Dr. Olena Strelnyk
Olena Strelnyk received her Dr. Habilit. Degree in Sociology in 2018 at Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, Ukraine. She is the author of “Childcare as work. A sociological perspective on mothering” (2017), co-author of “Rebellious Families: Parents’ Rights Activism in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia” (2017), “Gendering Post-Socialism. Gender norms and expectations: Between old legacies and new hierarchies” (2018), and more than 100 scientific and popular articles on gender issues, family and parenthood, family and demographic policy in Ukraine. She was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, University of Michigan (Carnegie Research Fellowship Program, 2016), and at Prague Civil Society Centre (2019).
Her recent research and expert work in Ukraine focused on gender awareness of health care practioners (USAID, 2021), the situation of women form national minorities (OSCE, 2021), the impact of Covid-19 on situation and needs of women (UN Women, 2020), pre-school childcare system in Ukraine (Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, 2020) etc.
Since April 2022, Olena has been a Visiting Scholar within the program to support Ukrainian scholars of the Technical University of Munich.
- Gender studies
- Sociology of family and motherhood
- Social movements
- Feminist theory and practice
Selection
Book
- Childcare as work: a sociological perspective on mothering, Krytyka, 2017 (in Ukrainian)
Book Chapters
- “A Mom, who has time for everything”. Mothers between work and family in contemporary Ukraine. In Ildiko Asztalos Morell and Yulia Gradskova (eds.) Gendering Post-Socialism. Gender norms and expectations: Between old legacies and new hierarchies, Routledge, 2018
- Conservative Parents’ Mobilization in Ukraine. In Katalin Fabian and Elzbieta Korolzuk (eds.) Rebellious Families: Parents’ Rights Activism in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia, Indiana University Press, 2017
Peer-reviewed articles
- Gendered protests: Mothers’ civic activism and the war in Ukraine. In Laboratorium: Russian Review of Social Research. 2019. 11(2):5–26
- The life by Dr Komarovsky: the role of expert knowledge in constructing of contemporary parenthood. In Laboratorium: Russian Review of Social Research. 2015, №2, рр. 83-105 (in Russian), extended summary in English
Articles (the selected list)
- Mother’s position in the labor market as a condition for structuring the mothering practice. In Bulletin of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. 2017. Issue 1 (8) (in Ukrainian).
- Mothering and care for children in a risk society In Ukrainskyi sotsium. 2017. №1 (in Ukrainian).
- Practices of combining paid work and childcare by employed mothers In Sociological Studies. 2016. № 8. (in Russian).
- Motherhood and social changes: transformative child care practices. In Bulletin of Kharkiv National University. 2016. Issue 37 (in Ukrainian).
- Workplaces that are (un)friendly to working women with family responsibilities. In Ukrainskyi sotsium. 2015. №4 (in Ukrainian).
- Institutional services of child care as a tool of policy in supporting working parents. In Ukrainskyi sotsium. 2015. №2 (in Ukrainian).
- Mothering as care practices: the conceptual aspects of analysis, In Bulletin of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. 2014. Issue 1 (5) (in Ukrainian).
- State neotraditionalism and family policy in Ukraine. In Sociological Studies 2014, vol.9 (in Russian).
- Good mothers, good fathers. Gender asymmetry of socio cultural ideas of responsible parenting. In Sociological Studies of Contemporary Society: Methodology, Theory, Methods / V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. 2013, issue 19. (in Russian)
- Reproductive migration: auxiliary reproductive technologies in a global dimension. In Gender Journal “Ya”. 2013. № 2 (33). (in Russian).
- Commodification of motherhood (an example on auxiliary reproductive technologies market) In Bulletin of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. 2013. Issue 1. (in Russian).
- Ukrainian traditionalism and discourse of women’s blame in low birth-rate In Sociological Studies. 2012. № 8. (in Russian).
- Social stigmatization of single-mother families. In Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing. 2012. №4. (in Ukrainian).
- “We need talk about Kevin”. Motherhood in the frame of blame and responsibility. In Gender Journal “Ya”. 2012. № 2 (20). (in Russian).
- Gender features of child-birth attitudes in contemporary Ukraine. In Social Psychology. 2010. № 5(43). (in Ukrainian).
- Gender, disability and motherhood: points of interception. In The Methodology, Theory and Practice of Sociological Analysis of Contemporary Society / V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University: 2010. issue 16. (in Ukrainian).
- A large family in Ukraine: discourses and contradictions of social policy. In Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing. 2011. №1. (in Ukrainian) etc.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS (the selected list)
- 2016 – “National Values” Vs “Morally Degraded” West: A Family And Children In The Focus Of Conservative Mobilization In Ukraine (Chicago, USA)
- 2014 – Parenthood in the focus of Ukrainian neotraditionalism: state rhetoric, family policy. conservative movements (Stockholm, Sweden)
- 2013 – The role of education and expert knowledge in reproduction of pseudo/anti-gender discourse: the Ukrainian case (Marburg, Germany)
- 2012 – Ukrainian neo-traditionalism VS Gender policy: the role of state, church and far right ideology (Nuremberg, Germany)
- 2012 – Neo-traditionalism VS gender policy: the Ukrainian context (Vienna, Austria) etc.
MEDIA ARTICLES AND BLOGS (the selected list)
- 2020 – Seven children and more. „Ideal Ukrainian Family“ and invisible women in talks about birth rate. In Zmist, January 14, in Ukrainian
- The Pandemic, Coronavirus, and Quarantine: Women at Risk. In Hender v detaliakh, March 18
- 2019 – »Eine gute Mutter schafft alles«. Frauen zwischen Beruf und Erziehung in der Ukraine, Ukraine-Analysen Ausgabe 226 (09.12.2019), in German
- Fighting to be seen: how Ukrainian and Russian professional women are securing their place in public, Open Democracy, in English
- Are you a beauty or Beregynia? How schools see girls in the 21st century. In Zmist, in Ukrainian
- 2018 – When to give birth: How maternal age changed over the last 100 years. In Gender in details (Hender v detaliakh), in Ukrainian
- Should we be afraid of anti discriminatory expertise of school textbooks, In Ukrainska Pravda. Zhyttia, in Ukrainian
- «Rebellious dads”: fathers’ movement in Poland, Ukraine and Czech Republic, In Povaha, in Ukrainian
- 2017 Family transformations. Why we will not be back to the ideal of traditional family? In WoMo, in Ukrainian
- Feminism and motherhood, In Povaha, in Ukrainian
- From kindergarten to model agency: how ‘beauty cult’ affects girls. In Ukrainska Pravda. Zhyttia, in Ukrainian
- Five counter-arguments about „women’s guilt“ in the demographic crisis. In Povaha, in Ukrainian
- – “A Mom, who has time for everything”: Ukrainian mothers between work and family. In Ukrainska Pravda. Zhyttia
INTERVIEWS FOR MEDIA (the selected list, in Ukrainian)
- 2018 – Olena Strelnyk: Modern Mothering is an Emotional Work, Center for Human Rights Information,
- Gender sensitivity of Poltava media, Radio “Ltava”,
- 2017 – Mia Mama. A Portrait of Ukrainian mother, In Focus.Ua,
- Became a mother, become invisible, In Kolo,
- Public radio,
- Poltava by the eyes of women: what is the gender perspective on the city different? In Tribune,
- Modern maternity: intensity, professionalism, high demands and psychological pressure. In Tribune,
- Call women to have more children means cynically ignoring the social conditions of motherhood, In Dyvys’-Info,
- TSN (1 + 1) „Basic Instinct“,
- TV show release 1
- TV show release 2
- TV show release 3
- 2015 There is no place for children. In Focus.Ua etc.
- Taught courses (different years): Sociology (including one semester in English), Cultural studies, Methods of sociological researches, Sociology of Communication for undergraduate students, Sustainable Development Goals for MA students.
- 2019, 2020, 2021 – ‘Gendered education’, “Gendered family: parenting and care in modern Ukraine” (MA Program, Kyiv National University), in English
PUBLIC TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS (the selected list)
- 2019 “Who cares? Creating a caring society“, Taras Shevchenko National University (the video record) (Dis)empowered women? Promoting gender equality in the challenging contexts of Ukraine and the Czech Republic (Prague, Czech Republic)
- 2017-2018 Public talk for HR-experts “Care as work: work and family balance” (Kharkiv),(Un)changeable family in a changing world (Kyiv), Sociological surveys: trust or check? (Poltava), Book presentations (Kyiv, Lviv, Lutsk, Sumy, Poltava, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro, Cherkasy, Chernihiv etc.)
- 2016 Public lectures in the frame of the TV project “Suspil’nyy universytet” on Pershyi. Ua. “A family and parenthood in contemporary Ukraine” and Gendered parenting etc.
- 2019 – winner of the „Best Women’s Initiatives for Community Development“ competition
- 2018 – short list of “Book of the Year – 2017’, nomination “Sophiya”