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The Prague Branch of the German Historical Institute Warsaw (part of the Max Weber Foundation), together with Collegium Carolinum and the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO), in cooperation with the Czech Academy of Sciences through the joint Czech-German Research and Mediation Platform (GWZOPragueFLÚ) at its Institute of Philosophy, invites you to a public lecture hosted by the Faculty of Arts, Charles University.The lecture is part of the Prague Histories Forum, a public lecture series bringing international scholars into dialogue with students, researchers, and the wider public. The winter semester 2026/27 programme explores Gender & Queer in East Central Europe.
HAS THE “WOMAN QUESTION” BEEN SOLVED UNDER STATE SOCIALISM? THE STATE, WOMEN’S EMANCIPATION, AND CRITICAL KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION IN POST-WAR POLAND
Natalia Jarska (Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw)
State-socialist emancipation policies presented women’s employment as a foundation for equality. How did women’s experiences and the research conducted by women experts complicate this official account?
Natalia Jarska examines knowledge production on women’s lives in post-war Poland from the 1950s to the 1980s. Drawing on research based on interviews, memoirs, and large-scale surveys, the lecture explores how women experts documented the limits of the emancipatory agenda through the intersecting dimensions of gender and class. Working within and beyond state institutions, these experts challenged official narratives and articulated women’s aspirations. Their research and activism invite a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between state socialism, expertise, and gender equality.
Natalia Jarska is a historian and Associate Professor at the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Her research focuses on women’s and gender history, labour history, and the history of sexuality in post-war Poland. She is co-Principal Investigator of FemEx, a project on women experts and feminist knowledge production in post-war East Central Europe.
Tuesday, 24 November 2026 | 15:50–17:20 CET
Špork Palace, Faculty of Arts, Charles University
Hybernská 3, Prague 1 | Room 303, attic floor
The lecture will be held in English. Students, researchers, and members of the public are welcome to attend in person or online.
For information on online participation, please visit the Prague Histories Forum webpage: https://www.dhi.waw.pl/en/news/detail/prague-histories-forum-gender-and-queer-history-in-east-central-europe/
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Hybernská 1036/3, 110 00 Praha, Česko, Hybernská 1036/3, 110 00 Praha, Česko, Prague, Czech Republic
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