stalin and/or the roles of similarly prominent men. Her other goal’s to put forward suggestions for how contemporary women might come together to challenge social problems such as unequal domestic organisation, restricted access to education, and the lack of suitable, affordable childcare provision. It’s a slightly unusual book in that sense, part biography, part surprisingly personal manifesto. It reminded me of an expanded version of the concluding sections of Rachel Holmes’s biography of Eleanor Marx which applies aspects of her stance on the needs and rights of women and the poor to reflections on contemporary social ills.
I appreciated Ghodsee’s commitment, and sided with elements of her stance, but I’m not sure that her hybrid approach's entirely successful. Part of the issue’s that this is such a brief study, so there’s a sense of her material being overly compressed and her key points more than a little rushed. I also disagreed with some of her assertions about Western feminism’s past. In particular, her claim that western second-wave feminism was solely centred on self-actualisation, Ghodsee omits a consideration of the significant theoretical and campaigning work carried out by those who weren’t allied to radical, anti-patriarchal factions, such the then-influential Marxist and/or socialist feminist theorists like Michele Barrett. I also thought that Ghodsee’s portrayal of figures like Kollontai was slightly too partial, glossing over some of the more controversial chapters of her life, in particular her willingness to compromise the freedoms of others to further her own career and position. But even so, I think this is a fairly lucid, accessible piece, it comes with extensive notes and a very decent list of suggestions for further reading. And I especially enjoyed finding out about lesser-known characters like Lagadinova which also shed light on Bulgarian society behind the 'iron curtain'.
Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Verso for an ARC
July 19, 2022
3.5 It's almost a four.
As a brief overview of the five women in question, the book is excellent. It is not an academic book, and Ghodsee's prose is brisk and consuming. It is an easy and engrossing read. Ghodsee's focus on little know women (I've heard of only two of the women here) is important as is in placing them in the development of the beings of the USSR.
The weakest part of the book is the last section which ties the women into what they can teach feminists today. That section feels added on as a selling point. It would have worked better if it had been illustrated over the course of the book. I also would have enjoyed a bit more information or detail on the imperfect part of their lives - the introduction notes that the women were not perfect but the chapters do not go into much detail about their imperfections. The imperfections are not glossed over and the space constraint of the book has to be a factor as well, but still I wanted a bit more.
Of the five women, as I said, I had knowledge of two before reading this - Lyudmila Pavlichenko (the sniper) and Nadezhda Krupskya (most famous in the West for being married to Lenin). I apprenticed the more detailed description of Krupskya which takes her far beyond being simply Mrs Lenin as she is to most Westerners. In fact, it is to that chapter's credit that her marriage (and what type of marriage it was) is treated as secondary and her own work is moved to the forefront. I have to say that I found Inessa Armand the most interesting and the most heartbreaking because of how Lenin undermined this woman who fought and lived a free love lifestyle.
As a brief overview of the five women in question, the book is excellent. It is not an academic book, and Ghodsee's prose is brisk and consuming. It is an easy and engrossing read. Ghodsee's focus on little know women (I've heard of only two of the women here) is important as is in placing them in the development of the beings of the USSR.
The weakest part of the book is the last section which ties the women into what they can teach feminists today. That section feels added on as a selling point. It would have worked better if it had been illustrated over the course of the book. I also would have enjoyed a bit more information or detail on the imperfect part of their lives - the introduction notes that the women were not perfect but the chapters do not go into much detail about their imperfections. The imperfections are not glossed over and the space constraint of the book has to be a factor as well, but still I wanted a bit more.
Of the five women, as I said, I had knowledge of two before reading this - Lyudmila Pavlichenko (the sniper) and Nadezhda Krupskya (most famous in the West for being married to Lenin). I apprenticed the more detailed description of Krupskya which takes her far beyond being simply Mrs Lenin as she is to most Westerners. In fact, it is to that chapter's credit that her marriage (and what type of marriage it was) is treated as secondary and her own work is moved to the forefront. I have to say that I found Inessa Armand the most interesting and the most heartbreaking because of how Lenin undermined this woman who fought and lived a free love lifestyle.
September 28, 2024
“Learning about the lives and works of these revolutionary women of Eastern Europe illustrates both how and why liberal feminism became ‘capitalism’s handmaiden’”
“The famous marxist idea of ‘from each according to his ability to each according to his need’ views our abilities as social goods because they emerge from a particular set of societal contexts over which we had little control”
This is the second book I have read by Ghodsee and each of her writings has a profound impact on me. For me this book really helped to articulate that a feminism that seeks certain kinds of victories for a limited sphere of women is not feminism. There is a sentence in this book that talks about intersectionality being branches all flowing into the same river of confluence rushing towards the greater good and it further emphasises that true feminism is the liberation of all women through an extensive network of state programmes that emancipate and protect from the bottom not the middle.
Each of the women in this book
demonstrated the complexity of humanity and communism. Their power and influence in the face of an omnipotent patriarchy, and the change they wrought echoes through time, and still benefits us today. Even more than this it emphasises that they achieved because of their flawed humanity rather than in spite of it, whilst also showing that ideological purism is not enough to bring about the ends of its means. Each of the women in this book will walk alongside me in various ways for a long time to come.
January 18, 2024
this started off so good until the author made it clear that they entered this book with strong preconceived notions about lenin, stalin, and the ussr. completely devoid of any connection to the masses of people, she has no nuance for what she claims to research. she took no notes from the women this book is about. while i very much loved small parts if the book i cannot overlook this. she made these powerful women seem weak and passive
April 19, 2024
One of the downsides of the collapse of the Soviet Union 30 years ago was the denigration of an important strand of historical understanding – the one focused on revolutionary transformations. With the benefit of hindsight it is almost as if there was a collective conclusion that the Soviet programme was a failure – it must have been, the state collapsed – so everything about it had to be reinterpreted as part of that failure. When this is added to the fractiousness of the Left, as sects developed after tactical schisms, the histories and experiences of Marxist movements were at serious risk of being added to the dustbins of history. When taken alongside the ever more powerful silos of feminist practice, not only did this denigration have profound effects on both scholarly and activist practice, if further marginalised the already precariously balanced place of women in those histories.
Kristin Ghosee’s Red Valkaries steps directly into this gap, taking brief biographies of five women active in various part of Eastern Europe’s socialist states to ask what we might learn from their practice. In her introduction she makes very clear that the framing of this as ‘feminist’ lessons was a decision of Verso’s marketing department; she seems quite clearly to see these as aspects essential for revolutionary praxis.
Some of the women are relatively well-known. Perhaps best known is Alexandra Kollontai, reintroduced to the English-speaking world through Cathy Porter’s 1980 biography, although some of her political writings and her Autobiography of a Sexually Emancipated Woman were published in English during the 1970s. More likely to be known only in Marxist circles is Nadezhda Krupskaya. Although the subject of essays and the occasional PhD thesis, Krupskaya probably remains best known as Lenin’s wife and author of a biography of him published in English in 1930 and 1932 (my very battered copy from 1942 combines both parts). Even less well known, either inside or outside Marxist circles is Inessa Armand, close to Lenin and Krupskaya (sometimes purported to be Lenin’s lover) who died in 1920, left little in the way of personal papers and still lacks a decent biography in English.
In many respects, these three women are to be expected – they were leading members of the Bolsheviks and there at the outset of the revolutionary changes in 1917, each playing prominent roles in the emerging Soviet state structures. The other two choices reflect Ghodsee’s depth of engagement with the Soviet era and her approach from the margins. The fourth Russian-revolution linked woman had, for a while, a very high profile outside the Soviet Union, was friends with Eleanor Roosevelt and subject of popular song, including one by Pete Seeger (my first introduction to her). Lyudmilla Pavlichenko was a sniper who specialised in killing enemy snipers, and is officially recorded as having 309 kills. It was this profile, after severe injury meant that she was unable to stay active, that saw her included in a Soviet goodwill mission to the USA in 1942. In her final case, Ghodsee adds a scientist and hero of the anti-Nazi resistance, Bulgarian Elena Lagadinova who became active in the global women’s movement during the 1970s and 1980s as Bulgarian representative to a number of international bodies.
Five women, five brief biographies that give important insights not only to the efforts to build revolutionary change, but also to defend that revolution and build the institutions needed to craft a new society out of the residue of a collapsing feudalism, a barely present capitalism, and the depredations of war. Ghodsee draws conclusions about comradeship, respite, tenacity, the value of study, social engagement, coalition building and an openness to change as essential aspects of these women’s practice. This, then, is a richly grounded analysis of the practices essential to both mount and survive in political struggle, managing to strike a balance between the tactics and dispositions of that work and what we have come to call ‘self-care’ (and used to call ‘avoiding burnout’). Throughout it all I especially appreciate Ghodsee's commitment to long run historical change, and especially to her point that to invoke analyses based in intersections risks an implication of a static condition, whereas to talk of confluence side-lines this risk of an ahistorical conjunction.
Although we’re a long way from the kinds of social change Kollontai, Kyupskaya, Armand, Pavlichenko and Lagadinova were involved in, that doesn’t make the analysis any less relevant: if anything, the long road ahead makes it more important. Even so, I have to confess I am probably happier that these women’s lives are being made known to new audiences in a manner that is both engaging and with a plan for effect.
Kristin Ghosee’s Red Valkaries steps directly into this gap, taking brief biographies of five women active in various part of Eastern Europe’s socialist states to ask what we might learn from their practice. In her introduction she makes very clear that the framing of this as ‘feminist’ lessons was a decision of Verso’s marketing department; she seems quite clearly to see these as aspects essential for revolutionary praxis.
Some of the women are relatively well-known. Perhaps best known is Alexandra Kollontai, reintroduced to the English-speaking world through Cathy Porter’s 1980 biography, although some of her political writings and her Autobiography of a Sexually Emancipated Woman were published in English during the 1970s. More likely to be known only in Marxist circles is Nadezhda Krupskaya. Although the subject of essays and the occasional PhD thesis, Krupskaya probably remains best known as Lenin’s wife and author of a biography of him published in English in 1930 and 1932 (my very battered copy from 1942 combines both parts). Even less well known, either inside or outside Marxist circles is Inessa Armand, close to Lenin and Krupskaya (sometimes purported to be Lenin’s lover) who died in 1920, left little in the way of personal papers and still lacks a decent biography in English.
In many respects, these three women are to be expected – they were leading members of the Bolsheviks and there at the outset of the revolutionary changes in 1917, each playing prominent roles in the emerging Soviet state structures. The other two choices reflect Ghodsee’s depth of engagement with the Soviet era and her approach from the margins. The fourth Russian-revolution linked woman had, for a while, a very high profile outside the Soviet Union, was friends with Eleanor Roosevelt and subject of popular song, including one by Pete Seeger (my first introduction to her). Lyudmilla Pavlichenko was a sniper who specialised in killing enemy snipers, and is officially recorded as having 309 kills. It was this profile, after severe injury meant that she was unable to stay active, that saw her included in a Soviet goodwill mission to the USA in 1942. In her final case, Ghodsee adds a scientist and hero of the anti-Nazi resistance, Bulgarian Elena Lagadinova who became active in the global women’s movement during the 1970s and 1980s as Bulgarian representative to a number of international bodies.
Five women, five brief biographies that give important insights not only to the efforts to build revolutionary change, but also to defend that revolution and build the institutions needed to craft a new society out of the residue of a collapsing feudalism, a barely present capitalism, and the depredations of war. Ghodsee draws conclusions about comradeship, respite, tenacity, the value of study, social engagement, coalition building and an openness to change as essential aspects of these women’s practice. This, then, is a richly grounded analysis of the practices essential to both mount and survive in political struggle, managing to strike a balance between the tactics and dispositions of that work and what we have come to call ‘self-care’ (and used to call ‘avoiding burnout’). Throughout it all I especially appreciate Ghodsee's commitment to long run historical change, and especially to her point that to invoke analyses based in intersections risks an implication of a static condition, whereas to talk of confluence side-lines this risk of an ahistorical conjunction.
Although we’re a long way from the kinds of social change Kollontai, Kyupskaya, Armand, Pavlichenko and Lagadinova were involved in, that doesn’t make the analysis any less relevant: if anything, the long road ahead makes it more important. Even so, I have to confess I am probably happier that these women’s lives are being made known to new audiences in a manner that is both engaging and with a plan for effect.
December 28, 2023
This little book is an empowering, inspiring, and energizing compendium of all too often forgotten or ignored his(her?)stories that are oh so needed today. It is accessible, easy to read, and yet entertaining and captivating, while highly educational. As a western young critical scholar relatively familiar with feminist thought and radical pedagogies, I was shocked to learn only so late about the incommensurable and pioneeristic contribution of women like Kollontai or Krupskaya: how is it possible I have never encountered their iconic names in leftist western/anglophone literature? It’s unbelievable that the most radical and emancipatory feminist ideas - as well as the most basic ones which we alas are still fighting for - have been around in the East for more than a century: we not only have made very little progress on this front under capitalism, but successfully regressed.
I suppose it is time to break this collective amnesia and learn from these imperfect yet incredibly real and truly revolutionary stories. Stories that, amidst the solemn atomization of our absurd times, show us what words like "comrade" really mean. Reading this left me with the urge to organize, to get together, to tirelessly fight apathy and cynicism, in all the varied and colorful ways one can and wants to afford. These lives are treasures of lessons in the most human way possible, and I am very thankful to Ghodsee for having brought them to our attention so elegantly and gently, never falling into prescriptive or didascalic rhetorics. I had no idea I could be so interested in reading biographies. And the introduction and conclusions harbor precious insights that I personally really needed to hear. Even the acknowledgments are worth reading. Last but not least, this book is a graceful slap in the face to the dominant liberal so-called feminism that wants us CEOing our own companies and buying ourselves flowers - if I may, fuck that.
Highly recommended to anyone committed to building a better world!
I suppose it is time to break this collective amnesia and learn from these imperfect yet incredibly real and truly revolutionary stories. Stories that, amidst the solemn atomization of our absurd times, show us what words like "comrade" really mean. Reading this left me with the urge to organize, to get together, to tirelessly fight apathy and cynicism, in all the varied and colorful ways one can and wants to afford. These lives are treasures of lessons in the most human way possible, and I am very thankful to Ghodsee for having brought them to our attention so elegantly and gently, never falling into prescriptive or didascalic rhetorics. I had no idea I could be so interested in reading biographies. And the introduction and conclusions harbor precious insights that I personally really needed to hear. Even the acknowledgments are worth reading. Last but not least, this book is a graceful slap in the face to the dominant liberal so-called feminism that wants us CEOing our own companies and buying ourselves flowers - if I may, fuck that.
Highly recommended to anyone committed to building a better world!
January 8, 2026
Si pudiera le daría 4.5 estrellas. Al principio el rollo biografiado me asustó un poco pero creo que es muy necesario para las nueve lecciones finales, porque te justifica cómo ha sacado las nueve lecciones, como aplican a su vida, etc. en lugar de simplemente plantarlas ahí. Además me ha apasionado la diferencia entre feminismo y la lucha por las mujeres y de las mujeres
June 24, 2023
Pavlichenko, Kollontai, Krupskaya, Armand, and Lagadinova are just 5 examples of millions of women that have fought for and actualized effective women’s liberation and communism. From sniping nazis, to press tours, to legislation, to founding Leninist thought, they all contributed something material and long-lasting.
Western feminists unfortunately dominate the historiography of the global women’s movement. These 5 women, that Kristen Ghodsee writes about, are under-minded in current and past views of feminist theory and liberal historiography due to their socialist lens and unrelenting disdain of capitalism. But when we look at the material gains of socialist societies towards women, we must acknowledge their disproportionate successes compared to 1st to 3rd wave feminism.
Soviet women lived longer, healthier lives than they did under the Tsar. The USSR achieved enfranchisement and full coeducational access for women in 1917. The USSR under Lenin was the first country to recognize abortion on demand. Women were able to fight equally on the battlefield shown by Pavlichenko and Lagadinova in defense of their countries. In 1957, 13k women graduated as engineers in the USSR, compared to under 100 in the US. More than any of that, socialism in the USSR allowed citizens to be viewed first as individual persons, before they were men or women. Nothing about their gender prevented them from pursing their goals. Whereas liberal feminism still supports a worldview wherein everything is fine as long as some (mostly ethnic majority and bourgeois) women have better access to wealth and power. Girlboss feminism.
Ghodsee reminds the reader how women have historically been the vanguard of revolutionary work, doing most of the menial and grunt work. We’ve seen this throughout every socialist revolution - from Cuba, to USSR, to Burkina Faso. If we strive to successfully revolutionize the world we must equitably distribute this labor so we can achieve our goals. “If women’s liberation is unthinkable without communism, then communism is unthinkable without women’s liberation.” - Inessa Armand
Western feminists unfortunately dominate the historiography of the global women’s movement. These 5 women, that Kristen Ghodsee writes about, are under-minded in current and past views of feminist theory and liberal historiography due to their socialist lens and unrelenting disdain of capitalism. But when we look at the material gains of socialist societies towards women, we must acknowledge their disproportionate successes compared to 1st to 3rd wave feminism.
Soviet women lived longer, healthier lives than they did under the Tsar. The USSR achieved enfranchisement and full coeducational access for women in 1917. The USSR under Lenin was the first country to recognize abortion on demand. Women were able to fight equally on the battlefield shown by Pavlichenko and Lagadinova in defense of their countries. In 1957, 13k women graduated as engineers in the USSR, compared to under 100 in the US. More than any of that, socialism in the USSR allowed citizens to be viewed first as individual persons, before they were men or women. Nothing about their gender prevented them from pursing their goals. Whereas liberal feminism still supports a worldview wherein everything is fine as long as some (mostly ethnic majority and bourgeois) women have better access to wealth and power. Girlboss feminism.
Ghodsee reminds the reader how women have historically been the vanguard of revolutionary work, doing most of the menial and grunt work. We’ve seen this throughout every socialist revolution - from Cuba, to USSR, to Burkina Faso. If we strive to successfully revolutionize the world we must equitably distribute this labor so we can achieve our goals. “If women’s liberation is unthinkable without communism, then communism is unthinkable without women’s liberation.” - Inessa Armand
May 28, 2024
i love a good biography, and many of these women are very interesting - especially kollontai and armand, in my opinion - but it would be very difficult for me to think of a red army sniper as a socialist inspiration and #redvalkyria girlboss. in general, even though ghodsee says she doesnt glorify ussr, she does seem to fall into this tendency in this specific book, especially when it comes to the red army. and while i can recognize the validity of her claims about how we should analyse and take lessons from state socialist countries of the past, as a polish girlie i feel quite uncomfy about girlbossifying the red army(💀)
another weak point was definitely the last chapter, seemingly an afterthought maybe pushed by the publisheds.
HOWEVER it was still a nice quick read, and again, i like a good biography like the next history bitch, so yeah, 3 stars
another weak point was definitely the last chapter, seemingly an afterthought maybe pushed by the publisheds.
HOWEVER it was still a nice quick read, and again, i like a good biography like the next history bitch, so yeah, 3 stars
December 20, 2024
As mentioned in other reviews, the last part of the book, where the author tries to draw lessons from the lives of these revolutionaries, feels a bit forced, so I did not finish it. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the book. There is no need to subscribe to the ideology of these women (I am, myself, not a socialist feminist) to recognize their place in modern history and the utter lack of recognition they received in the history books. Everybody learns about Lenin, but nobody learns about Kollontai, Krupskaya and Armand. This creates a skewed perception of the political life in the late Russian Empire, which is, I would argue, one of the most fascinating periods of modern history.
September 4, 2022
Ms. Ghodsee has an interesting and valid point that feminism in socialist countries has had a different flavor from Western European and American feminism. The women in this book were more accepting of traditional gender roles and were focused on bringing about changes that could benefit poorer women. For working class women, it was less important to have access to universities and leadership positions; they needed basic education, and communal help with cooking, cleaning and childcare. The early Soviet Union in the era when Kollontai, Krupskaya and Armand were active had some of the most progressive social policies for women of any nation ever, though most of the more daring initiatives were cut back once Stalinist industrialization and collectivization got underway.
The choices of the five women seemed a little odd to me. Alexandra Kollontai was an obvious choice, but why wasn't Rosa Luxemburg included? Or Vera Figner? Krupskaya and Armand were definitely influential, but mainly on account of their close relationship with Lenin for whom they were both secretaries and house mates as well as political comrades. And from my other reading of Soviet history, I had always thought that Krupskaya was a bit dour and dull witted, though perhaps that's just the long term hangover of Stalinist propaganda designed to diminish her. The two odder choices are Lyudmilla Pavlichenko, the sniper, and Elena Lagadinova, the Bulgarian. They certainly made contributions to the socialist feminist cause, and their lives demonstrate Ms. Ghodsee's point about the unique qualities of socialist feminism, but Pavilichenko was not a revolutionary or political leader, and Lagadinova is largely unknown. Plus Bulgaria, though an interesting place, was largely a backwater of socialism. I guess Lagadinova was picked because Ms. Ghodsee had a personal relationship with her and because she was a transitional figure, whose life showed how the world had changed in the second generation after the October Revolution.
The choices of the five women seemed a little odd to me. Alexandra Kollontai was an obvious choice, but why wasn't Rosa Luxemburg included? Or Vera Figner? Krupskaya and Armand were definitely influential, but mainly on account of their close relationship with Lenin for whom they were both secretaries and house mates as well as political comrades. And from my other reading of Soviet history, I had always thought that Krupskaya was a bit dour and dull witted, though perhaps that's just the long term hangover of Stalinist propaganda designed to diminish her. The two odder choices are Lyudmilla Pavlichenko, the sniper, and Elena Lagadinova, the Bulgarian. They certainly made contributions to the socialist feminist cause, and their lives demonstrate Ms. Ghodsee's point about the unique qualities of socialist feminism, but Pavilichenko was not a revolutionary or political leader, and Lagadinova is largely unknown. Plus Bulgaria, though an interesting place, was largely a backwater of socialism. I guess Lagadinova was picked because Ms. Ghodsee had a personal relationship with her and because she was a transitional figure, whose life showed how the world had changed in the second generation after the October Revolution.
November 2, 2025
Definitely not my favorite of Kristen Ghodsee's work, but the conclusion chapter is a must read. The book is insightful and informative, while also being a breeze to read. I think these same features are also what prevents it from being a fantastic book. I constantly wanted more detail, more analysis, and more insight into the lives and perspectives of these women. It reads like a demo-disc from the 2000s for videogames. A series of teaser-trailers which are lovely, but always leave you wanting for more. Now I have to go read biographies for 5 different folks to get that! It would have been rad if this book was just 2-3 times the length.
The author did a great job in sandwiching the stories, with the most click-baitable and exciting narrative at the start of the book and the most impactful/personal narrative to close the book. One quote from the latter will stick with me: "I despaired for the future, suggesting that I might even emigrate to New Zealand. Before I left that evening, [Elena Lagadinova] told me: 'Don't run. Fight. And remember, it is not enough to struggle against the things you hate. You have to stand up for something you believe in.'"
I will likely recommend this book to others, but I doubt that I will recommend it broadly.
The author did a great job in sandwiching the stories, with the most click-baitable and exciting narrative at the start of the book and the most impactful/personal narrative to close the book. One quote from the latter will stick with me: "I despaired for the future, suggesting that I might even emigrate to New Zealand. Before I left that evening, [Elena Lagadinova] told me: 'Don't run. Fight. And remember, it is not enough to struggle against the things you hate. You have to stand up for something you believe in.'"
I will likely recommend this book to others, but I doubt that I will recommend it broadly.
August 21, 2023
Five tiny (but very well written) biographies of women that we, if we call ourselves feminists, should all have heard of already, but probably haven't. My only complaint about the book is the shortness of it - I would have loved to read a lot more about every single one of its subjects.
July 8, 2022
Really accessible and fast-read that paints such a vivid image of these iconic Communists and their relationships to each other, and to the prevalent ideas and events of their time.
Very empowering too and got me tearing up a couple times 🥹
Very empowering too and got me tearing up a couple times 🥹
November 15, 2022
I loved this book. Lo compré pensando que sería un libro académico ya que la autora es profesora de la Universidad de Pennsylvania. Sin embargo se trata de un libro de divulgación, escrito por una académica.
La lectura es muy fluida y es una excelente introducción al "feminismo socialista" del siglo XX (recordemos que las socialistas no se consideraban feministas per se), a partir de la biografía de 5 figuras fundamentales de la Unión Soviética.: Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Nadezhda Krupskaya, Alexandra Kollontai, Inessa Armand y Elena Lagadinova, a quien la autora conoce personalmente.
Además de brindar datos biográficos como lugar de nacimiento, estudios y profesión, Ghodsee se enfoca en las trayectorias "feministas" de estas militantes comunistas y cómo, debido a su condición femenina, permanecieron al márgen de la historia (con excepción de Kollontai a quien yo ya había leído y que me encanta). También da cuenta de lo complejo de su relación con los militantes hombres (onvres) quienes no siempre apoyaban la causa de las mujeres.
En todo momento, la autora insiste en la importancia de conocer la militancia de estas revolucionarias. No solo se trata de personas que han tenido vidas extraordinarias y que intervienieron en la historia de su país sino que llegaron a plantear muchas cuestiones ignoradas por el feminismo occidental y que, incluso hoy día, no llegan a resolverse. Por ejemplo, el cuidado de los niños y el trabajo doméstico. Estas militantes trabajaron en la creación de guarderías y escuelas que cuidaran y educaran a los niños de las madres y padres trabajadores y en pensar mecanismos para que estas mujeres sobrellevaran mejor la combinación de trabajo doméstico y asalariado.
En este punto, Ghodsee señala que la pandemia del covid precisamente puso en evidencia cuán en deuda estamos con este asunto. En casi todos los países, las mujeres tuvieron que hacer malabares entre sus propios empleos, la escuela de sus hijos y el trabajo en el hogar.
Al final del libro, la autora agrega 9 "lecciones" para aplicar a nuestra vida hoy. Yo creo que muchas de esas ideas podrían aparecer a lo largo del libro o simplemente ser deducidas por los lectores pero también entiendo el propósito comercial del libro y la necesidad de ser extremadamente directos y aclarar "para qué sirven las cosas" en Estados Unidos.
La lectura es muy fluida y es una excelente introducción al "feminismo socialista" del siglo XX (recordemos que las socialistas no se consideraban feministas per se), a partir de la biografía de 5 figuras fundamentales de la Unión Soviética.: Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Nadezhda Krupskaya, Alexandra Kollontai, Inessa Armand y Elena Lagadinova, a quien la autora conoce personalmente.
Además de brindar datos biográficos como lugar de nacimiento, estudios y profesión, Ghodsee se enfoca en las trayectorias "feministas" de estas militantes comunistas y cómo, debido a su condición femenina, permanecieron al márgen de la historia (con excepción de Kollontai a quien yo ya había leído y que me encanta). También da cuenta de lo complejo de su relación con los militantes hombres (onvres) quienes no siempre apoyaban la causa de las mujeres.
En todo momento, la autora insiste en la importancia de conocer la militancia de estas revolucionarias. No solo se trata de personas que han tenido vidas extraordinarias y que intervienieron en la historia de su país sino que llegaron a plantear muchas cuestiones ignoradas por el feminismo occidental y que, incluso hoy día, no llegan a resolverse. Por ejemplo, el cuidado de los niños y el trabajo doméstico. Estas militantes trabajaron en la creación de guarderías y escuelas que cuidaran y educaran a los niños de las madres y padres trabajadores y en pensar mecanismos para que estas mujeres sobrellevaran mejor la combinación de trabajo doméstico y asalariado.
En este punto, Ghodsee señala que la pandemia del covid precisamente puso en evidencia cuán en deuda estamos con este asunto. En casi todos los países, las mujeres tuvieron que hacer malabares entre sus propios empleos, la escuela de sus hijos y el trabajo en el hogar.
Al final del libro, la autora agrega 9 "lecciones" para aplicar a nuestra vida hoy. Yo creo que muchas de esas ideas podrían aparecer a lo largo del libro o simplemente ser deducidas por los lectores pero también entiendo el propósito comercial del libro y la necesidad de ser extremadamente directos y aclarar "para qué sirven las cosas" en Estados Unidos.
September 11, 2022
I found this inspiring and a little melancholy. Uplifting and informative, it is really well written and impeccably researched. Very much recommended for those seeking an insight into the socialist movement from a different perspective than the usual dominant sources.
January 13, 2023
i wish i had read ghodsee earlier. she was the author of 'why women have better sex under socialism,' a book i never read because the marketing was kind of schtick-y (i assume the fault of the publisher, or my interpretation). she's clearly not an armchair academic, something you have to worry about unfortunately when it comes to texts covering russian and eastern european studies, in which an author will not fully critique from a radical or working class point of view; fortunately, this appears to be her expertise, emphasized by her friendship with elena loginova, a teenage bulgarian resistance fighter turned scientist turned women's rights activist. coming from the angle of russian and eastern european feminism adds nuances not offered in many american feminisms (black feminism might be closest, though), namely working class solidarity and fighting patriarchal influence in communist parties, ghodsee does a good job mentioning the bad with the good, offering further left criticism (which we so desperately need). she also acknowledges certain privileges, like the power of inessa armand, but also the stifling by a male supremacist rule. the profile on lyudmila pavlichenko will be the highlight for many, a soviet sniper during wwii, the soviet union sent her on a publicity tour of sorts trying to get the u.s. and other allies to help fight the nazis-- always remember, the soviets defeated the nazis, as much as the u.s. likes to think it's the hero, the soviet union knew the superficial nature of the u.s. would gravitate towards the patriarchal "novelty" of this "girl sniper." american press more concerned with how her uniform did or didn't "flatter" her figure, her best response to one of the more pathetic u.s. journalist questions regarding wearing makeup while at war, she said, "who has time to think of her shiny nose when a battle is going on?" that line encapsulates what 'red valkyries' is all about, giving not just a feminist but socialist feminist analysis in how the public and government treated radical women of influence. and there's something surreal about eleanor roosevelt trying to befriend pavlichenko, could you imagine jill biden, melania, or michelle obama trying to befriend a communist sniper today? 'red valkyries' offers a little bit of everything regarding the five women's histories and their contributions, while also pointing out criticisms along the way. worth reading if you don't know much about them, you can definitely see their long lasting influence.
January 13, 2025
The writings on the actual revolutionary women, their exploits, their hurdles, etc., is excellent. If you want to learn more about these women, this is a good starting point.
I personally found it unnecessary how many times a ‘Stalin bad’ is inserted into statements about the women who were in the USSR during the Stalin era. For instance, the author accepts that declining birth rates in Bulgaria led to the consideration of (not implementation) an abortion ban in the country, but implies that the implementation of restricted abortion (and indeed, many policies of the era) during Stalin’s leadership were taken to be…more authoritarian? In writing this review, I’m not trying for a ‘Stalin did nothing wrong’ corrective. I am advocating for a position that is more nuanced than ‘Stalin did everything wrong’ or adding “I don’t support Stalinism” to a conclusion simply pointing out that life expectancy in the USSR went up during that era. Repeating American anti-Soviet propaganda and uplifting people like Gorbachev is unlikely to convince people that socialism is anything but a pipe dream. Something none of these women would have accepted.
I personally found it unnecessary how many times a ‘Stalin bad’ is inserted into statements about the women who were in the USSR during the Stalin era. For instance, the author accepts that declining birth rates in Bulgaria led to the consideration of (not implementation) an abortion ban in the country, but implies that the implementation of restricted abortion (and indeed, many policies of the era) during Stalin’s leadership were taken to be…more authoritarian? In writing this review, I’m not trying for a ‘Stalin did nothing wrong’ corrective. I am advocating for a position that is more nuanced than ‘Stalin did everything wrong’ or adding “I don’t support Stalinism” to a conclusion simply pointing out that life expectancy in the USSR went up during that era. Repeating American anti-Soviet propaganda and uplifting people like Gorbachev is unlikely to convince people that socialism is anything but a pipe dream. Something none of these women would have accepted.
August 2, 2022
I am torn on the 4-star rating simply because I would love to have spent weeks in a 500-page book on any one if these women. But I have also been praising more compact books, such as this one published by Verso and others by Belt Publishing. So really this is 4.5 stars with the half-star signaling wanting more.
Ghodsee is doing valuable work in her career evaluating women's lives under true socialist systems. In Red Valkyries she profiles five different women who helped advance the communist cause in Soviet states.
More importantly, she dispenses great advice in the last section about learning from the five women. She outlines the values that these women embodied that led to the successes of communism: a network of comrades, humility before a larger cause, self-education, receptivity to change, aptitude, cooperating with others who may not share specific ideals, tenacity, continued engagement, and, perhaps toughest of all, what we call today self-care. Values to live by, even if they make for a wordy meme.
Ghodsee is doing valuable work in her career evaluating women's lives under true socialist systems. In Red Valkyries she profiles five different women who helped advance the communist cause in Soviet states.
More importantly, she dispenses great advice in the last section about learning from the five women. She outlines the values that these women embodied that led to the successes of communism: a network of comrades, humility before a larger cause, self-education, receptivity to change, aptitude, cooperating with others who may not share specific ideals, tenacity, continued engagement, and, perhaps toughest of all, what we call today self-care. Values to live by, even if they make for a wordy meme.
September 30, 2024
3.5⭐️
I almost gave it a 4 because I did enjoy this book, I had to read this for a university course and I never would have picked it up otherwise, but thanks to my masters degree I have been introduced to a new author I will be adding to my list. I appreciated a different perspective of feminism I have not previously learned about. Where this book falls short is in its length, it’s too short. I felt each of these women could have had their own book written about them, and the way she summarizes at the end feels too… condensed? Sweeping? The themes she highlights at the end could have been integrated and nuanced throughout the book.
I also appreciated the personal anecdotes the author includes, although I think that also demonstrates some bias as well.
Bonus points because she dedicates the whole book to her dog and calls out her ex in laws in the acknowledgments for shaming her on giving her canine companions credit in her work. 🐾
I almost gave it a 4 because I did enjoy this book, I had to read this for a university course and I never would have picked it up otherwise, but thanks to my masters degree I have been introduced to a new author I will be adding to my list. I appreciated a different perspective of feminism I have not previously learned about. Where this book falls short is in its length, it’s too short. I felt each of these women could have had their own book written about them, and the way she summarizes at the end feels too… condensed? Sweeping? The themes she highlights at the end could have been integrated and nuanced throughout the book.
I also appreciated the personal anecdotes the author includes, although I think that also demonstrates some bias as well.
Bonus points because she dedicates the whole book to her dog and calls out her ex in laws in the acknowledgments for shaming her on giving her canine companions credit in her work. 🐾
April 21, 2024
I like the writing style and the topic itself. I lost interest finishing it because of the emphasis and at times, glorification of violence and because the five stories seemed to have such similar arcs. The author tells the story from an American point of view. Not being American, I found this at times interesting, but distracting from the points the author was bringing acrosss. After pausing reading for a few weeks and picking the book up again, the names meant very little to me. I considered maybe it's because of the (to me) foreign names, but with that tangle of names and nicknames in Tolstoy's books I haven't had that issue. Then again, the main messages are important and I found it interesting to read about how the women's movement in the eastern block was important, but also different than in other parts of the world.
September 5, 2025
Might not be her most popular book, Ghodsee even acknowledges it. Working innumerable hours for a very limited audience... but this book still is an eye opener for people desiring to know more about a often-forgotten facet of every revolution.
The Soviet front of the WWs had only men spearheading it, yet the invisible, thankless and soul-rendering work was done by many nameless women.
I bought this book for Lyudmila Pavlichenko, but I stayed for Elena Lagadinova and knelt for Alexandra Kollontai.
The great thing about reading a Ghodsee book is that we always get more recommendations for future reading.
Extensively well researched documented, the bibliography is a goldmine of material to dig deeper into the rabbit hole.
The Soviet front of the WWs had only men spearheading it, yet the invisible, thankless and soul-rendering work was done by many nameless women.
I bought this book for Lyudmila Pavlichenko, but I stayed for Elena Lagadinova and knelt for Alexandra Kollontai.
The great thing about reading a Ghodsee book is that we always get more recommendations for future reading.
Extensively well researched documented, the bibliography is a goldmine of material to dig deeper into the rabbit hole.
October 28, 2025
Main criticism is for writing a feminist piece while completely removing any sense of agency Alexandra Kollontai had in her life in staying in the USSR during the Stalin era. Mentions in passing Stalin had a hand in helping her relocate after the backlash she received for her criticism of the NEP, but I thought there was no dissent allowed in the Soviet Union? Yet somehow this public figure maintained her status in the USSR and continued contributing to the effort to develop socialism. Strange.
I enjoyed Elaina Lagadinova’s segment. Probably should have just skipped this and gone into individual biographies for these figures instead.
I enjoyed Elaina Lagadinova’s segment. Probably should have just skipped this and gone into individual biographies for these figures instead.
October 8, 2024
I did not expect this to be anywhere close to Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism, but it quickly grew on me and impressed me on multiple occasions. I almost gave 4 stars but idk, by virtue of being a collection of historical biographies, I don't think it holds as great of a political value as Ghodsee's other book and I need to express that in rating. Still, I think the goal of the book is extremely well executed, and I very much enjoyed it for what it was.
July 1, 2023
Once again the feeble editing tools Goodreads provides, which allow a moment's inattention to wipe 500 words of comment, has defeated me. Had been saying that I found the accounts offering here a wee bit hagiographic though I was glad to learn about the life of the admirable Elena Lagadinova. But more than that you'll never know....
December 8, 2022
I like the idea, but eventually the writing style didn't catch me. To me the focus was too much on military accomplishments and the authors personal connection to some women, meanwhile the part on takeaways for today was rather short.
January 15, 2023
Very interesting and gave me a good insight into women that deserve to be better known but I guess that’s the usual fate of women. It also took me on the journey through the foundation of communism and wove it through the personal lives of these women. I would recommend it
April 13, 2023
Claro, conciso y brillante.
Un repaso biográfico de cinco grandes activistas y pensadoras socialistas de Europa del Este que nos acerca a una comprensión más profunda del protagonismo y el lugar de las mujeres en Estados como Bulgaria o la Unión Soviética.
Un repaso biográfico de cinco grandes activistas y pensadoras socialistas de Europa del Este que nos acerca a una comprensión más profunda del protagonismo y el lugar de las mujeres en Estados como Bulgaria o la Unión Soviética.
July 28, 2022
Tedious and lacking much central point
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews