Dictatorship as Experience

Towards a Socio-Cultural History of the GDR
1. Auflage 1999
ISBN: 978-1-57181-181-3
Verlag: Berghahn Books

Buch, Englisch, 402 Seiten, Format (B × H): 145 mm x 222 mm, Gewicht: 635 g

A decade after the collapse of communism, this volume presents a historical reflection on the perplexing nature of the East German dictatorship. In contrast to most political rhetoric, it seeks to establish a middle ground between totalitarianism theory, stressing the repressive features of the SED-regime, and apologetics of the socialist experiment, emphasizing the normality of daily lives. The book transcends the polarization of public debate by stressing the tensions and contradictions within the East German system that combined both aspects by using dictatorial means to achieve its emancipatory aims. By analyzing a range of political, social, cultural, and chronological topics, the contributors sketch a differentiated picture of the GDR which emphasizes both its repressive and its welfare features. The sixteen original essays, especially written for this volume by historians from both east and west Germany, represent the cutting edge of current research and suggest new theoretical perspectives. They explore political, social, and cultural mechanisms of control as well as analyze their limits and discuss the mixture of dynamism and stagnation that was typical of the GDR.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Jarausch, Konrad H.

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Weltgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Deutsche Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

List of Abbreviations

Introduction: Beyond Uniformity: The Challenge of Historicizing the GDR

Konrad H. Jarausch

PART I: THE THEORETICAL PROBLEM OF DICTATORSHIP

Chapter 1. The GDR: A Special Kind of Modern Dictatorship

Jürgen Kocka

Chapter 2. Modernization and Modernization Blockages in GDR Society

Detlef Pollack

Chapter 3. Care and Coercion: The GDR as Welfare Dictatorship

Konrad H. Jarausch

PART II: MECHANISMS OF POLITICAL REPRESSION

Chapter 4. From Dismantling to Currency Reform: External Origins of the Dictatorship, 1943-1948

Jochen Laufer

Chapter 5. Foreign Influences on the Dictatorial Development of the GDR, 1949-1955

Michael Lemke

Chapter 6. Repression and Tolerance as Methods of Rule in Communist Societies

Mario Keßler and Thomas Klein

PART III: MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL

Chapter 7. Creating State Socialist Governance: The Case of the Deutsche Volkspolizei

Thomas Lindenberger

Chapter 8. Food Supply in a Planned Economy: SED Nutrition Policy between Crisis Response and Popular Needs

Burghard Ciesla and Patrice G. Poutrus

Chapter 9. The Myth of Female Emancipation: Contradictions in Women's Lives

Leonore Ansorg and Renate Hürtgen

Chapter 10. The Socialist Glass Ceiling: Limits to Female Careers

Dagmar Langenhan and Sabine Roß

PART IV: CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF DOMINATION

Chapter 11. Dictatorship as Discourse: Cultural Perspectives on SED Legitimacy

Martin Sabrow

Chapter 12. The Fettered Media: Controlling Public Debate

Simone Barck, Christoph Classen and Thomas Heimann

Chapter 13. Criticism and Censorship: Negotiating Cabaret Performance and Book Production

Sylvia Klötzer and Siegfried Lokatis

Chapter 14. The Pivotal Cadres: Leadership Styles and Self-Images of GDR-Elites

Arnd Bauerkämper and Jürgen Danyel

PART V: TEMPORAL TRANSFORMATIONS

Chapter 15. Stagnation or Change? Transformations of the Workplace in the GDR

Peter Hübner

Chapter 16. The Hitler Youth Generation in the GDR: Insecurities, Ambitions and Dilemmas

Dorothee Wierling

Chapter 17. Reforming Socialism? The Changing of the Guard from Ulbricht to Honecker during the 1960s

Monika Kaiser

Chapter 18. Mobility and Blockage during the 1970s

Ralph Jessen

PART VI: POSTSCRIPT

Chapter 19. Rethinking the Second German Dictatorship

Christoph Kleßmann

Selected Bibliography

Notes on Contributors

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Jarausch, Konrad H.
Konrad H. Jarausch is Lurcy Professor of European Civilization at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a Director of the Zentrum für Zeithistorische Studien in Potsdam, Germany.