Croatia - Women's Infoteka - Women's Information & Documentation Center

WUNRN

http://www.wunrn.com

CROATIA - WOMEN'S INFOTEKA

WOMEN'S INFORMATION & DOCUMENTATION CENTER

http://www.zinfo.hr/engleski/aboutus.htm

WOMEN'S INFOTEKA (ŽENSKA INFOTEKA) is women's information and documentation center founded in Zagreb in December 1992 as one of the first in Croatia and Eastern Europe. The basic activities are:

Focus
Focus and goals are: preservation of knowledge about women's history and women's movements in Croatia as well as constant work to make public aware of it, promotion of and support to women's groups and individual women working to achieve global and true equality in all of the fields of human endeavor and support to all of the attempts to make women and their achievements more visible and valued by the society.

Databases
Databases - document the present social, political, economical and cultural status of women in the contemporary society. They include statistical and demographic data on women, the directories of Croatian and regional women's groups, the survey of foreign women's groups and international networks. They contain data on different aspects of women's lives and activities (politics, violence against women, media, law, art, religion etc.) as well as information on international funding sources for women's projects, national and international information on significant events (seminars, conferences, etc. ).

The Archive - The archive as a part of data bases, systematically collect historical documents/materials on women, women's and feminist groups and initiatives in Croatia as well as materials on common history of women's movement in the region of Former Yugoslavia. The archive collection consists of different documents, leaflets, posters, group programs, brochures, press-clippings, video and the photo archive.

Library
The library is presently in the possession of 3.750 books, 800 magazines and 550 members. The majority of titles are in English, German, and Croatian and in the other foreign languages. The books cover wide range of topics, including: women's writings, feminist theory, women's history, politics, sociology, anthropology, violence against women, lesbian studies, psychology. There is a computer catalogue of all the books that are indexed according to different criteria: by the author, title, and subject matter. The library and the reading-room are open to the public twice a week, and apart from books it offers a dozen of feminist magazines. There is also a small collection of women's films.

Bread and Roses
"Bread and Roses" ("Kruh i Ruže") is a quarterly feminist magazine published by Women's Infoteka dedicated to the specific women's problems. So far there have been thematic issues on democracy and politics, feminism, Beijing conference, women's dancing scene in Croatia, lesbian studies, literature and language, electronic communication, sexuality, gender equality, women in army, women and science etc. Apart from the central topic of the issue, the magazine regularly informs on women's groups in Croatia, their activities, gives the survey of different events in Croatia and abroad, and presents the translations of relevant texts. Each published article has extensive summary in English.

Publishing
Apart from "Bread and Roses", Infoteka's publishing project publishes books of Croatian women authors as well as translations of feminist literature. Books published (1996-2006):

Lydia Sklevicky, "Horses, Women, Wars"
Judith Lewis Herman, "Trauma and Recovery" (translation)
Group of authors "Governments Without Women or The Long March" (seminar documentation)
Group of authors "Women's Ways of Knowing" (translation)
Group of authors "Women and Politics" (seminar documentation)
Women's Infoteka, "Directory of Women's Groups in Croatia"
Group of Authors "Women and Politics: New Militarization of Europe Impacts and Implications" (seminar documentation)
Carole Pateman, "The Disorder of Women" (translation)
Luce Irigaray "I, You, We - Towards a Culture of Diversity" (translation)
Mary Wollstonecraft, "Vindication of the Rights of Woman" (translation)
Erica Fischer, "Aimée and Jaguar" (translation)
Carole Pateman "The Sexual Contract" (translation)
Judith Butler, "Gender Trouble" (translation)
Women's Infoteka "Thesaurus of Women's Terminology"
Women's Infoteka "Directory of Women's Groups in Croatia"
Group of authors "Women and Politics: Feminism with an eastern touch", (seminar documentation)
Ljiljana Filipović "Hawk in the Shoemaker's shop"
Anne Phillips "Engendering Democracy" (translation)
Camille Paglia "Sexual Personae: Art and Decadance from Nefertiti to Emily
Dickinson" (translation)
Group of authors "Women and Politics: Women in History - History Without
Women" (seminar documentation)
Andrea Dworkin "Letters from a War Zone" (translation)
Gloria Steinem "Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem" (translation)
Group of authors "Women and Politics: Gender in Political Theory" (seminar
documentation).
Teresa de Lauretis "The Practise of Love: Lesbian Sexuality and Perverse Desire" (translation)
Joan Wallach Scott "Gender and the Politics of History" (translation)
Đurđa Knežević "About my Mum, Russians, Firemans and Others"
Andrea Feldman "The Call of Syracuse or Why am I in Politics"
Adrienne Rich "On Lies, Secrets and Silence - Selected Prose 1966-1978" (translation)
Group of authors "Women and Politics: Contemporary Women's/Feminist Movements in Post-Communist Countries - 10 Years After" (seminar documentation)
Nira Yuval-Davis "Gender & Nation" (translation)
Gordana Bosanac (ed.) "Selected Essays by Blazenka Despot"
Wenona Giles (ed.) "Feminists Under Fire – Exchanges Across War Zones" (translation)
Andrea Feldman (ed.) "Women in Croatia – Cultural history"
Group of authors «Women and Politics: Sexuality between the local and the global” (seminar documentation)
Sylvia Walby "Gender Transformations" (translation)
"Group of authors: Women and Politics: Eastern Europe and the Third World – Women's Attempt to Re-establish the Dialogue" (seminar documentation)
Daša Drndic "Feminist Handwriting or Political Parable: Lillian Hellman"
Alice Schwarzer "Simone de Beauvoir - Rebel and Pathfinder" (translation)
"Group of authors: Women and Politics: Ten Years After " (seminar documentation)

Forthcoming releases (2006-2007):

Patricia Highsmith "Carol" (translation)

Seminars
INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR "WOMEN AND POLITICS"
Every since 1996 year Women's Infoteka is organizing an international seminar on Women and Politics which gathers women mostly from Eastern European, former Soviet Union and Middle East countries to discuss various topics within the framework of the main title of the seminar. Every year close to forty women each year is taking part in its work. Women's Infoteka organizes this annual seminar in cooperation with Heinrich Boell Stiftung, Inter University Center, Dubrovnik, and since 1999, its partner organization has been WISE (Women International Studies Europe). Seminar takes place in Dubrovnik.

Other activities
Women's network - It is a long-term project that aims at establishing the communication network of women's groups and individuals in Croatia as well as networking with similar networks in the region. Apart from making fast communication and exchange of information possible, the aim is to facilitate group work and help establish personal contacts. The technological basis of the network is, together with classical modes of communication, electronic mail.
Women's Infoteka cooperate with similar centers all over the world, trying to strengthen the cooperation, improve and widen the exchange of information, and initiate joint projects. Representatives of Women's Infoteka regularly attend different events in Croatia and abroad, and very often coorganize them.