Book review: Sociology of Woman’s Labour

The author of Sociology of Woman’s Labour, Mileva Gurivska is an outstanding member of the second generation of sociologists in North Macedonia. She is not only professor of sociology at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, but also an influential figure in public life, who campaigns for women’s rights and is the current president of the European Movement in North Macedonia. Within sociology, Mileva Gurovska has made important contributions in the field of the sociology of work and, in the last decade, the sociology of women’s labour. Sociology of Woman’s Labour is the result of that effort. It is a pioneering work, which opens new horizons in the analysis of labour from a gender perspective, with a particular focus on the analysis of women’s labor. The book is divided into seven chapters, and the second, “Social relations between the sexes: history, concepts, ideologies” provokes the most attention. Yet, although Gurovska identifies well the most important concepts in determining gender relations, there seems to be a lack of in-depth focus on contemporary concepts and authors. However, the last chapter is original in its attempt to delimit women’s labor (“Social conditions for social promotion of women in North Macedonia”) is especially important. Here the author tries to present the evolutionary development of women’s labour in North Macedonia, in order to analyse the current situation. Gurovska begins analysis of the evolutionary development of women’s labour with the period before industrialization, which in North Macedonia began relatively late, in the early 20th century. During this period, Gurovska distinguishes between the position of women in livestock families in most of the country and in the agricultural counties in south-eastern Macedonia. In both cases the position of the woman was not enviable, but it was better in the agricultural families where the women were involved in the production process, in contrast to the livestock families where they were locked in their homes. The author insists on the importance of communism as an ideology for the development of women’s rights, because in North Macedonia, communists insisted on breaking with traditional values that tool for granted the subordination of women. However, the author herself notes that after the Second World War the communists insisted on industrialization, so the increase of women’s participation in the labor market, especially in industry, was a by-product of this process. Even when some women held 1104225 EJW0010.1177/13505068211046297European Journal of Women’s StudiesBook reviews book-review2021