From Education to Employment: Occupations and Careers in the Social Transformation of East Germany

Deveiopment planning in India, as in other developing countries, has generally been aimed at fostering an industrially-oriented policy as the engine of economic growth. This one-sided economic development, which results in capital formation, creation of urban elites, and underprivileged social classes of a modern society, has led to distortions in the social structure as a whole. On the contrary, as a result of this uneven economic development, which is narrowly measured in terms of economic growth and capital formation, the fruits of development have gone to the people according to their economic power and position in the social structure: those occupying higher positions benefiting much more than those occupying the lower ones. Thus, development planning has tended to increase inequalities and has sharpened divisive tendencies. Victor S. D'Souza, an eminent Indian sociologist, utilizing the Indian census data of 1961, 1971, and 1981, examines the problem of structural inequality with particular reference to the Indian Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes - the two most underprivileged sections of the present Indian society which, according to the census of 1981, comprised 15.75 percent and 7.76 percent of India's population respectively. Theoretically, he takes the concept of development in a broad sense as related to the self-fulfIlment of the individual. The transformation of the unjust social structure, the levelling down of glaring economic and social inequalities, and the concern for the development of the underprivileged are for the author the basic elements of a planned development. This is the theoretical perspective of the first chapter, "Development Planning and Social Transformation".

Download Full-text

A Short Story of Enrichment

10.1093/oso/9780190677763.003.0002 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Elisabeth Schimpfössl

Keyword(s):

Short Story ◽

Social Transformation ◽

Foreign Currency ◽

Social Origins ◽

Leadership Positions ◽

Skill Sets ◽

Highly Educated ◽

The Social ◽

Bank Accounts ◽

Gain Access

The opening chapter explores the paradox of a Russian bourgeoisie emerging out of the Soviet elite. It deals with the ways in which these individuals navigated the years of post-Soviet social transformation. Many of the characters in this book were born into socially privileged, highly educated, nonmoneyed Soviet elite. Some used their science vocations and leadership positions in the Komsomol to launch their business careers, exploiting their insider status to gain access to the corridors of power and to foreign-currency bank accounts. While it did help in the climate of the 1990s to be aggressive, wily, and not overly principled, it was more important to have privileged social origins. The new rich used the social assets they had to hand, were quick to recognize which parts of their expertise and skill sets were of no further value in the turmoil, and realigned their resources accordingly.

Download Full-text

East Germany

10.1093/oso/9780198801665.003.0012 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Detlef Pollack ◽

Gergely Rosta

Keyword(s):

Structural Transformation ◽

East Germany ◽

External Factors ◽

The Political ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

State Security ◽

Security Service ◽

The Social ◽

The Church

The case of East Germany raises the question of why religion and church, which had fallen to an unprecedentedly low level after four decades of suppression, have not recovered since 1989. The repressive church politics of the SED were undoubtedly the decisive factor in the unique process of minoritizing churches in the GDR. However, other external factors such as increasing prosperity, socio-structural transformation, and the expansion of the leisure and entertainment sector played an important role, too. In addition, church activity itself probably also helped to weaken the social position of churches. The absence of a church renaissance after 1990 can be explained by several factors, such as the long-term effects of the break with tradition caused by the GDR system, the political and moral discrediting of the church by the state security service, and people’s dwindling confidence in the church, which was suddenly seen as a non-representative Western institution.

Download Full-text