Contents Note on Contributors Preface PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Never the 'Right' Time: An Introduction; Christine M. Hassenstab 2. The Construction, Meanings, and Messages of Gender Equality Indices in the Postcommunist Region; Katalin Fábián PART II: YUGOSLAV SUCCESSOR STATES 3. Slovenia: From 'state feminism' to Back Vocals; Ana Kralj and Tanja Rener 4. Gender Equality in Croatia: Closing the Compliance Gap; Jill Irvine and Leda Sutlovi? 5. One Step Forwards, Two Steps Back: Gender (in)equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Olivera Simi? 6. Gender Equality in Serbia: 'A drop of oil' in the Waters of Inequality; DaSa Duha?ek 7. Gender Equality in the Republic of Macedonia: Between Tradition and Gender Mainstreaming Policies; Mileva Gjurovska 8. Gender Equality and Inequality in Kosovo; Hilde Katrine Haug PART III: ROMANIA, BULGARIA, ALBANIA 9. The Good, the Bad, and the Ambiguous: Women and the Transition from Communism to Pluralism in Romania; Jill Massino and Raluca Maria Popa 10. Mind the Gap: the Changing Face of Gender (in)equality in Bulgaria after 1989; Mariya Stoilova 11. Mapping Women's Representation in the Local Councils of Albania; Marsela Dauti and Eglantina Gjermeni PART IV: RELIGION AND GAY/LESBIAN RIGHTS 12. The Triumphant Distribution of the Heteronormative Sensible: The Case of Sexual Minorities in Transitional Macedonia, 1991 - 2012; Slavcho Dimitrov 13. Secularization of the Church, Clericalization of Society: Same-sex Partnership Debates in Slovenia; Roman Kuhar 14. Islam and Gender in Post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina: Competing Discourses and Everyday Practices of Muslim Women; Alenka Bartulovi? 15. Orthodox Christianity and Gender Equality in Serbia: On Reproductive and Sexual Rights; Rada Drezgi? PART V: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION 16. Gender Roles in Southeastern Europe; Kristen Ringdal 17. Differences in Attitudes Towards Gender Roles Within and Between the Countries of the Western Balkans; Albert Simkus 18. Conclusion; Sabrina P. Ramet For Further Reading Index

The collapse of socialist regimes across Southeastern Europe changed the rules of the political game and led to the transformation of these societies. The status of women was immediately affected. The contributors to this volume contrast the status of women in the post-socialist societies of the region with their status under socialism.

Alenka Bartulovi?, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Marsela Dauti, Washington University in St. Louis, USA Slavcho Dimitrov is president of the Coalition for the Sexual and Health Rights of Marginalized Communities, which has been active in defending the rights of sexual minorities in Macedonia, and a gender studies researcher. Katalin Fábián, Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, USA Rada Drezgi?, University of Belgrade, Serbia Da a Duha?ek, University of Belgrade, Serbia Eglantina Gjermeni was elected member of the Socialist Party of Tirana District in the general election of 2009. She is a member of the Parliamentary Committee for Health and Social Affairs Mileva Gjurovska, Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Macedonia Hilde Katrine Haug, University of Oslo, Norway Jill A. Irvine, University of Oklahoma, USA Ana Kralj, University of Primorska, Slovenia Roman Kuhar, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Jill Massino, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, USA Raluca Maria Popa, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary Tanja Rener, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Kristen Ringdal, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway Olivera Simi?, Griffith University, Australia Albert Simkus, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway Mariya Stoilova, University of London, Birkbeck, USA Leda Sutlovic, Center for Women's Studies in Zagreb, Croatia