Power and society in the GDR, 1961-1979 : the 'normalisation of rule'?

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Bibliographic Information

Power and society in the GDR, 1961-1979 : the 'normalisation of rule'?

edited by Mary Fulbrook

Berghahn Books, 2009

  • : hardback

Other Title

Power and society in the German Democratic Republic, 1961-1979

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 325-333) and index

Contents of Works

  • The concept of 'normalisation' and the GDR in comparative perspective / Mary Fulbrook
  • 'Aggression in felt slippers' : normalisation and the ideological struggle in the context of détente and ostpolitik / Merrilyn Thomas
  • Economic politics and company culture : the problem of routinisation / Jeannette Madarász
  • Rural functionaries and the transmission of agricultural policy : the case of Bezirk Erfurt from the 1960s to the 1970s / George Last
  • The 'societalisation' of the state : sport for the masses and popular music in the GDR / Dan Wilton
  • Communication and compromise : the prerequisites for cultural participation / Esther von Richthofen
  • Learning the rules : local activists and the Heimat / Jan Palmowski
  • Practices of survival, ways of appropriating 'the rules' : reconsidering approaches to the history of the GDR / Alf Lüdtke
  • The GDR, a normal country in the centre of Europe / Ina Merkel
  • How do the 1929ers and the 1949ers differ? / Dorothee Wierling
  • Producing the 'socialist personality'? Socialisation, education, and the emergence of new patterns of behaviour / Angela Brock
  • 1977 : the GDR's most normal year? / Mark Allinson
  • 'Normalisation' in the GDR in retrospect : East German perspectives on their own lives / Mary Fulbrook

Description and Table of Contents

Description

The communist German Democratic Republic, founded in 1949 in the Soviet-occupied zone of post-war Germany is, for many people, epitomized by the Berlin Wall; Soviet tanks and surveillance by the secret security police, the Stasi, appear to be central. But is this really all there is to the GDR(1)s history? How did people come to terms with their situation and make new lives behind the Wall? When the social history of the GDR in the 1960s and 1970s is explored, new patterns become evident. A fragile stability emerged in a period characterized by 'consumer socialism', international recognition and detente. Growing participation in the micro-structures of power, and conformity to the unwritten rules of an increasingly predictable system, suggest increasing accommodation to dominant norms and conceptions of socialist 'normality'. By exploring the ways in which lower-level functionaries and people at the grass roots contributed to the formation and transformation of the GDR from industry and agriculture, through popular sport and cultural life, to the passage of generations and varieties of social experience the contributors collectively develop a more complex approach to the history of East Germany.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction: The Concept of 'Normalisation' and the GDR in Comparative Perspective Mary Fulbrook PART I: NORMALISATION AS STABILISATION AND ROUTINISATION? SYSTEMIC PARAMETERS AND THE ROLES OF FUNCTIONARIES Chapter 1. 'Aggression in Felt Slippers': Normalisation and Western Covert Activities in the Context of Detente and Ostpolitik Merrilyn Thomas Chapter 2. Economic Politics and Company Culture: The Problem of Routinisation Jeannette Madarasz Chapter 3. The Professionalisation of Agriculture: Functionaries on the Land George Last Chapter 4. The Societalisation of the State: Sport for the Masses and Popular Music Dan Wilton Chapter 5. Communication and Compromise: The Prerequisites for Cultural Participation Esther von Richthofen Chapter 6. Local Functionaries and Renegotiations of Heimat Jan Palmowski PART II: NORMALISATION AS INTERNALISATION? CONFORMITY, 'NORMALITY' AND 'PLAYING THE RULES' Chapter 7. Practices of Survival - Ways of Appropriating 'the Rules': Reconsidering Approaches to the History of the GDR Alf Ludtke Chapter 8. The GDR - A Perfectly Normal Country, in the Centre of Europe Ina Merkel Chapter 9. How Do the 1929ers and the 1949ers Differ? Dorothee Wierling Chapter 10. Producing the 'Socialist Personality'? Socialisation, Education and the Emergence of New Patterns of Behaviour Angela Brock Chatper 11. 1977: The Most Normal Year of the GDR? Mark Allinson Notes on contributors Bibliography Index

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