Profile in El País Semanal in Spanish and Portuguese
Daisy
We acquired this runty little thief in 2011 as a rescue dog with no papers. At the time, the vet thought she might be 3-years-old, but we never knew for sure. Yesterday afternoon, after 10 years (including 2 pandemic years), my little Basset Hound took her last breaths. And I wasn’t there.
There are no words.
Chillin' in Athens so I can get to Italy
Since I have a lecture at the European University Institute on December 8th, I needed to first come to Greece because the Italians won’t let me in from Serbia. So I am taking in some sights outside and trying to avoid the crowds. Thankfully, late November is the low season in Athens, and most of the famous sites are relatively empty. And the weather is glorious.
A Basset in Belgrade!
Oh, how I miss my hound doggie! Look at this beautiful girl.
My visit to the Belgrade book museum →
Yesterday, on my hunt for information about Yugoslav typewriters, I found myself at ADLIGAT, the Society for Culture, Art and International Cooperation in Belgrade. This place is a bibliophile’s dreamland; they have over one million books and various exhibits and displays about book cultures from around the globe. They also have an impressive number of typewriters on display, many which belonged to famous writers, including the wonderful UNIS tbm de Luxe, which was manufactured in Bugojno from 1971 to 1991 under a German license and was exported with 92 different keyboards to nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. I’m told they have more than 100 machines in storage, and I am lobbying for a special typewriter room! Below are some photos from my visit, but they simply cannot do justice to the magical nature of the place. Visit if you can!
Life in Socialism book
I picked up this little book for children at the Museum of Yugoslavia. Here are the pages about women’s rights.
Concrete and Steel Dreams in New Belgrade
My review of Lea Ypi's brilliant new book, Free →
“For Albania, Capitalism’s Promise of Freedom Soon Turned Sour,” Jacobin Magazine, November 11, 2021
Project Syndicate Op-Ed Translated into Russian →
Почему восточноевропейцы не вакцинируются?
New opinion piece for Project Syndicate →
Why Won't Eastern Europeans Get Vaccinated?
Nov 8, 2021
KRISTEN GHODSEE, MITCHELL A. ORENSTEIN
The region’s high degree of vaccine skepticism and surging death rates do not reflect the lingering effects of decades of communist rule, but rather the decades-long social consequences of its collapse. Many countries in the region have not yet reversed the profound erosion of public trust that began after 1989.
I spent a lovely hour in Siberia this morning
Well, at least virtually. I was the guest on a panel at the Krasnoyarsk Book Fair.
New subtitle for Red Valkyries
The Verso marketing folks have weighed in and changed my subtitle. One thing about trade publishing (or crossover publishing) is how much less control the author has on things like titles and subtitles. But this was a good compromise and I think it still captures the spirit of the book. Here’s also the new descriptive copy:
The overlooked revolutionary women of Eastern Europe and their contribution to socialist feminist history, from the author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism.
Through a series of lively and accessible biographical essays, Red Valkyries explores the history of socialist feminism by examining the revolutionary careers of five prominent socialist women active in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Alexandra Kollontai, the aristocratic Bolshevik
• Nadezhda Krupskaya, the radical pedagogue
• Inessa Armand, the polyamorous firebrand
• Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the deadly sniper
• Elena Lagadinova, the partisan turned scientist turned global women's rights activist
None of these women were “perfect” leftists. Their lives were filled with inner conflicts, contradictions, and sometimes outrageous privilege, but they still managed to move forward their own political projects through perseverance and dedication to their cause.
Always walking a fine line between the need for class solidarity and the desire to force their sometimes callous male colleagues to take women’s issues seriously, these five women fought for social change with important lessons for feminist activists today.
In brief conversational chapters Ghodsee tells the story of the personal challenges faced by earlier generations of socialist and communist women and renders the big ideas of socialist feminism accessible to those newly inspired by the emancipatory politics of left feminist movements around the globe.
New podcast on Taking Stock of Shock with Reimagining Soviet Georgia →
A new interview about Taking Stock of Shock on the Reimagining Soviet Georgia podcast.
More views of beautiful Belgrade
I am just loving the energy of this city. The weather has been phenomenal. I am the consummate flâneur these days, just walking the vibrant streets of Serbia’s capital city, meeting colleagues, and chasing typewriters.
Sunset over the confluence of the Danube and Sava Rivers
And more sights from Belgrade
New author photos by the amazing Elena Hmeleva
I did a photoshoot with the amazing Elena Hmeleva in Paris earlier this month because I needed some updated professional author photos, and these are some of the results. I was quite uncomfortable at first, but she was a pro and got me to relax and enjoy myself. I especially love how Elena managed to evoke the spirit of Paris in so many of the images.
Scenes from Serbia
I wandered around the old city of Belgrade yesterday, soaking in the late October sunshine and reveling in my return to the Balkans. It feels so good to see Cyrillic again.
Sunset in Belgrade
I was quite sad to leave Germany, but happy to be back in the Balkans.
A conversation (in English) from Studio Solidaire of the Belgium Worker's Party →
This conversation with Iman Ben Madkhour from September 11, 2021 was just uploaded to YouTube: Kristen Ghodsee at Manifiesta 2021
