Social Policy Discourse as a Frame of a New Repertoire of Gender Contracts for Wives of the Mobilized
Research Article
How to Cite
Osokina D.A. Social Policy Discourse as a Frame of a New Repertoire of Gender Contracts for Wives of the Mobilized. Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. 2025. Vol. 17. No. 1. P. 87-107. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2025.17.1.5 (in Russ.).
Abstract
The article studies a model of social policy aimed at supporting families of the mobilized in Russia as a tool for promoting a preferred gender contract. Families of the mobilized, having no experience of interacting with the institute of the army in conditions of military conflict, are forced to adapt to the requirements of the state in a short time. The context of the study: family policy is becoming a priority in the Russian Federation not only as support for socially vulnerable families of SVO participants, but also as an ideological tool for forming a new balance of power and gender relations in Russian families affected by militarization. The study uses critical discourse analysis that allows us to research the discourse of social support measures in the official statements of lawmakers, evaluating these measures from the perspective of the wives in thematic online chats mobilized as collective discourses. As a result of the analysis, family policy in relation to families of the mobilized is characterized as traditional and paternalistic, it is shown that there remains a gap between the normative concepts of state aid and the measures being implemented. The wives of those mobilized note their satisfaction with the monetary level of support as well as the difficulty of obtaining indirect benefits, and the system's inability to provide personalized assistance. The repertoire of women's gender contracts is differentiated on an interactive level, the importance of market participation for Russian women is consolidated, and the role of the state in a woman's willingness to serve the army institute is small.
Keywords:
social policy, gender contract, families of the mobilized, critical discourse analysis
References
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Ayvazova S.G. (2011) The Contract of a “Working Mother”: Violations or Termination? (On the Issue of the Specifics of Gender Policy in Modern Russia). Zhenshchina v rossiyskom obshchestve [Woman in Russian Society]. No. 3. P. 13–22. (In Russ.)
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Rozhdestvenskaya E.Yu (2011) The Concept of Balance of Life and Work: Lessons from European Social Policy and Russian Perspectives. Zhurnal issledovaniy sotsialnoy politiki [Journal of Social Policy Studies]. Vol. 9. No. 4. P. 439–454. (In Russ.)
Zdravomyslova E., Temkina A. (eds.) (2007) Rossiyskiy geneticheskiy poryadok: sotsiologicheskiy podkhod [The Russian Gender Order: A Sociological Approach]. SPb.: Izdatelstvo Evropejskogo universiteta v Sankt-Peterburge. (In Russ.)
Rotkirkh A., Temkina A. (2007) Sovetskiye geograficheskiye kontrakty i ih transformatsiya v sovremennoy Rossii [Soviet Gender Contracts and Their Transformation in Contemporary Russia]. In: Rossiyskiy geograficheskiy poryadok: sotsiologicheskiy podkhod [The Russian Gender Order: A Sociological Approach]. SPb.: Izdatelstvo Evropejskogo universiteta v Sankt-Peterburge. P. 169–200. (In Russ.)
Chernova Zh. (2013) Semya kak politicheskiy vopros: gosudarstvennyy proyekt i praktika privatnosti [Family as a Political Issue: A Government Project and Privacy Practices]. SPb.: Izdatelstvo Evropejskogo universiteta v Sankt-Peterburg. (In Russ.)
Chernova Zh.V. (2011) Who, about Whom and Under What Conditions Should Care? A Gender Analysis of Care Regimes and Family Policy. Zhurnal issledovaniy sotsialnoy politiki [Journal of Social Policy Studies]. Vol. 9. No. 3. P. 295–318. (In Russ.)
Chernova Zh.V. Shpakovskaya L.L. (2021) Three Regimes of Gender Citizenship: Social Policy Experience of Three Generations of Russian Women. Interaktsiya. Intervyu. Interpretatsiya [Interaction. Interview. Interpretation]. Vol. 13. No. 3. P. 12–43. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2021.13.3.1
Bell D.B., Stevens M.L., Segal M.W. (1996) How to Support Families During Overseas Deployments: A Sourcebook for Service Providers. Alexandria: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Borozdina E., Rotkirch A., Temkina A., Zdravomyslova E. (2016) Using Maternity Capital: Citizen Distrust of Russian Family Policy. European Journal of Women’s Studies. Vol. 23. No. 1. P. 60–75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506814543838
Bourg C., Segal M.W. (1999) The Impact of Family Supportive Policies and Practices on Organizational Commitment to the Army. Armed Forces & Society. Vol. 25. № 4. P. 633–652. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X9902500406
Connell R. (2013) Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Enloe C. (2000) Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women’s Lives. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Eran-Jona M. (2011) Married to the Military: Military-Family Relations in the Israel Defense Forces. Armed Forces & Society. Vol. 37. No. 1. P. 19–41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X10379729
Harrison D. (1994) La liberté No Life Like it: Military Wives in Canada. Toronto: J. Lorimer.
Hedström J. (2022) Militarized Social Reproduction: Women’s Labour and Parastate Armed Conflict. Critical Military Studies. Vol. 8. No. 1. P. 58–76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23337486.2020.1715056
Horn D.M. (2010) Boots and Bedsheets: Constructing the Military Support System in a Time of War. In: L. Sjoberg, S. Via (eds.) Gender, War, and Militarism: Feminist Perspectives. Santa Barbara; Denver; Oxford: Praeger. P. 57–68.
Huebner A.J., Mancini J.A., Bowen G.L., Orthner D.K. (2009) Shadowed by War: Building Community Capacity to Support Military Families. Family Relations. Vol. 58. No. 2. P. 216–228. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2008.00548.x
Johnson A., Ames K., Lawson C. (2022) Archetype Profiles of Military Spouses in Australia – Identifying Perfect Partners and Mean Girls. Armed Forces & Society. Vol. 48. No. 4. P. 828–848. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X211029318
Kashina M., Tkach S. (2020) Fatherhood Escape as a Significant Feature of the Gender Contract of Russian Men. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. Vol. 41. No. 9/10. P. 1058–1071. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-09-2020-0426
Kleykamp M. (2012) Labor Market Outcomes among Veterans and Military Spouses. In: Life Course Perspectives on Military Service. New York: Routledge. P. 144–164.
Liljestrom M. (1993) The Soviet Gender System: The Ideological Construction of Femininity and Masculinity in the 70’s. In: M. Liljestrom, E. Mantysaari, A. Rosenholm (eds.) Gender Restructuring in Russian Studies. Tampere: Slavica Tamperensia II. P. 163–174.
Moelker R., Andres M., Rones N. (2019) The Politics of Military Families: State, Work Organizations, and the Rise of the Negotiation Household. In: R. Moelker, M. Andres, N. Rones (eds.) The Politics of Military Families. State, Work Organizations. New York: Routledge. P. 1–16.
Morris J., Garibyan M. (2021) Russian Cultural Conservatism Critiqued: Translating the Tropes of “Gayropa” and “Juvenile Justice” in Everyday Life. Europe-Asia Studies. Vol. 73. No. 8. P. 1487–1507. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2021.1887088
Moskos C.C. (1986) Institutional/Occupational Trends in Armed Forces: An Update. Armed Forces & Society. Vol. 12. No. 3. P. 377–382. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X8601200303
Mullet D.R. (2018) A General Critical Discourse Analysis Framework for Educational Research. Journal of Advanced Academics. Vol. 29. No. 2. P. 116–142. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X18758260
Savinskaya O.B. (2024) The Diversification of the Russian Gender Contract and the Conservative Turn. Europe-Asia Studies. Vol. 76. No. 2. P. 265–283. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2024.2323115
Segal M.W. (1986) The Military and the Family as Greedy Institutions. Armed Forces & Society. Vol. 13. No. 1. P. 9–38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X8601300101
Sjoberg L., Via S. (eds.) (2010) Gender, War, and Militarism: Feminist Perspectives. Santa Barbara; Denver; Oxford: Praeger.
Spanner L. (2022) Resilient and Entrepreneurial Military Spouses: Neoliberalization Meets Militarization. Critical Military Studies. Vol. 8. No. 3. P. 233–253. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23337486.2020.1815385
Truusa T.T., Kasearu K., Strömpl J. (2021) Military Spouses in Contemporary Estonia: Meaning Making in the Stories of the Wives and Partners of Active Servicemen. Journal of Baltic Studies. Vol. 52. No. 3. P. 307–325. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01629778.2021.1915830
Ukhova D. (2022) Doing Gender with Class: Gender Division of Unpaid Work in Russian Middle-Class Dual Earner Heterosexual Households. Journal of Family Issues. Vol. 43. No. 12. P. 3244–3270. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X211042846
Van Dijk T.A. (1993) Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis. Discourse & Society. Vol. 4. No. 2. P. 249–283. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926593004002006
Wodak R., Meyer M. (2001) Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis In: Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Sage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857028020
Ziff E., Garland-Jackson F. (2020) “I’m Not Your “Typical” Military Wife”: The Construction of Gender and Agency Through Stereotypes. Armed Forces & Society. Vol. 46. No. 3. P. 376–396. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X19875488
Zinn J.O. (2011) The Biographical Management of Risk and Uncertainty – British Veterans. Historical Social Research/ Historische Sozialforschung. Vol. 36. No. 3. P. 237–269. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17169/FQS-11.1.1457
Ayvazova S.G. (2011) The Contract of a “Working Mother”: Violations or Termination? (On the Issue of the Specifics of Gender Policy in Modern Russia). Zhenshchina v rossiyskom obshchestve [Woman in Russian Society]. No. 3. P. 13–22. (In Russ.)
Arutyunyan M.Yu., Zdravomyslova O.M. (1998) Rossiyskaya semya na yevropeyskom fone [Russian Family against a European Background]. Moscow: Editorial. (In Russ.)
Zdravomyslova E., Temkina A. (2003) The Public Construction of Gender in Soviet Society. Zhurnal issledovaniy sotsialnoy politiki [Journal of Social Policy Studies]. Vol. 1. No. 3–4. P. 299–321. (In Russ.)
Zdravomyslova E., Temkina A. (2015) 12 lektsiy po gendernoy sotsiologii: Uchebnoye posobiye [12 Lectures on Gender Sociology: A Textbook]. SPb.: Izdatelstvo Evropejskogo universiteta v Sankt-Peterburge. (In Russ.)
Krivtsova I. (2006) Gender Contract in the Families of Servicemen of the Far Eastern Military District. Vestnik Yevrazii [Acta Eurasica]. No. 2. P. 95–113. (In Russ.)
Rozhdestvenskaya E.Yu (2011) The Concept of Balance of Life and Work: Lessons from European Social Policy and Russian Perspectives. Zhurnal issledovaniy sotsialnoy politiki [Journal of Social Policy Studies]. Vol. 9. No. 4. P. 439–454. (In Russ.)
Zdravomyslova E., Temkina A. (eds.) (2007) Rossiyskiy geneticheskiy poryadok: sotsiologicheskiy podkhod [The Russian Gender Order: A Sociological Approach]. SPb.: Izdatelstvo Evropejskogo universiteta v Sankt-Peterburge. (In Russ.)
Rotkirkh A., Temkina A. (2007) Sovetskiye geograficheskiye kontrakty i ih transformatsiya v sovremennoy Rossii [Soviet Gender Contracts and Their Transformation in Contemporary Russia]. In: Rossiyskiy geograficheskiy poryadok: sotsiologicheskiy podkhod [The Russian Gender Order: A Sociological Approach]. SPb.: Izdatelstvo Evropejskogo universiteta v Sankt-Peterburge. P. 169–200. (In Russ.)
Chernova Zh. (2013) Semya kak politicheskiy vopros: gosudarstvennyy proyekt i praktika privatnosti [Family as a Political Issue: A Government Project and Privacy Practices]. SPb.: Izdatelstvo Evropejskogo universiteta v Sankt-Peterburg. (In Russ.)
Chernova Zh.V. (2011) Who, about Whom and Under What Conditions Should Care? A Gender Analysis of Care Regimes and Family Policy. Zhurnal issledovaniy sotsialnoy politiki [Journal of Social Policy Studies]. Vol. 9. No. 3. P. 295–318. (In Russ.)
Chernova Zh.V. Shpakovskaya L.L. (2021) Three Regimes of Gender Citizenship: Social Policy Experience of Three Generations of Russian Women. Interaktsiya. Intervyu. Interpretatsiya [Interaction. Interview. Interpretation]. Vol. 13. No. 3. P. 12–43. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2021.13.3.1
Bell D.B., Stevens M.L., Segal M.W. (1996) How to Support Families During Overseas Deployments: A Sourcebook for Service Providers. Alexandria: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Borozdina E., Rotkirch A., Temkina A., Zdravomyslova E. (2016) Using Maternity Capital: Citizen Distrust of Russian Family Policy. European Journal of Women’s Studies. Vol. 23. No. 1. P. 60–75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506814543838
Bourg C., Segal M.W. (1999) The Impact of Family Supportive Policies and Practices on Organizational Commitment to the Army. Armed Forces & Society. Vol. 25. № 4. P. 633–652. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X9902500406
Connell R. (2013) Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Enloe C. (2000) Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women’s Lives. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Eran-Jona M. (2011) Married to the Military: Military-Family Relations in the Israel Defense Forces. Armed Forces & Society. Vol. 37. No. 1. P. 19–41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X10379729
Harrison D. (1994) La liberté No Life Like it: Military Wives in Canada. Toronto: J. Lorimer.
Hedström J. (2022) Militarized Social Reproduction: Women’s Labour and Parastate Armed Conflict. Critical Military Studies. Vol. 8. No. 1. P. 58–76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23337486.2020.1715056
Horn D.M. (2010) Boots and Bedsheets: Constructing the Military Support System in a Time of War. In: L. Sjoberg, S. Via (eds.) Gender, War, and Militarism: Feminist Perspectives. Santa Barbara; Denver; Oxford: Praeger. P. 57–68.
Huebner A.J., Mancini J.A., Bowen G.L., Orthner D.K. (2009) Shadowed by War: Building Community Capacity to Support Military Families. Family Relations. Vol. 58. No. 2. P. 216–228. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2008.00548.x
Johnson A., Ames K., Lawson C. (2022) Archetype Profiles of Military Spouses in Australia – Identifying Perfect Partners and Mean Girls. Armed Forces & Society. Vol. 48. No. 4. P. 828–848. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X211029318
Kashina M., Tkach S. (2020) Fatherhood Escape as a Significant Feature of the Gender Contract of Russian Men. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. Vol. 41. No. 9/10. P. 1058–1071. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-09-2020-0426
Kleykamp M. (2012) Labor Market Outcomes among Veterans and Military Spouses. In: Life Course Perspectives on Military Service. New York: Routledge. P. 144–164.
Liljestrom M. (1993) The Soviet Gender System: The Ideological Construction of Femininity and Masculinity in the 70’s. In: M. Liljestrom, E. Mantysaari, A. Rosenholm (eds.) Gender Restructuring in Russian Studies. Tampere: Slavica Tamperensia II. P. 163–174.
Moelker R., Andres M., Rones N. (2019) The Politics of Military Families: State, Work Organizations, and the Rise of the Negotiation Household. In: R. Moelker, M. Andres, N. Rones (eds.) The Politics of Military Families. State, Work Organizations. New York: Routledge. P. 1–16.
Morris J., Garibyan M. (2021) Russian Cultural Conservatism Critiqued: Translating the Tropes of “Gayropa” and “Juvenile Justice” in Everyday Life. Europe-Asia Studies. Vol. 73. No. 8. P. 1487–1507. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2021.1887088
Moskos C.C. (1986) Institutional/Occupational Trends in Armed Forces: An Update. Armed Forces & Society. Vol. 12. No. 3. P. 377–382. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X8601200303
Mullet D.R. (2018) A General Critical Discourse Analysis Framework for Educational Research. Journal of Advanced Academics. Vol. 29. No. 2. P. 116–142. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X18758260
Savinskaya O.B. (2024) The Diversification of the Russian Gender Contract and the Conservative Turn. Europe-Asia Studies. Vol. 76. No. 2. P. 265–283. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2024.2323115
Segal M.W. (1986) The Military and the Family as Greedy Institutions. Armed Forces & Society. Vol. 13. No. 1. P. 9–38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X8601300101
Sjoberg L., Via S. (eds.) (2010) Gender, War, and Militarism: Feminist Perspectives. Santa Barbara; Denver; Oxford: Praeger.
Spanner L. (2022) Resilient and Entrepreneurial Military Spouses: Neoliberalization Meets Militarization. Critical Military Studies. Vol. 8. No. 3. P. 233–253. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23337486.2020.1815385
Truusa T.T., Kasearu K., Strömpl J. (2021) Military Spouses in Contemporary Estonia: Meaning Making in the Stories of the Wives and Partners of Active Servicemen. Journal of Baltic Studies. Vol. 52. No. 3. P. 307–325. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01629778.2021.1915830
Ukhova D. (2022) Doing Gender with Class: Gender Division of Unpaid Work in Russian Middle-Class Dual Earner Heterosexual Households. Journal of Family Issues. Vol. 43. No. 12. P. 3244–3270. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X211042846
Van Dijk T.A. (1993) Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis. Discourse & Society. Vol. 4. No. 2. P. 249–283. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926593004002006
Wodak R., Meyer M. (2001) Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis In: Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Sage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857028020
Ziff E., Garland-Jackson F. (2020) “I’m Not Your “Typical” Military Wife”: The Construction of Gender and Agency Through Stereotypes. Armed Forces & Society. Vol. 46. No. 3. P. 376–396. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X19875488
Zinn J.O. (2011) The Biographical Management of Risk and Uncertainty – British Veterans. Historical Social Research/ Historische Sozialforschung. Vol. 36. No. 3. P. 237–269. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17169/FQS-11.1.1457
Article
Received: 12.11.2024
Accepted: 31.03.2025
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APA
Osokina, D. A. (2025). Social Policy Discourse as a Frame of a New Repertoire of Gender Contracts for Wives of the Mobilized. Interaction. Interview. Interpretation, 17(1), 87-107. https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2025.17.1.5
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Field work research
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