18 - A.K. 47 - Decree on Child Welfare

In this episode, Kristen Ghodsee reads the “Decree on Social Welfare” from January 31, 1918, written by Alexandra Kollontai when she was the Commissar for Social Welfare in the first Bolshevik government. There are quite a few external sources mentioned in this episode and they are detailed below.Biographies of Kollontai in English (please note the alternative spellings of her name, which are an artifact of different traditions of the transliteration of the Cyrillic alphabet into Latin letters.)Barbara Evans Clements, Bolshevik Feminist: The Life of Aleksandra Kollontai, Indiana University Press, 1979Isabel de Palencia, Alexandra Kollontaj: Ambassadress of Russia, 1947Beatrice Farnsworth, Alexandra Kollontai: Socialism, Feminism, and the Bolshevik Revolution. Stanford University Press, 1980Cathy Porter, Alexandra Kollontai: A Biography (Updated Edition) Haymarket Books, (1980) 2014 Other books about early Soviet policies about women and the family: Wendy Goldman: Women, the State and Revolution: Soviet Family Policy and Social Life, 1917-1936, Cambridge University Press, 1993Elizabeth Wood, The Baba and the Comrade: Gender and Politics in Revolutionary Russia, Indiana University Press, 1997Kristen R. Ghodsee, Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence. Bold Type Books, 2018 Drafts of the Communist Manifesto: Friedrich Engels: Draft of a Communist Confession of Faith (first draft)Friedrich Engels: The Principles of Communism (second draft)Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: The Communist Manifesto (final version)The intro music is a Russian version of The Internationale. More info about the host can be found at: www.kristenghodsee.comAlso see: AlexandraKollontai.com – A Website for All Things Kollontai Send us Fan MailThanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon-type account and receives no funding. There are no ads and there is no monetization. If you'd like to support the work being done here, please spread the word with your networks.Kristen R. Ghodsee is the award-winning author of twelve critically acclaimed books published in over 20 languages, and a University of Pennsylvania Professor of Russian and East European Studies. Check out Kristen Ghodsee's recent books: Everyday UtopiaRed ValkyriesWhy Women Have Better Sex Under SocialismSecond World, Second SexSubscribe to Kristen Ghodsee’s free, episodic newsletter at: https://kristenghodsee.substack.comLearn more about Kristen Ghodsee's work: www.kristenghodsee.com or request to follow her on Instagram @prof_kristen