Madeleine Doutney

My research explores masculinity and socialist modernity in East German cultural diplomacy, considering how the GDR sought to harness socialist masculinity as a means of presenting themselves internationally as an educator on gender issues, and thus evidencing their own modernity. My work examines how ideas of gender, class and race intersected in the Cold War world, and reflects on alternative notions of modernity in the 'second world'.

Prior to starting my PhD, I completed a BA in History and an MPhil in Modern European History at Newnham College, Cambridge. My MPhil thesis explored proletarian internationalism in foreign language textbooks in the GDR, and argued that foreign language instruction was theorised as a means of strengthening children's ideological and practical skills as agents of socialist internationalism. My research interests more broadly include gender, socialist internationalism and labour history.