Women consumers in urban Soviet Ukraine in the 1920–30s: between ideology and everyday life

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the 1920s the Soviet government decided to focus on women as principal movers in the creation of a new social order based on everyday life. The object of this investigation is to revisit this period in early Soviet history to better understand the interconnection between the motives of the government policymakers and the behaviour of urban women consumers. It focuses on questions about the persistence of the old order alongside the new in the assortment of women's goods, the part played by hand-made items, cosmetics and the individualization of clothes. Special attention is paid to the attitudes of Ukrainian women as the consumers of everyday items and their interaction with Soviet ideology. The elucidation of the role of consumerism with special emphasis on the crucial part played by women provides a novel window into the period and an opportunity to reconstruct social practices and everydayness of the 1920–30s Soviet era.