Seminars
16. 4. 2019
17:30, Akademické konferenční centrum (Husova 4a, Praha 1)

Feminist and gender-focused organizations in both Ukraine and the Czech Republic face increasingly challenging political and cultural contexts. These relate to the growing impact of conservative forces and the “anti-gender” public discourse that is currently influencing political decisions. Dr. Olena Strelnyk, Research Fellow at the Prague Civil Society Centre, will present her perspective on these challenges in Ukraine and the Czech Republic.

Olena Strelnyk will discuss structural factors relating to the most urgent problems of gender inequality and the violation of women’s rights. She will also talk about setbacks and successes for gender and feminist activism and the role of the EU in promoting gender equality. Finally, she will identify the main political and social actors of the “anti-gender” movement.

Bio: Dr. Olena Strelnyk was awarded her Doctor of Sciences (Dr Habilitat) in Sociology in 2018 from the Kyiv National University, Ukraine. She is the author of “Childcare as work. A sociological perspective on mothering” (Krytyka, 2017), co-author of “Rebellious Families: Parents’ Rights Activism in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia” (Indiana University Press, 2017) and "Gendering Post-Socialism. Gender norms and expectations: Between old legacies and new hierarchies" (Routledge, 2018), and numerous articles on gender issues, family, motherhood and demographic politics in Ukraine. In 2016, she was visiting scholar at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, University of Michigan (USA) in the frame of Carnegie Research Fellowship Program. Olena is also a public sociologist, activist and author of numerous articles on gender issues in Ukrainian media.

 Discussant: Jana Smiggels Kavková, MA.

Jana studied Political Science in Leiden, The Netherlands. She´s been working in the field of gender equality since 2005. From 2009 to 2017 she worked as executive director of Forum 50 %, an NGO promoting equal representation of women and men in politics and decision making. As a member and later chair of Commission on equal representation of women and men in politics she cooperated on drafting a law proposal introducing electoral quotas. Jana served as a vice-chair of Council for Equality between Women and Men and board member of European Women´s Lobby. From 2016 to 2018 she was chairing Czech Women´s Lobby, a network of 30 NGOs supporting women´s rights. Currently she works as advocacy expert for RUBIKON Centre, NGO supporting people with criminal past.

Moderator: Lenka Formánková, Ph.D.

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