The Institute for Public Affairs issued a new publication Tu a teraz: sondy do života žien 45+, (Here and Now: Probes into the Lives of Women 45+) edited by Zora Bútorová and co-authored by six social scientists. The book is in Slovak language and has an extensive English summary.
The publication is the result of a project called Plus for Women 45+ by the EU Community Initiative EQUAL, number 95/04-I/33-4.1, financed by the European Social Fund. It is the second of six research studies prepared as part of this project. It presents four case studies that offer insight into the work and family lives of women over 45 in contemporary Slovakia. The principal method of gathering information was in-depth, semi-standardized interviews with female respondents that were conducted in four different regions and social environments. All interviews were preceded by an analysis of the local labor market based on available statistical data and expert estimates.
The interviews were conducted by the authors of the case studies themselves. The copious empirical material is truly authentic. It features the individual life stories and adaptation strategies of the respondents, which have been shaped by the dramatic socio-economic and political changes in Slovakia since the fall of communism in 1989.
In her study When a Hobby Becomes a Business: The Experience of Women from the Lučenec Area, Sylvia Šumšalová examines the work and family lives of businesswomen over 45 who have received assistance from the Integra Foundation.
The study Working Conditions of Seamstresses in Northern Slovakia, or the True Price of the Dress We May Be Wearing Right Now is the result of a collaborative effort by sociologists Lýdia Marošiová and Zora Bútorová and lawyer Janka Debrecéniová. It gives a sociological description of and a legal commentary on the working conditions of seamstresses employed at clothing and household textile firms in Northern Slovakia.
The study When Seasonality Matters: The Employment Situation of Women in a Tourist Region by Martina Sekulová examines the working conditions and family lives of women over 45 in a spa region in Northern Slovakia.
The study Situation of Women from the Humenné District in the Context of Labor Migration Abroad co-written by Jana Andruchová and Zora Bútorová, describes the life of women who have personal experience of labor migration abroad. Most of the interviewed women work as nurses taking care of elderly people.
The book was launched during the international conference Women 45+ on Labor Market: Gender, Age and Equality of Opportunities on May 10th 2007.
The book’s cover features the artwork of Pavlína Fichta Čierna, who is one of Slovakia’s leading visual artists.
To order the publication Tu a teraz: sondy do života žien 45+, please contact Peter Pavilek pavilek@ivo.sk .
The book was launched during the international conference Women 45+ on Labor Market: Gender, Age and Equality of Opportunities on May 10th 2007 by its editor Zora Bútorová. From left to right: the moderator Martin Bútora (IVO) and the authors of case studies Jana Andruchová (Labor Office Humenné), Martina Sekulová (IVO), Janka Debrecéniová (Citizen and Democracy), Lýdia Marošiová (IVO) and Sylvia Šumšalová (IVO).
Lýdia Marošiová and Janka Debrecéniová spoke about the working conditions of seamstresses in four textile firms in Northern Slovakia.
Jana Andruchová spoke about the life of women 45+ shaped by labor migration abroad. From right to left: Martina Sekulová, Jana Andruchová and Lýdia Marošiová.
Jiřina Šiklová from the Department of Social Work at Charles University Prague appreciated that the book tackled hot and sometimes even tabooed social issues.
From left to right: the author of the book’s cover Pavlína Fichta Čierna, Jana Cviková and Jana Juráňová (Aspekt feminist association), Jiřina Šiklová and Zora Bútorová.
Photo by Paula Jójárt and IVO
