Women Leaders in Central and Eastern Europe

Organizing, Politics, and the Path to Change

Anna M. Górska, Monika Kostera

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9781041118299
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781040627075
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

Women Leaders in Central and Eastern Europe: Organizing, Politics, and the Path to Change is a groundbreaking edited volume that redefines leadership through the lens of women's experiences across a historically and culturally unique region. Drawing on rich, qualitative narratives, the book explores how women have led transformation in politics, public institutions, and organizational life in Central and Eastern Europe. This concise and compelling volume features case studies of individual women leaders, each situated within their country's socio-political context. Highlighting leadership as a practice of meaning-making and collective action, the book challenges dominant Western models centered on hierarchy and individualism. Instead, it offers inspiring accounts of resilience, cooperation, and visionary organizing. Each chapter includes analysis and reflections that bridge personal stories with wider themes in organization and gender studies. Ideal for researchers, scholars, students, and practitioners in organization studies, management, leadership, gender studies, and Central and Eastern European studies, this book is a vital contribution to the global conversation on inclusive and alternative leadership models. It also serves as an invaluable resource for educators and professionals seeking diverse perspectives on organizing and governance.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Endorsements Page
• Half-Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• 1 Introduction: Inscribing New Meanings into Leadership – Central and East European Women
• 2 Against Destruction: Cultivating Human Decency through Entrepreneurship
• 3 Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen: From the Chessboard to the Parliamentary Hemicycle
• 4 Bulgaria: Maria Spirova's Career Path: From Post-Socialist Margins to Transnational Influence
• 5 Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: Leadership in Exile and the Belarusian Democratic Resistance
• 6 Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska: A Scholar and Organiser with a Pro-Social Vision
• 7 Coda
• Index