The monthly magazine «Praca Kobiet» about the activities of organizations related to the Women’s International Democratic Federation (March – December 1946)

Abstract

The research on women’s history presented in this publication supplements the gap existing in polish historiography. The gap includes not only knowledge about the activities of women's organizations associated in the Women’s International Democratic Federation (including the polish Social-Civic League of Women). The same applies to the assessment of the role of women in political, social and cultural changes taking place in Poland (and in the world) in the first years after the end of World War II. The main purpose of this publication is to show the historical conditions of the activities of the Social-Civic League of Women, as well as similar organizations in other European, African and North American countries. The basic source used in the research process is the monthly «Praca Kobiet» (and additionally the periodical «Nasza Praca»). The work uses a methodology typical for studies based on press sources. Their list includes the following methods: analytical-empirical, deductive-nomological, deductive-hypothetical and classical method of content analysis. The effect of the undertaken research is to establish that the information articles on the activities of organizations associated in the Women’s International Democratic Federation published on the pages of the «Praca Kobiet» monthly were in fact agitation and propaganda. The polish feminist press manipulated facts and thus influenced the formation of pro-communist and anti-Western views of women. The topic is not exhausted and needs to be continued. Further research will require a wider use of press sources not only from Poland, but also from other countries.