With the collapse of Soviet rule and the emergence of independent Russia, the image of Russian women in the Western imagination has changed dramatically. The robust tractor drivers and athletes have been replaced by glamorous but vulnerable beauty queens or the dishevelled and downcast women trading goods on the streets.
The authors of this work take a closer look at what lies behind the above images and how Russian women are coping with a very different sort of life. The main focus is on the effect of unemployment on Russian women and how they are coping with it.
Based on case studies and personal interviews carried out in the Moscow region in 1993-94, No More Heroines? will provide both specialist and non-specialist alike with access to the thinking of women and their organisations in Russia today.

INTRODUCTION: NO MORE HEROINES?; Part I Part I THE IMPACT OF CHANGE; Chapter 1 THE LEGACY OF PERESTROIKA; Chapter 2 WOMEN AND UNEMPLOYMENT; Chapter 3 LIVING STANDARDS: THE NOT SO SMOOTH TRANSITION TO THE MARKET; Part II Part II RESPONDING TO CHANGE; Chapter 4 TACKLING UNEMPLOYMENT: THE STATE's RESPONSE TO A CHANGING LABOUR MARKET; Chapter 5 CREATING EMPLOYMENT: THE RESPONSE OF WOMEN'S ORGANISATIONS; Chapter 6 WOMEN AND BUSINESS; Chapter 7 SURVIVAL STRATEGIES; Chapter 8 SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND THE NEW LABOUR MARKET; IN CONCLUSION: TRANSITION'S VICTIMS OR HEROINES OF SURVIVAL?; APPENDIX: BACKGROUND TO THE CASE-STUDIES; NOTES; BIBLIOGRAPHY Index;

Sue Bridger, Rebecca Kay and Kathryn Pinnick are all at the Department of Modern Languages, University of Bradford.