ABSTRACT
When the future of women in post-communist societies of East-Central Europe comes up for consideration, most Western feminists express scepticism, disappointment and worries. The words of Barbara Einhorn seem to reflect the feelings of many of those who, for decades, compassionately watched and supported the struggles against Soviet-type totalitarianism, yet are increasingly disillusioned by the actual developments since the collapse of the old rule:
Where have all the women gone? This may be a frivolous question: they haven't evaporated after all. But what has evaporated, it seems, along with the euphoria and the optimism, the hopes and dreams ... is the energy and potential for change on the part of women themselves. Gone too are both the much-vaunted economic independence and the resultant self-confidence of forty years of official commitment to a policy of 'emancipation' for women ... Will the need to shed labour push women out of the labour force and back into primary responsibility for the family? There are sume signs that women themselves may accept this relegation with a sigh of relief. What does this imply for our own views on what it means to be liberated? Women's role is very much in question in the current transition period in East Central Europe.
