Scholarly papers by 38 contributors on changes in Russian society since 1861, presented at a conference of the Joint Committee on Slavic Studies.

This book looks at Russian women’s mobilization and agency during the two periods of transformation, the turn of the 19th-20th century and the 20th – 21st century. Bringing together the parallels between the two great transformations, it focuses on both the continuities and breaks and, importantly, it shows them from the grassroots point of view, emphasizing the local factor. Chapters show the international and transnational aspects of Russian women’s agency of different spheres and different historical periods. The book goes on to raise new research questions such as the evaluation and comparison of Soviet society and contemporary Russia from the point of view of gender and women’s possibilities in society.

Waldron explores the long-term reasons for the demise of Imperial Russia and examines the failure of the autocratic state to strengthen its own political position while economic change transformed Russian society.