SAHABIC – women’s roles in a post-socialist environment
Experiences, ideas, reflections
Let me start with a personal moment that sparked this research. In 2021, sitting at a conference, I found myself listening to discussions about white privilege that made me wonder: what does privilege mean for a white woman in 1980s Czechoslovakia? This moment crystallized a crucial gap in our field – the missing voices of women who lived under state socialism. /Katerina Koci/
The above-mentioned project is an interdisciplinary initiative that aims to explore the parallels between a biblical story and the stories of real women living in post-socialism zoomed in by a socialist film or a series of films made during the regime change in terms of the roles of women.
We invite you to join us for a discussion on the 20. June in Pécs about your experiences and views on the role of women before and after the regime change. We are particularly interested in your thoughts on motherhood, women's roles, the workplace and the challenges faced during this period.
We need your voice! The project is in the preparatory phase, which means we are planning to submit a proposal, so hopefully we can address this issue in the future. The discussion will be organised as a focus group to test existing issues and we welcome your views and feedback. Your participation will help the project succeed in the long and difficult peer review process and we are very grateful for your help.
A focus group is a form of research where, like a round table discussion, participants contribute their opinions, experiences and feedback to a deeper understanding of a topic. This method has proven successful in exploring topics that are often controversial and unclear, and therefore need everyone's input to get a more rounded picture.
This pre-testing process is voluntary for everyone, participation can be withdrawn at any time, responses will be treated anonymously and will not be used in any subsequent research and analysis - so will not be published anywhere and audio recordings will be deleted once the test phase is over.
We aim to study the topic in different countries, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia and East Germany. Through this comprehensive research, we aim to draw attention to problems and issues that have been little researched so far, thereby gaining a deeper insight into women's roles in post-socialist countries, not only deepening and renewing the field of research, but also shedding light on the details of issues that are underrepresented in the public domain and often taken for granted and taken for granted, revealing cultural differences and patterns. To do this, we need to create a discourse in which every voice counts.
Schedule Focus group discussion
Place and time
20 June 2025 (Friday), Pécs
17:00: Intro
Meeting, introductions, coffee and cake
17:15-17:35: Inspiration
Presentation of two scenes from the once popular series “Neighbours”, associations, short reflections
17:35-18:00: Motif
Presentation of a biblical story: the story of Sarah and Hagar as a cultural product in the 21st century.
18:00-18:30 Development
Sharing own experiences, ideas, thoughts based on the scenes seen and heard and beyond: focus on the personal experience.
18:30-18:45: Closing chord
Reflection, discussion of gaps, some questions on education,
religion, experiences; feedback and criticism.
Organised by
Katerina Koci
katerina.koci@univie.ac.at
+420 608 283 300 (CZ, EN, DE)
Sára Heidl
sara.eszter.heidl@univie.ac.at
+36 20 285 6520 (HU, EN, DE)
University of Vienna
Schenkenstraße 8-10
1010 Vienna