"As the Soviet communist regime gave way to democracy the emergence of an entirely new political and social landscape had the potential to turn Russian society upside down. In Mothers and Soldiers Amy Caiazza looks at the effects of this seismic change on gender roles, and specifically the role of women in a newly democratic Russia. Observing through a gendered lens, institutions like the military, and the process of making public policy, Caiazza finds that despite the institutional disruption, the pattern of gender role ideologies maintained continuity from the former times while at the same time embracing aspects of Western feminism."--BOOK JACKET.