New Eastern Europe, Kolegium Europy Wschodniej im. Jana Nowaka- Jeziorańskiego and Atviros Lietuvos fondas: In 2020, the women’s role in Belarus protests captured the world’s attention, while in Poland the women’s protests reached the scale of public protests unseen since 1989. Women play a key role in political resistance and change movements – from the Solidarity movement to today, yet the key and unique role and the impact that women’s self-organization plays in historic events is overlooked and understudied. This webinar is designed to shed light on the role women’s movements play in civil organization, democratic reform, and life in Central and Eastern Europe.

Panelists:
Shana Penn: scholar, author of Solidarity’s Secret: The Women Who Defeated Communism in Poland
Elena Gapova: Professor, Department of Sociology, Western Michigan University
Marta Lempart: Polish activist, initiator of the All-Poland Women’s Strike
Klementyna Suchanow: Polish writer, activist, initiator of the All-Poland Women’s Strike
Moderator:
Simona Merkinaite: Rethinking Europe program expert at the Open Lithuania Foundation, PhD at Vilnius University.
Organizers:
The Open Lithuania Foundation
The Jan Nowak-Jeziorański College of Eastern Europe/New Eastern Europe
The San-Francisco-Kraków Sister Cities Association