Gender Politics in the Western Balkans traces the development of women"s consciousness in the lands of the South Slavs from the early years of the twentieth century, on the eve of the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, to the situation during and after the Serbian Insurrectionary War of 1991-95. The book embraces historical chapters, contemporary political analyses, and cultural studies (focusing on literature and religion). Socialist Yugoslavia undertook a relatively unusual experiment during the forty-six years of its existence (1945-91)-to eliminate the sources of social, economic, and gender inequality while laying the foundation for a society in which women and men could enjoy complete equality in politics, in education and careers, and in family life. Although the aspiration was shared with other communist countries, Yugoslavia gave its experiment a unique twist by linking its program with institutional changes to be realized through self-management organs...