Red Valkyries

Through a series of lively and accessible biographical essays, Red Valkyries explores the history of socialist feminism in Eastern Europe. By examining the revolutionary careers of five prominent socialist women active in the 19th and 20th centuries, Kristen Ghodsee narrates the personal challenges faced by earlier generations of socialist and communist women.

The book delves into the lives of: the aristocratic Bolshevik, Alexandra Kollontai; the radical pedagogue, Nadezhda Krupskaya; the polyamorous firebrand, Inessa Armand; the deadly sniper, Lyudmila Pavlichenko; and the partisan turned scientist turned global women’s activist, Elena Lagadinova. None of these women were “perfect” leftists. Their lives were filled with inner conflicts, contradictions, and sometimes outrageous privilege, but they still managed to advance their political projects with perseverance and dedication.

Always walking a fine line between the need for class solidarity and the desire to compel their sometimes callous male colleagues to take women’s issues seriously, these five women pursued novel solutions with lessons for today's activists. Through brief conversational chapters that include plenty of concrete examples from the history of state socialist countries in Eastern Europe, and contemporary reflections on the status of women today, Ghodsee makes the big ideas of socialist feminism accessible. This is especially pertinent for those newly inspired by the emancipatory politics of insurgent left feminist movements around the globe.