POLITICALLY BASED “WOMEN’S SOLIDARITY” IN SOCIALIST MACEDONIA (REFLECTION PAPER ON THE SOURCE “MAKEDONKA - ORGAN OF THE WAF, 1944 -1953)

Abstract

This reflection paper examines the periodical Makedonka – Organ of the Women’s Antifascist Front of Macedonia (1944–1953) as a key textual source for understanding the gender politics of early socialist Macedonia. As the official publication of the women’s organization affiliated with the Communist Party and the first women’s magazine published in the Macedonian language, Makedonka represents a primary source for tracing the political discourse and ideological frameworks through which the socialist state articulated and promoted women’s emancipation.

Beyond its function as a propagative medium, the journal offers valuable insight into the conceptualization and social practice of solidarity among women. The paper argues that new gendered relations were forged within the organizational agenda and field activities of the Women’s Antifascist Front (WAF), particularly through its efforts to mobilize women in rural communities. This emergent “sisterly solidarity” was grounded in collective engagement with gender-specific tasks and social responsibilities, thereby generating novel forms of cooperation and mutual support. For the first time in the Macedonian historical context, women’s political agency became institutionally recognized and socially enacted through mobilization and organized activity beyond the traditional patriarchal framework of kinship structures.