East-South Women’s Encounters in the Global History of the Cold War: The Anti-Imperialism of Women’s Activism(s)

Abstract

This research focuses on East-South women’s solidarity networks during the second half of the 20th century, focusing on the communist East German Democratic Women’s League (DFD) and its transnational relationships with women’s organizations from the decolonizing world within and beyond the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF), the largest transnational women’s organization in the post-1945 period. The paper reveals not only how women’s rights became an important marker in the broader interactions between the socialist camp and the ‘Third World’ but also exposes how the concept of women’s rights and its translation into practices at different socio-spatial levels gave rise to a transnational configuration of social practices, common symbols, and artefacts.