Civic Activity – Feminine Activity?

Abstract

The article examines the interconnections between gender, civil society and political citizenship in contemporary Russia. It asks how masculinity, femininity and their interrelationships are represented in the context of socio-political activity and what kind of gendered agency these representations construct. The analysis is based on interviews with socially and politically active persons in Central Russia. The main argument in the article is that political space, agency and citizenship in Russia tend to be polarized along gender lines: civic activity is associated with femininity, while institutional politics is considered a masculine territory, and these spheres are represented as quite distinct from each other.