Conflict and Compromise in East Germany, 19711989 A Precarious Stability [Paperback]

This extensively researched empirical analysis of the GDR in the years 1971-1989 challenges current historical interpretations of GDR history. It focuses on four social groups - youth, women, writers and Christians - to highlight the stability of this socialist society until 1987. The strength of the regime is shown to have been based on a continuously negotiated process of give-and-take involving major parts of the population.Preface Glossary Introduction Central Policy State Institutions Diversity Tensions Communication Within GDR Society Compromises and Participation Conclusion - Stability and the Image of Doom Notes Appendix Bibliography

'A tremendous book - combines a highly original argument with extremely detailed research. Essential reading for all who are interested in the GDR as it really was.' - Mary Fulbrook, University College London, author of Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR, 1949-89

JEANNETTE Z. MADAR?SZ was born in the GDR and moved to Hamburg in September 1989. After reading History at St. Edmund's College, Cambridge, she completed her doctoral thesis at the German department of University College London. She currently works as a Research Fellow, maintains her own website on GDR research and is the Webmaster of the German History Society.