Beyond Egalitarianism

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 123-143
Author(s):  
Christoph Lorke
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Social Differentiation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Unintended Effects ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
Self Image ◽  
Phase Classification

Despite all the political and ideological pronouncements, there were also various forms of social inequality in the ‘real existing socialism’ of the GDR (German Democratic Republic). These have been extensively studied at the latest since the construction of the Berlin Wall. Since these years, there has been an intensified preoccupation with socially deviant living conditions, which have been documented statistically. How- ever, these figures raised questions about the limits of socialist communisation and the realisation of the ideologically articulated goal of bringing about a convergence of the ‘classes and strata’. Therefore, the goal was to synchronize these figures with the state’s self-image, which in turn revealed numerous contradictions. Based on a deconstruction of contemporary statistical measurement procedures as well as studies and the resulting interpretations of social inequality, the article first proposes a phase classification of this approach to social differentiation. In a further step, the resulting intended and unintended effects are illuminated.

Issues Surrounding the Development of the Neo-Nazi Scene in East Berlin

2000 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Brothers
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Culture ◽  
East Berlin ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Third Reich

The rise of neo-Nazism in the capital of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) was not inspired by a desire to recreate Hitler's Reich, but by youthful rebellion against the political and social culture of the GDR's Communist regime. This is detailed in Fuehrer-Ex: Memoirs of a Former Neo-Naxi by Ingo Hasselbach with Tom Reiss (Random House, New York, 1996). This movement, however, eventually worked towards returning Germany to its former 'glory' under the Third Reich under the guidance of 'professional' Nazis.

The PDS and the Concept of the Catch-all Party

2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 27-47
Author(s):  
Daniel Hough
Keyword(s):  
Cast Iron ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Party System ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Electoral Competition ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
At Home

In the years since unification, Germany’s political parties have faceda number of formidable challenges. They range from incorporatingthe citizens of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) into the FederalRepublic’s political processes, reassessing Germany’s role in thewider world, overcoming gridlock on many pressing policy questionsat home (perhaps best understood as the overcoming of the Reformstau),to finding a way out of Germany’s much maligned economicmalaise.1 Such challenges have had a not inconsiderable effect on theGerman party system, the end product of which has been that thissystem, once a bastion of cast-iron stability, has become characterizedby diversity and genuine electoral competition in a way that it hasnot been since the late 1950s. Therefore, the electoral position of themuch-vaunted Volksparteien, if perhaps not their control of the politicalprocess, has slipped considerably.

What Is and to What End Does One Study the History of East German Literature?

PMLA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
pp. 594-609
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Emmerich ◽  
Nicole G. Burgoyne ◽  
Andrew B. B. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Literary History ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
Literary Scholarship ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
East German ◽  
The Right

East german literary history is a case study of how political and cultural institutions interact. the state's cultural regime mo-nopolized the right to publish within its borders and demanded that the nation's new art describe contemporary life or its precedents. Even authors seen in the West as dissidents understood themselves, more often than not, as pursuing that goal and the broader aims of socialism with their work. During the lifespan of the German Democratic Republic, this political albatross weighed on all literary scholarship. Even now, whatever their feelings toward the socialist state, scholars, critics, and readers are bound to approach a text from East Germany as an artifact of its political culture—and rightly, because the political sphere encroached heavily on the artistic. But since German unification, the rise and fall in the stock of so many East German authors has directly resulted from political revelations, raising a number of troubling questions. Though historical distance seemed to have sprung up as abruptly as the Berlin Wall had come down, to what extent does scholarship from the German Democratic Republic represent only a heightened case of what is always true of literary history— namely, that political motivation colors critical evaluation? Is it possible to consider a work of literature with no recourse to the social and political circumstances under which it was written? And would it even be desirable to do so?

Warsaw Collective Security Pact

1956 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-338 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
The Political ◽  
Collective Security ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Security Treaty ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Military Structure ◽  
Supreme Commander

The Political Consultative Committee established under the Warsaw collective security treaty held its first meeting in Prague on January 27 and 28, 1956. In addition to representatives of the eight signatory powers (Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Rumania and the Soviet Union), an observer from the People's Republic of China attended the meeting. According to press reports, a declaration was issued at the close of the two-day meeting in which an immediate big-power agreement to exclude nuclear weapons from the equipment of any armies stationed in Germany was proposed. The declaration said that the Warsaw powers noted a basic change in the international situation and the existence of possibilities for its further improvement; while in Europe the continued armament of the western powers and the remilitarization of Germany made it essential for the signatories to ensure their own safety, at the same time they intended to work constantly for a system of collective security and general disarmament. Specifically, the declaration renewed an earlier Soviet proposal for a European collective security system and the establishment of a zone to include all Germany, where arms and troops would be limited and controlled. In the meantime, it recommended that nonaggression pacts should be made between states, and in general a start should be made to improve relations between states, irrespective of their existing or eventual membership in one or another military bloc. A communique issued with the declaration announced that the newly created army of the German Democratic Republic had been formally accepted into the command of Marshal Ivan S. Konev, supreme commander of the Warsaw treaty military structure.

scholarly journals Sprachliche Entfremdung als Phänomen des Umbruchs in der früheren DDR

Literator ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 155-168
Author(s):  
H. Ester
Keyword(s):  
Federal Republic ◽  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
The Political ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
Political Unification ◽  
Western Side ◽  
Insight Into

Linguistic alienation as phenomenon of the transformation in the erstwhile DDRThe Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic have not yet grown into a coherent unity since the political unification of the two 'Germanies' in 1990. The reason for the lack of sympathy and the irritations on both sides possibly lies in the fact that the actual developments did not meet the general expectations during the first years after 1990. The thesis of my article is that the more profound reasons for the alienation between the western and the eastern part of Germany can be found in the little interest on the western side for the developments in the GDR from 1949 until the fall of the Wall in 1989. The lack of interest in the forty years of the GDR’s existence finds its expression in the alienation of language. In order to improve communication between the Germans of both spheres, the reading of literary texts from the former GDR by members of the entire new Federal Republic of Germany can be a reconcilliatory device. In this way the reader can obtain insight into forty years of history.

scholarly journals Comparison Of Women’s Situation In The Labour Market In The Former GDR And Poland

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-148
Author(s):  
Dorota Witkowska
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
East Germany ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
Activity Rate ◽  
Communist System

Twenty-five years have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of transition in the former socialist countries. The aim of this research is to find out how women in East Germany and Poland, which followed completely different transformation patterns, have been affected by the introduction of market reforms. As a result of the investigation we found that the situation of women in both countries has been changed after the collapse of the communist system in Europe. However, women in former German Democratic Republic, following a significant decrease in their participation in the labour market in the early transition period, went on to become even more active than their counterparts in the Western lands. At the same time, in Poland the economic activity rate of women is lower than was observed before the transformation.

Evacuation to a Cold Country: Child Refugees from the Greek Civil War in the German Democratic Republic, 1949–1989*

2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 675-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Troebst
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
The Political ◽  
Small Contribution ◽  
Socialist State ◽  
The People ◽  
Thirtieth Anniversary ◽  
Country Today ◽  
Better Than

We Greek political emigres celebrate the thirtieth historical anniversary of the GDR as our own holiday since we are vitally connected to this state from its first steps onwards. We feel better than any other foreigner the great joy and the pride of the people of the GDR since, from the foundation of its socialist state, we are marching side by side and since then we by way of our small contribution feel as co-constructors of this grand act. The thirtieth anniversary of the GDR coincides with the thirtieth anniversary of our political emigration to this hospitable country. Today we all remember the first years after our arrival and our caring reception in the GDR. (Speech of the day at the central celebration of the Greek political emigres in the GDR devoted to the thirtieth anniversary of the GDR and the thirtieth anniversary of the political emigration, Dresden, 29 September 1979).

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