The Plans That Failed

The Plans That Failed PDF Author: André Steiner
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 178238314X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
The establishment of the Communist social model in one part of Germany was a result of international postwar developments, of the Cold War waged by East and West, and of the resultant partition of Germany. As the author argues, the GDR’s ‘new’ society was deliberately conceived as a counter-model to the liberal and marketregulated system. Although the hopes connected with this alternative system turned out to be misplaced and the planned economy may be thoroughly discredited today, it is important to understand the context in which it developed and failed. This study, a bestseller in its German version, offers an in-depth exploration of the GDR economy’s starting conditions and the obstacles to growth it confronted during the consolidation phase. These factors, however, were not decisive in the GDR’s lack of growth compared to that of the Federal Republic. As this study convincingly shows, it was the economic model that led to failure.

The Plans That Failed

The Plans That Failed PDF Author: André Steiner
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 178238314X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
The establishment of the Communist social model in one part of Germany was a result of international postwar developments, of the Cold War waged by East and West, and of the resultant partition of Germany. As the author argues, the GDR’s ‘new’ society was deliberately conceived as a counter-model to the liberal and marketregulated system. Although the hopes connected with this alternative system turned out to be misplaced and the planned economy may be thoroughly discredited today, it is important to understand the context in which it developed and failed. This study, a bestseller in its German version, offers an in-depth exploration of the GDR economy’s starting conditions and the obstacles to growth it confronted during the consolidation phase. These factors, however, were not decisive in the GDR’s lack of growth compared to that of the Federal Republic. As this study convincingly shows, it was the economic model that led to failure.

The East German Economy, 1945-2010

The East German Economy, 1945-2010 PDF Author: Hartmut Berghoff
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107030137
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
The contributors to this volume consider the economic history of East Germany within its broader political, cultural and social contexts.

The German Democratic Republic Since 1945

The German Democratic Republic Since 1945 PDF Author: Martin McCauley
Publisher: New York : St. Martin's Press
ISBN:
Category : Germany (East)
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description


After the 'Socialist Spring'

After the 'Socialist Spring' PDF Author: George Last
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1845459016
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
Historical analysis of the German Democratic Republic has tended to adopt a top-down model of the transmission of authority. However, developments were more complicated than the standard state/society dichotomy that has dominated the debate among GDR historians. Drawing on a broad range of archival material from state and SED party sources as well as Stasi files and individual farm records along with some oral history interviews, this book provides a thorough investigation of the transformation of the rural sector from a range of perspectives. Focusing on the region of Bezirk Erfurt, the author examines on the one hand how East Germans responded to the end of private farming by resisting, manipulating but also participating in the new system of rural organization. However, he also shows how the regime sought via its representatives to implement its aims with a combination of compromise and material incentive as well as administrative pressure and other more draconian measures. The reader thus gains valuable insight into the processes by which the SED regime attained stability in the 1970s and yet was increasingly vulnerable to growing popular dissatisfaction and economic stagnation and decline in the 1980s, leading to its eventual collapse.

German Economic and Business History in the 19th and 20th Centuries

German Economic and Business History in the 19th and 20th Centuries PDF Author: Werner Plumpe
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 113751860X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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Book Description
German economic history in the industrial age has classically formed an important basis for the study of economic growth and industrialisation more generally. This book aims to introduce English-language readers to modern German economic history based on a selection of work by one of Germany's leading economic and business historians, Werner Plumpe, who places particular emphasis on the institutional structure of the economy. Plumpe's work demonstrates that the country's economic evolution can only be understood by paying close attention to institutional peculiarities, such as the shape of industrial relations and the dynamics of corporate decision-making. It also emphasises the importance of the interconnectedness of capital and labour in the German coordinated market economy and draws attention to individual events and decisions that may have driven long-term economic development, but are rarely considered in approaches that deal primarily with macroeconomic growth. German Economic and Business History in the 19th and 20th Century shows that Germany's economic history still warrants the application of an institutional view of economic transformation that is slightly different from the more formal perspectives dominant in the UK and the US. The book serves as a practical demonstration of a historicist approach to economic history introduced by the German Historical School a century ago, which still inspires large parts of German economic historiography./div

Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism

Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism PDF Author: Kristen R. Ghodsee
Publisher: Bold Type Books
ISBN: 1568588895
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description
A “brilliant,” “engaging,” and “valuable,” (Financial Times) exploration of why capitalism hurts women and how socialism, when done right, can bring economic independence, better labor conditions and, yes, even better sex. In a witty, irreverent op-ed piece that went viral, Kristen Ghodsee argued that women had better sex under socialism. The response was tremendous — clearly she articulated something many women had sensed for years: the problem is with capitalism, not with us. Ghodsee, an acclaimed ethnographer and professor of Russian and East European Studies, spent years researching what happened to women in countries that transitioned from state socialism to capitalism. She argues here that unregulated capitalism disproportionately harms women, and that we should learn from the past. By rejecting the bad and salvaging the good, we can adapt some socialist ideas to the 21st century and improve our lives. She tackles all aspects of a woman's life - work, parenting, sex and relationships, citizenship, and leadership. In a chapter called "Women: Like Men, But Cheaper," she talks about women in the workplace, discussing everything from the wage gap to harassment and discrimination. In "What To Expect When You're Expecting Exploitation," she addresses motherhood and how "having it all" is impossible under capitalism. Women are standing up for themselves like never before, from the increase in the number of women running for office to the women's march to the long-overdue public outcry against sexual harassment. Interest in socialism is also on the rise -- whether it's the popularity of Bernie Sanders or the skyrocketing membership numbers of the Democratic Socialists of America. It's become increasingly clear to women that capitalism isn't working for us, and Ghodsee is the informed, lively guide who can show us the way forward.

Selling the Economic Miracle

Selling the Economic Miracle PDF Author: Mark E. Spicka
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781845452230
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Through an examination of election campaign propaganda and various public relations campaigns, reflecting new electioneering techniques borrowed from the United States, this work explores how conservative political and economic groups sought to construct and sell a political meaning of the Social Market Economy and the Economic Miracle in West Germany during the 1950s.The political meaning of economics contributed to conservative electoral success, constructed a new belief in the free market economy within West German society, and provided legitimacy and political stability for the new Federal Republic of Germany.

Conflict and Stability in the German Democratic Republic

Conflict and Stability in the German Democratic Republic PDF Author: Andrew I. Port
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521866510
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
This book explores the reasons why the post-World War II Communist regime in East Germany outlasted both the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich.

Sociology in Germany

Sociology in Germany PDF Author: Stephan Moebius
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030718662
Category : Civilization
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
This open access book traces the development of sociology in Germany from the late 19th century to the present day, providing a concise overview of the main actors, institutional processes, theories, methods, topics and controversies. Throughout the book, the author relates the disciplines history to its historical, economic, political and cultural contexts. The book begins with sociology in the German Reich, the Weimar Republic, National Socialism and exile, before exploring sociology after 1945 as a key discipline of the young Federal Republic of Germany, and reconstructing the periods from 1945 to 1968 and from 1968 to 1990. The final chapters are devoted to sociology in the German Democratic Republic and the period from 1990 to the present day. This work will appeal to students and scholars of sociology, and to a general readership interested in the history of Germany. Stephan Moebius is Professor of Sociological Theory and Intellectual History at the University of Graz, Austria.

A Socialist Defector

A Socialist Defector PDF Author: Victor Grossman
Publisher: Monthly Review Press
ISBN: 1583677380
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
The rise and successes, the travails, and the eventual demise of the German Democratic Republic told in personal detail by activist and writer Victor Grossman The circumstances that impelled Victor Grossman, a U.S. Army draftee stationed in Europe, to flee a military prison sentence were the icy pressures of the McCarthy Era. Grossman – a.k.a. Steve Wechsler, a committed leftist since his years at Harvard and, briefly, as a factory worker – left his barracks in Bavaria one August day in 1952, and, in a panic, swam across the Danube River from the Austrian U.S. Zone to the Soviet Zone. Fate – i.e., the Soviets – landed him in East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic. There he remained, observer and participant, husband and father, as he watched the rise and successes, the travails, and the eventual demise of the GDR socialist experiment. A Socialist Defector is the story, told in rare, personal detail, of an activist and writer who grew up in the U.S. free-market economy; spent thirty-eight years in the GDR’s nationally owned, centrally administered economy; and continues to survive, given whatever the market can bear in today’s united Germany. Having been a freelance journalist and traveling lecturer – and the only person in the world to hold diplomas from both Harvard and the Karl Marx University – Grossman is able to offer insightful, often ironic, reflections and reminiscences, comparing the good and bad sides of life in all three of the societies he has known. His account focuses especially on the socialism he saw and lived – the GDR’s goals and achievements, its repressive measures and stupidities – which, he argues, offers lessons now in our search for solutions to the grave problems facing our world. This is a fascinating and unique historical narrative; political analysis told with jokes, personal anecdotes, and without bombast.