“A powerful reminder that ultimately structural conditions are of prime importance if women’s emancipation is to succeed. . . . Ghodsee’s book ultimately reminds as, through the often moving testimonies of former activists she has collected, that women’s activism, also when attached to or even dominated the state, can be effective and progressive.”

“An engaging narrative of feminist movements during the Cold War. . . . [Ghodsee’s] work is vital in documenting a neglected component of feminist history while illuminating a new resource for feminist theorists and activists interested in thinking about the political project of gender justice outside the confines of dominant, Western, liberal feminism. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.”

“Besides offering a masterful reconstruction of Cold War women’s activism and East-South alliances, Second World, Second Sex provides its readers with extensive and previously uncovered historical documentation, together with important methodological reflections on feminist knowledge production. The book will be of great interest for historians of gender, transnationalism, and the Cold War, and will undoubtedly expand the scope of scholarly research on transnational women’s and feminist history.”

“Interrogating why the activities of women in countries with strong states promoting gender equality should be deemed inauthentic vis-à-vis those in democracies that perpetuate patriarchal norms, alongside rendering the Cold War as a battle between not just capitalism and communism but also competing visions of feminism, Second World, Second Sex is essential reading for anyone in any field interested in women’s activism in the twentieth century.”

“… [Ghodsee’s] inspiring book not only brings up a forgotten fragment in the history of the global women’s movement but also reminds us of the existence of various feminist programs and the constant clash between them, nowadays transferred into the area of historical memory, as well as of the production of historical knowledge.”

“Kristen has written a very important book. Not just in terms of reminding us of an important aspect of women’s history, but in allowing individual women to tell their story and show the price they have paid for their political activity.”

“Second World, Second Sex is a must read for anyone hoping to understand the complexities of a global women’s rights movement that goes beyond the boundaries of Western, liberal feminism.”

“Second World, Second Sex is an excellent account of women’s activism in Bulgaria and Zambia throughout the Decade for Women...Ghodsee’s work also illuminates the global networks and connections between women’s rights activists throughout the Cold War.”

“Powerfully rethinking a range of twentieth-century women’s activism that has been reviled or denounced out of hand, Kristen Ghodsee refuses to position communist and socialist women’s movements solely in relation to those in the West. She asks us to begin from another history, another frame of reference, and other political grounds—a difficult, sometimes uncomfortable, and ultimately valuable task. This is a brilliant, funny, surprising, and moving book.”

“In this ambitious and fascinating book Kristen Ghodsee makes visible and celebrates the communist, socialist, and non-Western women who played a central role in the UN’s Decade for Women. With vivid, engaging, and rewarding writing, Ghodsee offers a compelling narrative and collection of stories that will be of great interest to scholars of women’s activism during the Cold War.”