Abstract [eng] |
The input of the female members of the Supreme Council – Restoration Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania into developing a new independent society through the laws adopted by the Supreme Council showing the platforms of women’s organisations and movements created during the election campaign has not been studied. The election campaigns of the Reform Movement of Lithuania and the Communist Party of Lithuania as well as other restored and established parties have been broadly analysed; however, that context does not include female candidates supported or not supported by the Reform Movement to be elected to the Supreme Council of the LSSR. Based on archival sources and contemporary press, the article reveals the election battle and the election platforms created by the women's organisations and movements that existed at that time. Moreover, the article includes an analysis of the activities of 14 women elected to the 12th call LSSR Supreme Council – the Supreme Council of Lithuania. It is important to note the main focus was on new laws related to family, women and children. There were no laws related to protecting women in the labour market; on the contrary, there were laws related to pushing women back to family life. This was a random event because the programmes of the Reform Movement, its support groups such as Saulėtekis (English: Sunrise), Mothers and Women’s Movements emphasised the family support issue; however, in order to solve it, they proposed only one way, i.e., to push back t women into family life, disregarding research conducted into this issue by the Department of Statistics and other scholars. This was an example of bulldozer politics in Lithuania that has had long-term negative effects on Lithuanian society and especially women. The aim of the article is to reveal the input of the female members into developing a new independent society through the laws adopted by the Supreme Council, showing the platforms of women’s organisations and movements created during the election campaign. The methods used in the study include comparative analysis of scientific literature, document analysis, analysis and synthesis of primary documents (i.e., archive documents), secondary documents (i.e., contemporary press)and qualitative research (interviews). |