| Drawing on literature from international relations theory, feminist theory comparative politics, history, and geography, this project explores ethnographic, poetic and historical texts that evidence a complex set of relationships as yet unexamined in present discussions of the "transition"--constitutional restructuring, and economic conversion--in Poland and east central Europe. Specifically, it interrogates how sovereignty functions in international relations. The fixity and accomplished fact of the sovereign state cannot be presupposed. In order to comprehend how the democratization process is being accomplished in east central Europe, it is essential to explore how sexual difference is implicated in the creation of the sovereign state through the re-production of particular divisions: public/private, state/society, international/domestic. Specifically, how do the activities and representations of women, their participation in democratic, free-market, juridico-constitutional, nongovernmental and other processes in the post-communist period directly affect state-(re)building and the integration of Poland into western political regimes? Drawing upon several extended visits to Poland, including a 12-month stay, 150 interviews with women throughout Poland, and participation in conferences, organizations, university courses, as well as work with Polish scholars, this project explores and substantiates the close connections among and between sovereignty, sexual difference, and international relations through the nation-state and works toward a gendered analysis of the tremendous cultural and structural changes taking place in east central Europe. This project offers a series of questions and insights as a contribution to an understanding of the constitutive--but heretofore marginalized--role sexual difference plays in international relations. |
