With the collapse of Soviet rule and the emergence of independent Russia, the image of Russian women in the Western imagination has changed dramatically. The authors of this work take a look at what lies behind the above images and how Russian women are coping with a very different sort of life. The main focus is on the effect of unemployment on Russian women and how they are coping with it. The first part of the book looks at why women have been targeted for redundancy and the problems they face in the emerging Russian labour market. The second then goes on to explore the response of the state, a range of women's organizations and of individual women themselves to the new situation. The text is based on case studies and personal interviews carried out in the Moscow region in 1993-94 and aims to provide access to the thinking of women and their organizations in Russia today.