New Books in Sociology Anna Shadrina, "The Babushka Phenomenon: Older Women and the Political Sociology of Ageing in Russia" (UCL Press, 2025)
Dec 4, 2025
Anna Shadrina, a lecturer and author, dives into her book, highlighting the critical role of grandmothers in post-Soviet Russia. She discusses how the 'babushka' identity shapes social roles and caregiving expectations. The conversation reveals the challenges older women face due to economic shifts and pension reforms, alongside the cultural tropes that define them. Shadrina also explores everyday resistance against depoliticization, emphasizing the importance of older women's voices in the socio-political landscape.
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Grandmothers As Informal Welfare Providers
- Post-Soviet welfare retrenchment shifted childcare, housing, and care burdens onto grandmothers as informal state surrogates.
- This normalizes older women's unpaid labor as a civic duty tied to nationalist and demographic goals.
Method: Pen Portraits For Lived Norms
- Use biographical interviews combined with media analysis to reveal tacit norms around ageing.
- Condense life stories into pen portraits to identify core narrative logics.
Babushka As Social Identity
- 'Babushka' functions as a social position and performative identity, not just an age label.
- It signals a post-professional, post-sexual subjectivity expected to prioritise family over public life.
