Meta PHoDcast 177: Isidora Grubački, zgodovinarka

With Isidora we explore interwar feminism in Yugoslavia. #MetaPHoDcast   Isidora was a doctoral candidate in Comparative History at the Central European University (Budapest/Vienna)...

With Isidora we explore interwar feminism in Yugoslavia.

#MetaPHoDcast

Isidora was a doctoral candidate in Comparative History at the Central European University (Budapest/Vienna) and just recently successfully completed her PhD. Since 2021 she has been a researcher at the Institute of Contemporary History in Ljubljana.

With Isidora we explore the development of interwar feminism in the 1920s and 1930s, delving into the intersection of political, intellectual, and women’s history.

In her doctoral dissertation she traces the changes in feminist organizing and concepts between the two World Wars, with a focus on Yugoslavia.

Isidora has a diverse academic background. She began her academic journey in Belgrade studying comparative literature. Afterward she pursued cultural policy and management for her MA. After a brief stint in the NGO world, she realized her passion for research and continued her research work in Budapest. Her transition to becoming a historian started there, at the Central European University, first at the MA and then doctoral level.

Isidora examines feminist ideas by focusing on language and concepts in the context of political change, specifically exploring the vocabulary employed by women during this period. She emphasizes the significance of digitalization in accessing historical sources. She visited archives in Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Prague, and Paris and analyzed women’s periodicals along with a variety of other sources.

Her research work sheds light on changing ideas and activism of feminists during the interwar period. Isidora contextualizes these ideas within the broader historical landscape, among other things exploring political alliances of feminists of different ideological orientations, and the importance of different formative experiences of different political generations at the time.

Political context plays a crucial role, informing how feminist groups responded to political changes. Isidora uncovers new cooperations between feminist groups that were previously overlooked, revealing shifts in collaboration between civic, conservative, and communist feminists. The term “feminism” itself underwent varied interpretations, with groups differing on their visions for its implementation in society. The debate ranged from enabling women’s equality to demanding social justice, considering whether reform or revolution was the path to achieving their goals.

Isidora recommends using Zotero to organize sources and stay updated on literature. To other PhD students she advises choosing and adhering to an effective strategy for note-taking and overall work organization.

For relaxation, Isidora suggests the light-hearted series “What We Do In The Shadows,” and for a more serious exploration, she recommends “Mrs. America.” This series delves into the Equal Rights Amendment in the USA during the 1970s, covering different approaches to feminism and examining right-wing women activism.

She loved traveling that came with research work for her PhD. She tries to initiate a lot of things and not just wait for them to happen. She argues that academia should not be a competitive space, and views it as full of chances for collaborations and solidarity. Her last advice is straightforward: don’t hesitate to reach out to those whose work interests you, and do not waste time with people you do not get along with.

————

Z Isidoro o feminizmu v Jugoslaviji med obema vojnama.

Isidora je bila doktorska kandidatka za primerjalno zgodovino na Srednjeevropski univerzi – CEU (Budimpešta/Dunaj) in je pred kratkim uspešno končala svoj doktorat. Od leta 2021 je raziskovalka na Inštitutu za novejšo zgodovino v Ljubljani. Z Isidoro raziskujemo razvoj medvojnega feminizma v dvajsetih in tridesetih letih 20. stoletja ter se poglabljamo v presečišče politične in intelektualne zgodovine ter zgodovine žensk. V svoji doktorski disertaciji sledi spremembam v feminističnem organiziranju in konceptih med obema svetovnima vojnama s poudarkom na Jugoslaviji.

Isidora je svojo akademsko pot začela v Beogradu s študijem primerjalne književnosti. Nato je magistrirala iz kulturne politike in menedžmenta. Po študiju je bila zaposlena v nevladnem sektorju. Zatem pa je ugotovila, da si želi še naprej raziskovati in svoje akademsko delo nadaljevala na magistrskem in doktorskem študiju v Budimpešti na področju zgodovine.

Isidora raziskuje feministične ideje s poudarkom na jeziku in konceptih v kontekstu političnih sprememb, pri čemer posebej raziskuje besedišče, ki so ga v tem obdobju uporabljale ženske. Poudarja pomen digitalizacije pri dostopu do zgodovinskih virov. Pri svojem raziskovanju je obiskala arhive v Beogradu, Zagrebu, Ljubljani, Pragi in Parizu ter analizirala ženske revije, skupaj z različnimi drugimi viri.

Njeno raziskovalno delo osvetljuje spreminjajoče se ideje in aktivizem feministk v medvojnem obdobju. Isidora te ideje kontekstualizira v širšem zgodovinskem prostoru, med drugim raziskuje politična zavezništva feministk različnih ideoloških usmeritev in pomen različnih formativnih izkušenj političnih generacij tistega časa.

Politični kontekst ima ključno vlogo, saj določa načine odzivanja feminističnih skupin na politične spremembe. Isidora odkriva nova sodelovanja med feminističnimi skupinami, ki so jih prej spregledali, in razkriva povezave med civilnimi, konservativnimi in komunističnimi feministkami. Tudi sam izraz “feminizem” je doživljal različne interpretacije, saj so se skupine razlikovale glede vizij njegove uveljavitve v družbi. Razprave v tistem času so segale od omogočanja enakopravnosti žensk do zahteve po socialni pravičnosti, pri čemer so razmišljale o tem, ali so reforme prava pot za dosego njihovih ciljev ali pa je to revolucija.

Isidora priporoča uporabo programa Zotero za urejanje virov in spremljanje literature. Drugim doktorskim študentom svetuje izbiro in upoštevanje učinkovite strategije za vodenje zapiskov in splošno organizacijo dela. Za sprostitev Isidora predlaga lahkotno serijo “What We Do In The Shadows”, za resnejše raziskovanje pa priporoča “Mrs. America”. Ta serija se poglablja v spremembe zakona o enakih pravicah v ZDA v sedemdesetih letih 20. stoletja, obravnava različne pristope k feminizmu in preučuje desničarski ženski aktivizem.

Isidora v povezavi z raziskovalnim delom rada tudi potuje. Veliko stvari poskuša sprožiti in ne samo čakati, da se zgodijo. Pravi, da akademski svet ne bi smel biti tekmovalni prostor, in meni, da je v njem obilo priložnosti za sodelovanje in solidarnost. Njen zadnji nasvet je preprost: ne oklevajte in stopite v stik s tistimi, katerih delo vas zanima, in ne izgubljajte časa z ljudmi, s katerimi se ne razumete.

————

Meta PHoDcast so pogovori z mladimi raziskovalci in raziskovalkami o življenju, vesolju in sploh vsem.

Gostitelji in gostje smo znanstveniki in znanstvenice z različnih področij znanosti. Večinoma gre za doktorske študente in študentke pred zaključkom doktorata, občasno pa so naši sogovorniki tudi podoktorski raziskovalci in raziskovalke v tujini.