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An intersection of literary works on the question of how dictatorships are overcome, which emerged from a transnational project convening acclaimed writers. The generations, European countries of origin and artistic directions represented are both an advantage and a challenge reflected by this anthology. A considerable variety of motivations drove participants: putting into words a contemporary biography of persecution, a descendant's feeling of personal historical responsibility, or the artistic curiosity of the "outsider". The anthology is dedicated to the imaginative power of literature, and to Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe in particular. The formerly multicultural setting of these countries suffered the most from European dictatorships and their insufficiently processed legacies. The cultural transfer exhibited here will help reduce prejudices and promote new forms of understanding with Western Europe: it aims to further a diversified but common European culture.
Rudolf Bahro, Wolfgang Harich and Robert Havemann were probably the best-known critics of the DDR’s ruling Socialist Unity Party. Yet they saw themselves as Marxists, and their demands extended far beyond a democratisation of real socialism. When environmental issues became more important in the West in the 1970s, the Party treated it as an ideological manoeuvre of the class enemy. The three dissidents saw things differently: they combined socialism and ecology, adopting a utopian perspective frowned upon by the state. In doing so, they created political concepts that were unique for the Eastern Bloc. Alexander Amberger introduces them, relates them to each other, and poses the question of their relevance then and now.
What is happening to gender studies and gender research as emerging but contested fields of scientific knowledge in the conditions of the new academic governance? And which role do gender studies and gender research play in the current transformations in academia? All articles in this book make clear that the impacts of the new academic governance have global, glocal and local dimensions which have to be taken into account in analysing the state of gender studies and gender research at the end of the 2010s. From diverse geopolitical and sociocultural views the authors simultaneously draw a multifaceted picture of the current situation, criticise the widespread tendencies of the marketisation...
Remembering Communism examines the formation and transformation of the memory of communism in the post-communist period. The majority of the articles focus on memory practices in the post-Stalinist era in Bulgaria and Romania, with occasional references to the cases of Poland and the GDR. Based on an interdisciplinary approach, including history, anthropology, cultural studies and sociology, the volume examines the mechanisms and processes that influence, determine and mint the private and public memory of communism in the post-1989 era. The common denominator to all essays is the emphasis on the process of remembering in the present, and the modalities by means of which the present perspective shapes processes of remembering, including practices of commemoration and representation of the past. The volume deals with eight major thematic blocks revisiting specific practices in communism such as popular culture and everyday life, childhood, labor, the secret police, and the perception of “the system”.
The Nonprofit Sector in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia (EERCA), edited by David Horton Smith, Alisa V. Moldavanova, and Svitlana Krasynska, uniquely provides a research overview of the nonprofit sector and nonprofit organizations in eleven former Soviet republics, with each central chapter written by local experts. Such chapters, with our editorial introductions, present up-to-date versions of works previously published in EERCA native languages. With a Foreword by Susan Rose-Ackerman (Yale University), introductory and concluding chapters also explain the editors’ theoretical approach, setting the whole volume in several, relevant, larger intellectual contexts, and summarize briefly the gist of the book. The many post-Soviet countries show much variety in their current situation, ranging from democratic to totalitarian regimes.
"Overcoming Dictatorships explores art produced in response to the collapse of political authoritarian systems in 1989, particularly those of the Soviet bloc. A case in point is the visual work and discussions of ten artists who have bean selected and commissioned by 'Overcoming Dictatorships', a 2006-09 project generously funded by the European Union (EU). It aims to create a dialogue on post-dictatorial experiences among participants from countries designated as 'East' and 'West' Europe. Their works represent attempts to overcome collective identity formations of the past (i.e. the Soviet bloc, National Socialism and Fascism), critically engage with the fear of new dictatorships (including...
This volume contains analyses and previously unpublished documents concerning Robert Havemann and his evolution to becoming an opponent of the SED regime. No other intellectual in the GDR was such a harsh opponent of the SED regime as Robert Havemann. A Communist and a Nazi resistance fighter through and through, Havemann was one of the leaders in erecting the new GDR. His advocacy against all forms of social and political subjugation, however, eventually turned him into an opponent of the reigning regime of the GDR. The contributions in this volume illuminate his development and look at his role in the historical shifts that took place in East Germany. The articles are complemented by the publication of important documents from his estate and the Stasi reports on his spectacular lectures held in 1964.
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War die Gesellschaft der DDR nur ein Bestandteil des politischen Systems? Oder entzogen sich soziale Prozesse und gesellschaftliche Beziehungen bis zu einem bestimmten Grad dem Herrschafts- und Steuerungsanspruch der Machthaber? Auf welche Weise überlagerten sich politische Durchdringung und soziale Eigendynamik? Vor allem auf diese Fragen konzentriert sich Arnd Bauerkämper und führt so in bedeutende gesellschaftliche Entwicklungstrends und Grundprobleme der sozialgeschichtlichen Forschung ein. Ausgehend von der Gesellschafts- und Sozialpolitik, thematisiert Bauerkämper Arbeit, Freizeit und wichtige soziale Schichten ebenso wie Merkmale und Widersprüche der "staatssozialistischen" Gesellschaft. Der Studienband umfasst außerdem eine umfangreiche, thematisch gegliederte Bibliographie.