State socialist women’s organizations within Yugoslav factories: a case study of local activism in the Duga Resa cotton mill

Abstract

ABSTRACT State socialist women’s organizations were particularly active in Yugoslav industrial towns with a significant female workforce, as in the case of the Croatian mill town of Duga Resa. By exploring the local activities of the Conference for the Social Activity of Women (KDAŽ), this article contributes to historiographical debates regarding state socialist women’s organizations and women’s agency as well as to the recent revival of interest in the social history of the post-Yugoslav region. An analysis of reflexive and representative archival sources, namely minutes of party and municipal meetings as well as official publications, shows that working women’s double burden was not silenced but was frequently discussed by socialist authorities, women’s organizations and female workers themselves. Through the Yugoslav politics of self-management, local KDAŽ activists often lobbied for better working and welfare rights, especially the provision of housing and childcare facilities for working mothers. While KDAŽ activists’ agency was shaped by dominant social norms, the possibilities for voicing open criticism in socialist Yugoslavia meant that a certain degree of bottom-up initiative was possible. The archives of municipal and socio-political organizations, therefore, are of fundamental importance in understanding working women’s position at the intersection of gender and labour history.