Class Location: Hickman Hall, Room 216 Wanda Nowicka: Visiting Global Associate Course Description:

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1 01:988:303 Comparative Feminisms Examining Reproductive Rights Activism with Special Focus on Central and Eastern Europe Lecturer: Wanda Nowicka Fall 2007, Monday/Wednesday 3:55-5:15 Class Location: Hickman Hall, Room 216 Wanda Nowicka: Visiting Global Associate Course Description: The course will address the issue of reproductive rights (RR) in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) the region of permanent transition from diverse dimensions and from national and international perspectives. It will explore strategies of the women's movement at international and national forums in the context of political and socio-economic transformation in Europe. The course will also address backlash regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in international agenda resulting from Bush conservative policies, growing fundamentalisms and their impact on the situation of women in CEE region. The course will include the following subjects: - Concepts of reproductive rights and health in international political discourse, - Struggles for reproductive rights in CEE, - Women's strategies to promote SRHR at the international level including global conferences as well as human rights mechanisms, - Women's movement towards RR its successes and challenges, - Reproductive rights in the context of proceeding European Union (EU) Enlargement, - Perspectives regarding the status of RR in Europe in near future. Is the EU capable of further promoting RR in international agenda? Requirements: You are required to keep e-journal of the important issues that the readings and class discussions raise for you. Your e-journal should indicate that you have read the readings; however, the journal should not be a simple review of the material, but, rather, your personal reactions and questions to the readings and class discussions. The e-journal is due Monday, October 29. The second written assignment, a research paper/project will be due on the last class day, Wednesday, December 12. The details of the research paper/project will be provided later. There will be no exams. Grades are based on class active participation and attendance (40%), the journal (25%) and research paper/project (35%). Format: I will start each class with an introduction, tying the day s topic into the overall subject of the semester and linking it to current events as appropriate. The introduction will be followed by class discussion with break-up groups. Sometimes groups might involve in in-dept discussions. On other occasions they prepare a role plays with opposite points of view and then they engage in discussions presenting those views. A substantial portion of your grade will be based on these regular class discussion sessions. Details regarding class discussions will be provided earlier. 1

2 Weekly Reading Materials: Most readings are accessible from internet. Please bring handouts for each week s readings class. Additional readings may be added through the semester. Month Day Theme Reading September 5th Introduction to Course Wishing for Seven Sons and One Daughter, Ali-Isa Week 1 Dzhabbarov, Gender Montage, OSI Documentary, Week 2 10th 12th Concepts of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in international political discourse Azerbaijan, Cairo Programme of Action (Chapters I, II, VII, VIII.C) - Beijing Platform for Action Chapters: Women and Health; Beijing Declaration) Week 3 17th 19th Promoting SRHR at the UN in last 15 years. Women from CEE in UN processes - What does Beijing mean to you? guage=1 - Petchesky, Rosalind Pollack. Gendering Health and Human Rights. (Zed Books, London & New York, 2003), Chapter 2 The UN Conferences as Sites of Discursive Struggle, pp Thinking Beyond ICPD+10: Where Should Our Movement Be Going?, Sonia Correa, Adrienne Germain, Rosalind P Petchesky, Reproductive Health Matters 2005;13(25): Religion and Public Policy at the UN, CFFC, /2000religionandpublicpolicyatheun.pdf - Statement of Non-Region (1995) - Statements of Women from Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States at UN (2000) Week 4 24th 26th Global impact of US policies on SRHR - CaucAsia, April 2005, Beijing+10, - Girard, Francoise. (2004). Global Implications of U.S. Domestic and International Policies on Sexuality, IWGSSP Working Papers, No. 1 (New York: 2004), International Working Group on Sexuality and Social Policy; m_docman&task=cat_view&gid=7&itemid=2 Implications of US Policy Restrictions for Programs Aimed at Commercial Sex Workers and Victims of Trafficking Worldwide (Nov. 2005), Center for Health and Gender 2

3 Equity. ons.pdf U.S. Spending on Global HIV Prevention: A Question and Answer Resource, (July 2007), Center for Health and Gender Equity. October Week 5 1st 3rd Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in CEE The Bush Global Gag Rule: Endangering Women s Health, Free Speech and Democracy, (July 2003), CRR. ml Children of the Decree, Romanian Documentary (DVD) ASTRA Reports: Reproductive Health and Rights in Central and Eastern Europe, Country reports. Prepared for the European Population Forum. Geneva, January 12-14, Karat reports Week 6 8th 10th Using UN human rights system to promote women s rights (UN treaty monitoring bodies) Ketting, Evert, Abortion in Europe: the East-West Divide, Vol. 28/2/ ial.htm - Bringing Rights to Bear, An Analysis of the Work of U.N. Treaty Monitoring Bodies on Reproductive and Sexual Rights, CRR 2002 (Chapter 2) - Step-by-Step Guide Using the UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies to Promote Reproductive Rights. (CRR 2004). df General Comments: CEDAW, General Recommendation No. 24 (20th session, 1999); (article 12 : Women and health) ns/recomm.htm#recom24 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 28: Equality of rights between men and women (article 3) :. 29/03/ b900360e80?Opendocument Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment 3

4 No 4, Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child :. 01/07/ Shadow reports from CEE (selected): Croatia pdf Hungary HungaryShadowLetter.pdf Russia Russia.pdf Lithuania er.pdf Poland Week 7 15th 17th Status of women's movement in CEE, the position of RR in women s agenda Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee : Poland. 05/11/ Matynia, Elzbieta, Women after communism: a bitter freedom, Social Research. Summer FindArticles.com. 11 Aug Review CEE women s networks written materials on the following websites: Karat Coalition ASTRA: astra, neww, NEWW: CaucAsia Bulletin, International Coalition of gender journalists; 01E.html ; issues Woman and Man, 06/2005; Gender and Networks, 07/2006; Gender and Health, 08/2006; Gender and Family, 11/2006; Theory and Activism, 07/2007. Week 8 22th 24th Struggles for reproductive rights in the context of political transformation Breaking the Silence, (2007), ASTRA documentary. Penn, Shana, Solidarity's Secret: The Women Who Defeated Communism in Poland, (University of Michigan Press, Spring 2005).(Chapters: Introduction pp.1-28, IX pp ). 4

5 Week 9 29 th 31 st Poland forefront of fundamentalist backlash - case study Girard, Francoise, Nowicka, Wanda, Clear and Compelling Evidence: The Polish Tribunal on Abortion Rights, Reproductive Health Matters, 2002; 10(19):22 30, anda.pdf Klugman, Barbara and Budlender, Debbie, (ed.), Advocating for Abortion Access, Johannesburg Initiative, (Women s Health Project, 2001). (Chapters on Poland and Italy). Mishtal, Joanna, The Challenges of Women s Rights Advocacy in Poland: Women s NGOs in Transition Politics (chapter 7) in Contradictions of Democratization: The Politics of Reproductive Rights and Policies in Postsocialist Poland. A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Anthropology, 2006 The child is my choice, Paule Zejdermann documentary. BBC documentary on Women on Waves, 2003 Nowicka, Wanda, Struggles for Abortion Rights in Poland, the article for Sexuality Policy Watch Project (to be published soon) (copy will be provided) Summary m_content&task=view&id=31&itemid=65 Contemporary Women s Hell (selected stories), (2005) FWFP, Poland November Week 10 5th 7th Global religious fundamentalism and anti-choice strategies, focus on Europe Nowicka, Wanda, Roman Catholic Fundamentalism Against Women s Reproductive Rights in Poland, Reproductive Health Matters 1996:4(8): Petchesky, Rosalind P., Abortion and Woman s Choice, the state, sexuality and reproductive freedom, rev. ed. Northeastern University Press (Boston, 1990). (Chapt. 7 The antiabortion movement and the rise of a new right pp ). Mishtal, Joanna, Sex, Power, and the Holy See: The Direct Governance of Women s Sexual Conduct (chapter 5) in: Contradictions of Democratization: The Politics of Reproductive Rights and Policies in Postsocialist Poland,

6 Crossette, Barbara, Special Report on Poland: Exorcising the Past, Imperiling the Future, What's behind Poland's Conservative Turn?, CFFC European Supplement , pdf Conservative Catholic Influence, CFFC ments/2005catholicactiongroupfactsheet.pdf Preserving Power and Priviledge, The Vatican, s Agenda in the European Union, CFFC, preservingpowerandprivilege.pdf Dahan, David, EU lawmaker protests over anti-abortion 'Nazi' barb, 16 Nov. 2005, Bowley, Graham, Poles on ramparts of EU culture war, International Herald Tribune, 24 Nov. 2005; an_parliament.html Week 11 12th 14th Using European Human Rights system to defend RR the case of Alicja Tysiac Pietruchova, Olga, Slovakia s/storyv2.asp?id=212 Krzyzanowska-Mierzewska, Magda, How to use the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in matters of reproductive law: the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, Guide ASTRA, Week 12 Week 13 19th (21th ) 26th 28th Funding Issues Barriers to Sustainability of NGOs Joining European Union impact on women Gender equality, including RR, in the European Union Case of Tysiac v. Poland (Appl. 5410/03), Judgement Strasbourg, ECHR, 20 March, hbkm&action=html&highlight=tysiac&sessionid= &skin=hudoc-en Where is the money for women s rights? Assessing resources and the role of donors in the promotion of women s rights and the support of women s organizations AWID, February 2006, pp , 39-54, 71-78, A Roadmap for equality between women and men , Communication from the Commission to the Council, European Parliament and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Brussels, _0275_en.pdf Matynia, Elzbieta, Provincializing global feminism: the Polish case, Social Research, Summer atynia%22 6

7 December Week 14 3rd 5th Perspectives regarding the status of RR in Europe in near future. Will the EU further promote RR standards in international agenda? Regulska, Joanna, Grabowska, Magda. Will It Make a Difference? EU Enlargement and Women s Public Discourse in Poland?; Forthcoming in Gender Issues and Women's Movements in the Enlarged European Union, edited by Silke Roth. London, New York: Berghahn Books. Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the European Union, Present status and potential directions for advancement. Closing the Gap on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, ASTRA Week 15 10th Reflections on the Course Krzyzanowska-Mierzewska, Magda, Why should Central and Eastern European Countries Ratify Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms?, ASTRA th PAPER DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS 7