Through in-depth interviews with activists, the authors provide a broad and thorough introduction to the emerging women's movement and women's organizations in Russia. Linda Racioppi and Katherine O'Sullivan See focus on the development of women's activism in late Soviet and post-Soviet Russia and the challenges activists face in a time of resurgent nationalism and turmoil over democratic reform.

Women's Activism in Contemporary Russia includes a concise history of women's situation in tsarist and Soviet Russia, which shows how their ability to organize was constrained by social strictures and state policies. The authors analyze how the state-sponsored Soviet Women's Committee and new groups like the Independent Women's Forum, the Women's League, and the International Institute for Entrepreneurial Development responded to the challenges and opportunities of the transition.

They also examine the dynamics among these women's groups in Russia and reveal how the personal life histories of the activists reflect the ways women have responded to the changing political, economic, and social landscape in the former Soviet Union.