Foundation Feminism and the Articulation of Hybrid Feminisms in Post-Socialist Ukraine

Abstract

Drawing on research conducted in Ukraine and Washington, D.C., the author illustrates how U.S. programs to develop nongovernmental organizations in the former Soviet Union have led to the creation in Ukraine of a nonprofit sector that is dominated by “hybrid organizations.” These organizations cannot be easily categorized using the conventional dualistic labels that social scientists and policy makers adopt. They are neither strictly state-run nor based in civil society, neither free market nor state enterprise, neither elite nor grassroots. The author examines the main types of “hybrid feminist” organizations that have been established in Ukraine in response to foreign programs devoted to raising awareness of women's rights.