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8/4/2019 Participation & Control in a State Socialist Society: The German Democratic Republic (WPS 17, 1988) Marilyn Ruesc…
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PARTICIPATION AND CONTROL IN A SfATE SOCIALISf SOCIETY:
THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
by Marilyn RueschemeyerRhode Island School of Design
Working Paper Series #17
This paper studies the organizational penetration of social life in one state socialist country, theGerman Democratic Republic. Comparing organizations and participat ion at the place of work andin residential areas, the paper focuses on the latter. It is based on empirical research onneighborhood interaction in relation to the activities of official organizations in new towns builtduring the last twenty years. The paper identifies uneven patterns of organization and
participation and relates these to problems of political control and stability.
Fall 1988
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PARTICIPATION AND CONTROL IN A STATE SOCIALIST SOCIETY:
THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (1)
Po l i t i ca l Control and Popular Par t ic ipa t ion
The s t a t e s o c i a l i s t regimes of Eas te rn Europe have fo r a
long pe r iod o f t ime shown a remarkable s t a b i l i t y . This
s t a b i l i t y was espec ia l ly evident in th e German Democrat ic
Republ ic (GDR). Coercion mingled with severa l important
o th e r fac to rs . In East Germany a f t e r th e Second World
War, the new regime was, fo r a t l e a s t some Germans, th e
a l t e rna t ive to fascism, while the o ld e l i t e s were
d i sc re d i t e d by Nazi crimes and d e f ea t in war.Denaz i f i ca t ion , massive emigrat ion to the West, and the
'de te rmina t ion to s t a f f c r i t i c a l pos i t ions ( in educa t ion ,
law, and o ther f i e lds ) with l oya l fo l lowers o f th e new
regime crea ted tremendous mobi l i ty chances fo r th e young.
This fos te red an a l leg iance to th e regime which, th rough
th e years , had been cemented by the pr ive leges and th e
s t a tus o f t he se pos i t ions . (2 ) The suppor t of core cadres
1. The work fo r t h i s p ro j e c t was supported by a re sea rch
gran t ~ r o m th e Jo i n t Committee on Easte rn Europe o f th e
American Counci l o f Learned Soc ie t i e s and the Soc ia l
Science Research Counci l , f inanced in p a r t by th e
Nat iona l Endowment fo r th e Humanit ies and th e Ford
Foundat ion. I am a lso g ra t e fu l fo r the he lp and comments
o f Archie Brown, B l a i r Ruble and Hartmut Zimmermann, and
fo r ex tens ive d iscuss ions with D ie t r i ch Rueschemeyer.
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was complemented by a soc ia l and economic pol icy t h a t
guaranteed fu l l employment and t h a t of fe red a slowly
r i s ing s tandard o f l i v ing . As the most advanced
i ndus t r i a l country o f the Eas te rn b loc , the GDR was qu i t e
success fu l in t h i s economic po l icy even if its
achievements were modest when judged by western
s tandards . (3)
These broad h i s t o r i c a l cond i t ions o f s t a b i l i t y were
impor tan t . However, they must be complemented by an
unders tand ing of the so c i a l s t ruc tur ing of power in th e
GDR. A c r i t i c a l l y impor tan t fac to r under ly ing regime
s t a b i l i t y was th e organ iza t iona l pene t ra t ion of GDR
soc ie ty by the leading par ty and its a l l i e d
organ iza t ions . It i s in conjunc t ion with t h i s
. o rgan iza t iona l pene t ra t ion t h a t p o l i t i c a l ideology and
l eg i t ima t ion were impor tan t . Marxism-Leninism and a
2. For a di sccus ion o f the a l l i ance between profes s iona l
and p o l i t i c a l e l i t e s in th e s t a t e s o c i a l i s t coun t r i e s o f
Easte rn Europe as wel l as its breakdown in Poland, see
Gyorgy Konrad and Ivan Sze lenyi (1979) , Walter Connor
(1980) and Michael Kennedy (1987). For a d iscuss ion o f
i s sues of l eg i t imacy and re la ted i ssues in th e GDR by
weste rn so c i a l s c i e n t i s t s , see , fo r example, Thomas
Baylis (1974), Sigr id Meuschel (1987), James McAdams
(1985), and Michael Sodaro (1983).
3. P o l i t i c a l acquiescence exchanged t a c i t l y fo r so c i a l
and economic secur i ty has been analyzed us ing th e concept
o f soc ia l con t rac t . See Walter Connor (1981), Alex Pravda
(1986), and Steven Sampson (1988).
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va r i e ty of pragmat ic der iva t ives , determined the
discourse wi th in th e s t a t e , the par ty and i t s a l l i ed
organ iza t ions . They s e t th e te rms o f acceptable
express ion , and crea ted within the appara tus o f ru le an
accep tance of the system t h a t ranged from a r a the r
fo rmal i s t acknowledgement to an - occas ional ly qu i t e
in tense - commitment to bas ic pr inc ip l e s . However
di lu ted , t h i s i n t e rna l " leg i t imat ion" was of c r i t i c a l
importance. It gave opportunism, f e a r fu l conformity,
ca r ee r making and p o l i t i c a l l y unconcerned profess iona l i sm
a pUblic appearance o f normal and p o l i t i c a l l y r espec tab le
behav ior . The appara tus as a whole thus gained
cons iderable coherence. And t h a t was fundamental for the
a b i l i t y of the par ty and th e re la ted mass organ iza t ion to
pene t ra t e soc ie ty to th e ex ten t it did .
The GDR as wel l as o th e r s o c i a l i s t coun t r ies had
developed a system o f mass organ iza t ions re la ted to a
wide va r i e ty o f i n t e r e s t s . Most people were involved in
one o r more of these o rgan iza t ions . They were led and
coordina ted by th e dominant par ty , th e Soc i a l i s t Unity
Par ty (SED). There was a massive i n s i s t ence on popular
pa r t i c ipa t ion and on more than rou t ine involvement , on"g e se l l s c h a f t l i c h e Akt i v i t i t " . Such pa r t i c ipa t ion became
a cond i t ion fo r soc ia l advancement, even fo r modest
advancement. The pa r t i c ipa n t s could n ot a l l be
charac te r ized as mere oppor tun i s t s . Some d id pursue
cu l t u ra l and so c i a l goals t h a t went beyond mere s e l f
i n t e r e s t .
Pa r t i c ipa t ion crea ted involvement. Many people
pa r t i c ipa t e d only on paper , b ut some d id become
involved in some ac t i v i t y o f t h e i r choosing. They
became - on some l eve l - inc reas ing ly p a r t o f
dec i s ion making, even if what they themselves could
determine was almost withou t excep t ion very l imi ted .
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Such involvement, no mat te r how minimal, impl ied a
degree o f compl ic i ty in th e e x i s t i ng system and by
extens ion a t l e a s t a pass ive accep tance o f its
l eg i t imacy.
Such pa r t i c ipa t ion ex i s t ed within a network of con t ro l .
No assoc ia t ions t h a t were th e r e s u l t o f pr iva t e
i n i t i a t i v e s were al lowed. True, th e es tab l i shed churches
were given some space fo r organized ac t i v i t y , and
occas iona l ly a few n o n -p o l i t i c a l as soc ia t ions l ike soccer
fan c lubs also gave express ion to sen t iments beyond t h e i r
immediate spor t s concerns . However, a l l o ther a c t i v i t i e s
with any pub l ic charac te r func t ioned only wi th th e
consent and co n t r o l by th e leading par ty , the SED.
·At th e same t ime, the l inkage between par t i c i pa t i on and
consent had another s ide .. Organ iza t ions in which people
became ac t ive had to se rve some i n t e r e s t s of th e
pa r t i c ipa n t s if they were to involve them a t a l l . Much o f
th e o f f i c i a l l y r e g i s t e r e d publ ic pa r t i c ipa t ion had t h i s
charac te r o f mere paper ac t i v i t y . But the re ex i s t ed in
th e GDR a realm o f s i g n i f i c a n t ac tua l o rgan iza t iona l
pa r t i c ipa t ion . I t i s here - r a t h e r than in the i s sue o f a
general ized popular l eg i t ima t ion o f th e system - t h a t we
encounter one o f th e c ruc i a l underpinnings o f t h i s
p o l i t i c a l system.
The research to be r epor ted dea l s with th e d i s t r i bu t i on
o f pa r t i c ipa t ion and co n t r o l in d i f f e r e n t spheres o f
l i f e . I t focuses on r e s i den t i a l areas and in p a r t i c u l a r
on th e new towns t h a t have been th e r e s u l t o f a massive
cons t ruc t ion program s ince th e e a r l y 1970s. I t i nqu i res
in to th e r e l a t i ons between spontaneous so c i a l i n t e r a c t ion
and pa r t i c ipa t ion in mass organ iza t ions , and it compares
t h e i r ef fec t iveness in r e s i den t i a l a reas with such
par t i c i pa t i on in th e world o f work. E a r l i e r r esearch on
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unions and work groups a l lows t h i s comparison o f
pa r t i c ipa t ion and con t ro l in th e two spheres o f l i f e t h a t
fo r most people are th e arenas of t h e i r c e n t r a l l i f e
i n t e r e s t s - th e world o f work and o f occupa t iona l
advancement and success and th e world o f pr iva t e l i f e ,
family, neighbors and f r i ends . The i n i t i a l i n t e r e s t in
these s tud ies was one of an th ropo log ica l , dense
desc r ip t ion . They were t o i n v e s t i g a t e th e forms of
pe rsona l l i f e in th e broader con tex t o f a d i f f e r e n t
p o l i t i c a l and economic orde r . Yet they also have profound
impl ica t ions fo r th e s t ru c t u re o f p o l i t i c a l l i f e as it
ex i s t ed in t h i s s t a t e s o c i a l i s t soc ie ty . To exp lore t he se
by comparing the po l i t i ca l / i deo l og i ca l p en e t r a t i o n of
work l i f e and o f r e s ide n t i a l areas in the GDR i s th e aim
o f t h i s paper .
Spheres o f Par t ic ipa t ion
In th e West, f requent a t tempts a re made to exclude.
p o l i t i c a l ac t i v i t y from work organ iza t ions . This
arrangement n ot only keeps p o l i t i c a l c o n f l i c t out o f the
workplace - the usua l j u s t i f i c a t i o n fo r th e separa t ion o f
p o l i t i c s and work. It also leaves t h i s major dimension o f
normal so c i a l l i f e - the arena in which one earns a
l i v ing , makes caree rs , and acqui res r espec t and s tanding
in soc ie ty - l a rge ly in th e con t ro l o f the employer.
Unions do, o f course , work within th e ente rpr i se once
they have won th e s t rugg le fo r r ep resen t ing workers and
employees. But th e range o f t h e i r ac t i v i t y i s of ten
narrowly confined and sharply s e t o f f from p o l i t i c s . Both
these l imi ta t ions o f union ac t i v i t y and th e exc lus ion o f
par ty p o l i t i c s are in many coun t r ies e x p l i c i t l y s t a t e d in
c o l l e c t i ve barga in ing agreements as wel l as in
l eg i s l a t i on and jUd ic ia l precedent .
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During the Weimar pe r iod in Germany, communists
cons i s t en t ly sought to overcome such exc lus ion from th e
workplace. The S o c i a l i s t Unity Par ty in Eas t Germany
v i r t u a l l y e l imina ted pr iva te employment and made the
dimension o f work and occupa t ion the c e n t r a l axis o f
p o l i t i c a l organ iza t ion . The SED was the only par ty
al lowed in th e workplace. The subordina te p a ~ t i e s
Chr i s t i an Democrats , Libe ra l Democrats , Nat iona l
Democrats , and th e Farmers ' Par ty - were exc\uded from
the p lace of produc t ion . Moreover, it was in the
workplace t h a t th e SED developed i t s major organ iza t iona l
ac t i v i t y . Most of i t s rank and f i l e o r "base"
organ iza t ions were loca ted a t the p lace of work. At th e
higher l eve l s o f par ty s t ruc ture , t h i s "product ion
pr inc ip le" of organizat ion gave way to the " t e r r i t o r i a l
.p r inc ip le" , moving from the county through th e d i s t r i c t
to the na t iona l l e v e l . But it was pr imar i ly a t th e
workplace t h a t the p a r t y ' s re l a t ionsh ip to c i t i zens o f
th e GDR played i t s e l f out .
It was also a t work t h a t th e major mass organ iza t ions
were represented , above a l l the union - the Federa t ion o f
German Trade Unions (FOGB) - to which near ly a l l workers ,
white co l l a r employees and profess iona l s belonged, as
wel l a s th e youth organ iza t ion - th e Free German Youth
(FDJ). The FDJ, in which 75 pe rcen t of a l l ch i ld ren and
young adu l t s up to th e age of 25 were organized ( in
educa t ion and t r a in ing es tabl i shments it was near ly 100
percent , Zimmermann 1984,p.66) sought to involve younger
workers and employees in the workplace, though its main
focus of organ iza t ion was in the schools and i n s t i t u t i o n s
of highe r educa t ion .
This concen t ra t ion o f organ iza t iona l e f fo r t s on
product ion was pr imar i ly motivated by a concern fo r
occupying the space where men and women were most
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dependent on t h e i r employer - th e s t a t e - fo r t h e i r
l ive l ihood and where they the re fo re were most respons ive
to p o l i t i c a l demands. The concern fo r secur ing power was
complemented by th e importance o f economic r econs t ruc t ion
and development a f t e r the Second World War. Sta te and
par ty were anxious to developa
s t rong i n d u s t r i a l base jthus workers had to be motivated to car ry o u t t h e i r t a sks
thoroughly and to cont inue to educa te themselves .
Fina l ly , t h i s emphasis was i deo log ica l ly consonant with
the Marxian view o f work as c e n t r a l to human l i f e and
human fu l f i l lment .
Par ty , union and management played d i f fe ren t i a t ed ro les
in the ente rpr i se . It would be mistaken to see them as a
s ing le organ iza t iona l system, a t r i ad simply replacing
. the c a p i t a l i s t employer. The par ty leadership may have
played a mediat ing and coordina t ing ro le a t the workplace
bu t was not dominant in th e day-to-day bus iness j its main
t ask was p o l i t i ~ a l . Management played th e dominant
opera t iona l p ~ r t . The union had a dua l func t ion pecu l i a r
to s t a t e s o c i a l i s t s oc i e t i e s . I t was to mobi l i ze workers
as wel l as to defend them aga ins t unscrupulous
admin is t r a to r s . I f th e l a t t e r func t ion of ten became a
r a the r ideo log ica l cla im over the years , i t ·was
never the les s impor tan t because it then crea ted p e r s i s t e n t
problems o f l eg i t ima t io n .
In t h e i r mobi l i z ing t a sk , the unions had th e c l a s s i c
func t ion of a t ransm{ssion b e l t from the Communist Par ty
to the masses (Ruble 1981jRueschemeyer and Scharf 1986).
In the CDR, the va r ious spec ia l i zed member organizat ions
o f the union were n o t al lowed to push on t h e i r own fo r
p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t s . Reso lu t ions o f the presidium were
bind ing on th e spec ia l i zed i n d u s t r i a l and t r ade unions so
t h a t these - even a t th e county and d i s t r i c t l eve l - were
subordina te to th e f edera t ion , the FDGB, which in tu rn
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was s u b j ec t to guidance and con t ro l by the dominant p a r t y
(Zimmermann 1984,p .63) .
The union of fe red s ubs t a n t i a l incen t ives fo r
pa r t i c ipa t ion . Although volunta ry , membership in th e
union ind ica ted genera l p o l i t i c a l and work commitment,
which was necessary for even middle - leve l ca r ee r
advancement. (Par ty membership was requi red fo r most
rea l ly impor tant pos i t i ons . ) Equal ly impor tant , the union
was the source of a number o f s i gn i f i can t be ne f i t s ,
inc luding apar tments , vaca t ion p laces , hea l th be ne f i t s ,
and he lp with repa i r s . In the non-market economy o f Eas t
European s oc i e t i e s , such consumer be ne f i t s cannot eas i l y
be obtained on the open market , and they were long
accorded a low p r i o r i t y in economic planning. The unionthus provided fo r its members a - p a r t i a l , b u t
subs tan t ia l - sUbs t i tu te fo r what the pr iv i l eged few
gained by e i t h e r o f f i c i a l ass ignment or pe rsona l
"connect ions" .
In l a rg e r ente rpr i ses , the union organ iza t ion was
subdivided, wi th small union groups of i de a l ly only 10
30 members as th e lowes t un i t . Here th e union t r i e d to
capture the persona l energy o f workers and employees by
f i t t i ng i t s own base organizat ion to th e spontaneous
group format ion a t th e work p lace . Jo in ing th e formal
mechanisms o f a c e n t r a l l y s tee red organ iza t ion to th e
gras s roo t s o f so c i a l l i f e was n ot an easy under taking ,
b u t th e a t t empt was no t uniformly unsuccessfu l . A
l i ngu i s t i c i nd ica t ion fo r t h i s may be seen in the f a c t
t h a t th e word "work co l l ec t ive" was of ten used commonly
both fo r th e lowest u n i t o f union organ iza t ion and fo r
col leagues wi th whom one works and i s f r i end ly and with
whom one ge t s toge ther , whether or no t the o f f i c i a l union
group worked wel l .
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J o in t ly , the union group and the work c o l l e c t i ve
encompassed the ac tua l work and th e micro-planning o f
tasks as wel l as p o l i t i c a l di scuss ion and l e i s u r e t ime
a c t i v i t i e s . The union group arranged common excurs ions to
t h e a t r e p lays , museums and conce r t s as wel l as r egu la r
ce leb ra t ions , some o f which included th e spouse .It
alsoat tempted to mediate c e r t a in f r i c t i ons between work and
fami ly ob l iga t ions and to extend help to those in t roub le
(Rueschemeyer 1983) .
My research has shown t h a t a success fu l work c o l l e c t i ve
an achievement o f a t l e a s t some - became a cen t e r o f
persona l commitment, f r i endsh ip , and mutual he lp .
Col lec t ives t h a t worked wel l were one o f th e most
impor tan t sources of genera l s a t i s f a c t i on , c lose ly
fo l lowing fami ly and occupat iona l success . I f th e work
c o l l e c t i ve were success fu l , it cou ld be inf luenced by its
members. I t thus served to some ex t en t as a micro
i n t e r e s t group. In t u r n , a success fu l work c o l l e c t i ve
cou ld - p re c i s e l y because. it answered s ign i f i c a n t
persona l needs - ask members to become ac t ive in a number
o f volunta ry a c t i v i t i e s . I t could thus become a way o f
s t reng then ing work commitment and of l ink ing somemembers, inc luding those who were n ot par ty members, to
th e p o l i t i c a l goals of the p a r ty .
The oppos i te was t r u e as wel l : I f th e c o l l e c t i ve did no t
work wel l and if it d id no t succeed in g e t t i n g a t l e a s t
some response to the sugges t ions and d i s sa t i s f ac t i ons
expressed , mot iva t ion fo r fu l f i l l i n g th e demands o f th e
work organ iza t ion was low. In fac t , GDR research has
shown t h a t workers w i l l leave and a t t empt to f ind jobs
e lsewhere , if they a re d i s s a t i s f i e d with t h e i r work
c o l l e c t i ve - a r eac t ion with some leverage in an
employment system t h a t works with a chron ic shor tage o f
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hands. (4) Work c o l l e c t i ve s i l l u s t r a t e parad igmat ica l ly
th e fundamental , and u l t ima te ly ine rad icab le rec iproc i ty
inheren t in the r e l a t i on between pa r t i c ipa t ion and
con t ro l .
Whenever 30 o r more young people were employed, the Free
German Youth was represented in th e union and ente rpr i se
4. Sable and Stark (1982) d iscuss the i n t e r r e l a t i o n
between th e l abor shor tage endemic in s t a t e s o c i a l i s t
economies and worker in f luence . My own in te rv iews with
profes s iona l s (1983, 1986) are suppor ted by a number o f
s tud ies on the responses of workers to t h e i r c o l l e c t i ve s
and to t h e i r work s i t ua t i on in genera l . Only a few of
these s tud ies are publ i shed and o ther s are merely
r e f e r r e d to in more genera l pub l i ca t ions . The informat ion
on methods used t ends to be l imi ted and it i s of ten
d i f f i c u l t t o d i s t ingu i sh normat ive from fac tua l
arrangements or causa l cond i t ions from mere c or r e l a t e s .
Rudhard Sto l lbe rg (1981, p.122) found in a 1977 s tudy of
745 produc t ion workers t h a t the sa t i s f ac t i on from good
r e l a t i ons i n the c o l l e c t i ve was an impor tan t motiva t ion
fo r work fo r 4 ou t o f 5 workers . , An e a r l i e r s tudy (1978,
p. 153) of 732 workers in chemical f a c to r i e s showed t h a t
c o l l e a g i a l r e l a t i ons ranked h ighes t in judgements o f work
sa t i s f ac t i on . The r e l a t i o n sh i p to col leagues a t work
plays an espec ia l ly important ro le fo r workers with lower
qua l i f i c a t i ons and l e s s demanding work. (1988, p . 187) .
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leadersh ip counc i l s . I t s ro l e was vaguely analogous to ,
though much l e s s powerful than , t h a t o f the union. Here,
too , ce r t a in be ne f i t s were assoc ia ted with membership,
such as fu tu re mob i l i ty , th e p o s s i b i l i t y o f a new
apartment o r a place fo r one ' s ch i ld i n t he k indergar t en .
Yet th e ro l e of t he FDJ a t th e workplace was f a r l e s sex tens ive t han t h a t of t he union. As to th e leadersh ip
provided , t he re have been a number o f pe r s i s t en t .
compla in ts . These inc luded the type o f a c t i v i t i e s of fe red
- too much t a lk , too po l i t i c a l , bor ing - as wel l as th e
ex ten t and range o f a c t i v i t i e s - no t enough!
The GDR of fe red its workers near ly complete employment
s e c u r i t y , though t h i s d id not mean a r i g h t t o one ' s
c u r r e n t job o r even employment i n one ' s occupa t ion . At
the same t ime , workers had some choice among workplaces .
Overa l l , however , t he re was no t a high degree of
mobi l i t y . This i s o f i n t e r e s t fo r the problems a t hand
because it gave a number of workers a sense o f
a f f i l i a t i o n w ~ t h t h e i r workplaces , re inforc ing th e
importance t h a t a t t aches in any soc ie ty to the p lace
where one makes a l iv ing and determines one ' s pos i t i on in
th e l a r ge r soc ie ty (5) . In th e GDR as in o the r s t a t e
5. Andrew Walder (1986) has recen t ly argued t h a t th e
"corpora teness" of workplaces i s a pe c u l i a r and
c r i t i c a l l y impor tant cha rac te r i s t i c of s oc i a l s t ruc ture
common to a l l s t a t e s o c i a l i s t (or communist) count r i e s .
Rest ing on th e at tachment t h a t goes with job s e c u r i t y as
wel l as on the p rov i s ion o f many bene f i t s and on
p o l i t i c a l involvement and con t ro l a t the p lace o f work,
t h i s corpora t e c h a r a c t e r o f work organ iza t ion in s t a t e
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s o c i a l i s t s oc i e t i e s , then , work and produc t ion were the
soc ia l loca t ion o f massive e f f o r t s to organ ize and
involve people , and both successes and f a i l u res o f these
a t t empts a t organ iza t iona l pene t ra t ion of the popula t ion
i l l u s t r a t e th e " d i a l e c t i c " o f pa r t i c ipa t ion and con t ro l .
The c l a s s i c loca t ion o f genera l ized so c i a l con t ro l in th e
west - as wel l as in o th e r soc ia l orde rs - has long been
th e r e s ide n t i a l community. Thus r e l i g i o u s communities
inc luding those o f E a s ~ Germany and o ther East European
coun t r ies - a re v i r tua l ly without excep t ion o rgan ized on
a r e s ide n t i a l and n o t a workplace b a s i s . The same i s t r ue
of p o l i t i c a l par t i e s in th e west . And it was also t r ue o f
th e organ iza t iona l s t ruc ture o f fascism.
One may t r e a t t h i s t e r r i t o r i a l pr inc ip l e of organ iza t ion
as a mere inher i t ance from the pa s t , when in any case th e
place o f work and t he p l ace o f res idence were th e same
fo r the v a s t major i ty . That the p lace of work has
acquired in a l l modern s oc i e t i e s a s ign i f i cance separa te
from th e p lace o f res idence i s c e r t a in ly t r u e . I t i s in
f a c t a commonplace o f soc io logy, though one whose
impl ica t ions fo r p o l i t i c a l hegemony and con t ro l havefound little a t t e n t ion - in th e c a p i t a l i s t west no more
than in Eas t European ana lyses .
Yet to recognize t h i s elementary d i f fe rence between
agra r ian and i ndus t r i a l s oc i e t i e s i s not th e same as
dismiss ing the r e s ide n t i a l community as an arena o f
s o c i a l i s t coun t r ies has in h is view not been apprec ia t ed
by perspec t ives t h a t were informed by the theory
t o t a l i t a r i an i sm with its d i a l ec t i c between so c i a l
a tomiza t ion and ideo log ica l con t ro l o r by extens ions of
p l u r a l i s t i n t e r e s t group t heor i es .
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s o c i a l co n t r o l . In c o n t r a s t to th e f a i r l y spec ia l i zed
groups a t work, t e r r i t o r i a l communi t ies encompass a much
g r ea t e r v a r i e t y o f people and a c t i v i t i e s . In fac t , they
come more o r l e s s c lose to rep re sen t ing a smal l sca le
ve rs ion o f soc ie ty . In view of the r ec ip r o ca l play
between pa r t i c ipa t ion and co n t r o l , t h i s p a r t i c u l a r
ch a r ac t e r made them a s i g n i f i c a n t arena o f p o l i t i c a l
discourse , equa l ly s ign i f i c a n t - though in q u i t e
d i f f e r e n t ways - in the s t a t e s o c i a l i s t e a s t as in th e
c a p i t a l i s t and p o l i t i c a l l y p l u r a l i s t west .
I f we focus on th e immediate r e s ide n t i a l area , we must
~ e c o g n i z e ano ther long-term development t h a t has shaped
s o c i a l and c u l t u r a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n .It
i s c lo s e ly assoc ia t ed with th e same forces t h a t brought about the
· d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n between workplace and place o f res idence :
With i nc rea s ing mobi l i t y and a growing d ive r s i t y o f
i n t e r e s t s , many c u l t u r a l and l e i su re a c t i v i t i e s have
become more s p ec i a l i z ed , and t h e i r loca t ion has t y p i c a l l y
been concen t ra ted in th e cen te r s o f l a rg e r r e s i d e n t i a l
a reas . Also, f r i endsh ip and s imi l a r r e l a t i o n s today range
over a l a rg e r t e r r i t o r y than was th e case wi th l e s s
e f f i c i e n t ways o f t r a v e l i n g . These changes . did no t ,
however , as r a d i c a l l y dimin ish the ro le o f th e
r e s i d e n t i a l community as some commentators have c la imed.
Very few r e s ide n t i a l areas have l i t e r a l l y been tu rned
i n to bedroom communit ies . They remain th e major loca t ion
o f educa t ion in fami l i e s and schoo ls , the arena o f most
workday r ec r ea t i o n a l and l e i su re a c t i v i t i e s as wel l as a
p l ace of pe rsona l ly meaningfu l i n t e r a c t i o n with fami ly ,
ne ighbors and f r i ends . The world o f res idence has changedits ch a r ac t e r b u t it remains a c ru c i a l dimension in th e
l i f e o f most people .
What, then , was th e p a t t e rn o f so c i a l and p o l i t i c a l
pa r t i c ipa t ion in r e s ide n t i a l communit ies in th e s t a t e
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s o c i a l i s t soc ie ty of the CDR? Did th e regime a t t empt to
c rea te a s t ruc ture p a r a l l e l to th e organ iza t iona l
pa t t e rns a t th e p lace of work in the r e s i d e n t i a l
community? And d id th e r e s ide n t i a l organ iza t ions succeed
in a s imi la r way in absorbing t he ene rg ie s and
commitments o f th e re s iden t s and di rec t ing t he se to more
genera l p o l i t i c a l goals? I w i l l t ry to answer these
ques t ions in some d e t a i l , focusing on th e ro le played by
o f f i c i a l organ iza t ions , on spontaneous so c i a l i n t e r a c t ion
and on its r e l a t i on to th e mass organ iza t ions and th e
par ty . Considerab le d e t a i l i s necessary p re c i s e l y because
th e evidence i s l e s s e a s i l y av a i l ab l e and t he re fo re more
fragmentary than it would be in the west ; b u t I d id have
th e oppor tuni ty to see CDR research on the new towns as
wel l as to conduct in te rv iews with re s iden t s and va r ious
exper t s on my own (6 ) . The ana lys i s wi l l c lose with a
6. The research fo r t h i s p ro j e c t was concent ra ted in
Rostock, a c i t y of about 250,000 i nhab i t an t s s i t ua t e d a t
the Bal t i c Sea, approximately th ree hours nor th o f
Ber l in . Six ty pe rcen t o f t he popula t ion now l i ve s i n new
r e s i den t i a l areas with a popula t ion o f 20,000-30,000
each. I a l so r e f e r to housing developments in o the r
c i t i e s . These vary in s i ze (Marzahn, fo r example, a new
r e s i d e n t i a l community ou ts ide o f Ber l in has 150,000
i nhab i t an t s )as wel l in t h e i r r e l a t i on to th e inner c i ty
and in t h e i r a rc h i t e c tu r a l shape and form (though a l l are
l imi ted to th e use o f pre fab r i ca ted p a r t s ) . The research
on th e new towns o f Rostock took p lace over a t h ree year
pe r iod . I spen t a t o t a l o f approximately two months in
res idence in one of the new towns and in te rv iewed
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di scuss ion of the broader p o l i t i c a l s ign i f i cance of the
p a t t e rn s o f soc ia l and p o l i t i c a l pa r t i c ipa t ion found in
th e " res iden t ia l areas .
From In i t i a l Concept ions to tb e Design o f New Towns:
New Soc i a l i s t Communities?
The rap id crea t ion o f new towns in the CDR during th e
l a s t two decades r ep resen t s an e x c e l l e n t oppor tuni ty fo r
studying these ques t ions o f pa r t i c ipa t ion and con t ro l in
the r e s ide n t i a l areas . The bulk of t h i s development came
a f t e r th e overa l l organ iza t iona l s t ru c t u re was wel l
se t t l ed . (Table I ) Thus, th e new towns of fe red th e chance
o f a new beginning . It i s t rue t h a t the massive crea t ion
. rep resen ta t ives o f mass organ iza t ions in th e d i f f e r e n t
r e s ide n t i a l areas , r ep resen ta t ives of p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s
in the c i t y , c i ty planners and a rc h i t e c t s , as well as
res iden t s . My. in te rv iew with th e approximately 90
respondents l a s ted on the average o f 2 hours . Throughout
t h i s s tay , I had r egu la r consu l ta t ions with soc io log i s t s
who had done research on th e new towns as wel l as
informal t a l k s with col leagues and acquaintances who l i ve
in th e new towns. The research in R o s ~ o c k was
complemented by a s e r i e s o f in te rv iews with soc io log i s t s
and a rc h i t e c t s involved in th e planning and cons t ruc t ion
o f r e s ide n t i a l areas in othe r c i t i e s , i n Eas t Ber l in ,
Weimar, Dessau, Dresden, and Leipzig , and by an ana lys i s
o f CDR l i t e r a t u r e on housing cons t ruc t ion , on so c i a l l i f e
in the r e s ide n t i a l a reas , and on p o l i t i c a l and so c i a l
pa r t i c ipa t ion .
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of l a rge new r e s ide n t i a l areas a l so en ta i l s spec i f i c
problems. Organising 20,000 o r even 100,000 people, who
sUddenly f ind themselves in a s ingle new town, has to
overcome d i f f i c u l t i e s not encountered in the slow process
of o rgan iza t ion in an old. l i v ing q u a r t e r . (7) We must
al low fo r these spec ia l fea tu res and problems of thesudden crea t ion of whole communit ies. At th e same t ime ,
the huge housing cons t ruc t ion program of f e r s us unique
oppor tun i t i e s to c on t r a s t i n i t i a l ideas and des igns with
subsequent r e a l i t y .
Table I
Housing Construct ion in the GDR, 1971-1986
(number of annual ly completed housing u n i t s ) .
Year Tota l Number Of Uni ts New Const ruc t ion Only
1971 86,777 65,021
1972 117,026 69,552
1973 125,769 80,725
1974 138,301 88,312
1975 140,793 95,976
7. About 17 percen t o f the popula t ion has l i ved in
Rostock l e s s than 18 yea rs . I f we look a t th e recen t new
towns o f Schmarl and Lichtenhagen, 20 percent of the
popula t ion has been in Rostock 9 years o r l e s s . In th e
years from 1971 - 1981, Rostock ranked f i r s t in the
growth o f housing s tock: Rostock - 16. 8 percen t ;
Frankfur t /O . - 12.1 percen t ; Ber l in - 11.8 percen t ;
Er fu r t - 11.7 percent ; Gera - 11.1 percent ; Schwerin
11.1 percen t (Kahl and Riede l 1985, p. 152) .
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1976 150,617 103,091
1977 162,745 106,828
1978 167,799 111,909
1979 162,743 117,355
1980 169,233 120,206
1981 185,350 125,731
1982 187,053 122,417
1983 197,221 122;636
1984 207,034 121,654
1985 212,222 120,728
1986 215,690 119,355
Source: Guenther I<abus, "Zu den Aufgaben bei der wei teren
Umgesta1tung und Erneuerung i nne r s t a e d t i s c he r Gebiete in
.Auswertung des IX. I<ongresses des BdA", Arch i tek tur der
DDR, Ber l in 36 (1987), 9, p.35 .
The cons t ruc t ion o f mass housing, came many years a f t e r
the rebui ld ing and development of product ion . Although
the r econs t ruc t ion o f th e damaged houses began
immediately a f t e r the War, little funding was a l loca ted
e i t h e r fo r modernizing the ex i s t i ng s tock or fo r bu i ld ing
new housing, while pr iva te cons t ruc t ion was i nh ib i t ed by
low l eve l s o f ren t . It was only a t the Eighth Congress of
the SED (Soc ia l i s t Unity Par ty) in 1971, more than
twenty-f ive years a f t e r the end o f the War, t h a t housing
was given top pr io r i t y . A number of profound and
i nc reas ing ly se r ious s oc i a l problems were a t t r ibu ted by
th e p o l i t i c a l leadersh ip to the poor cond i t ion o f
housing, and the long range planning program t r i ed to
respond to these . These problems included th e lo w b i r t h
r a t e , the d i f f i c u l t y o f a t t r a c t i n g workers to
i n d u s t r i a l l y developing areas , the r e f us a l of sk i l l ed
workers to t ake on more important jobs if housing
condi t ions were poor , and th e compla in ts o f GDR c i t i z ens
about l iv ing condi t ions which were seen as t h rea t en ing
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th e very s t a b i l i t y of the regime. (8) Housing was now to
be cons t ruc ted as quickly and as cheaply as poss ib le .
Espec ia l ly in th e 60s and e a r l y 70s, the re was a g re a t
dea l of discuss ion about th e s o c i a l i s t way of l i f e . The
s logan "soz i a l i s t i s ch leben, wohnen und arbe i ten"
( s o c i a l i s t l i v ing , r es id ing , and working) i nd ica tes t h a t
th e r e s i d e n t i a l world was seen as th e equal ly impor tan t
coun te rpar t to th e world o f work. The new r e s i den t i a l
communities were to represent , to r e f l e c t a s o c i a l i s t way
o f l i f e :
Whereas soc ia l planning wi th in the p lace o f work i s
aimed a t inc reas ing produc t iv i ty a t work, t e r r i t o r i a l
soc ia l plann ing embraces th e way o f l i f e of the
c o l l e c t i ve as a whole(Voigt 1973,p .625) .
Ideas o f what exac t ly t h a t way of l i f e should e n t a i l were
vague, var ied , and n ot a r t i c u l a t e d in any way comparable
to the o rgan iza t ion of an e n t e rp r i s e or th e func t ions o f
th e union i n s ide and ou ts ide o f th e p lace o f work. But
one can i de n t i f y a number of ideas t h a t were i n f l u e n t i a l
in planning the new r e s ide n t i a l areas .
Perhaps the most impor tan t was the idea of making c e r t a in
needed se rv ices a c o l l e c t i ve r e s pons ib i l i t y , which would
enable both men and women to become produc t ive in th e
l abor fo rce . The roo t s o f some of the se ideas can be
t raced to ea r ly s o c i a l i s t t h e o r i s t s (Engels 1942) and to
r a d i c a l thought in th e 1920s and 1930s which envis ioned a
combinat ion o f minimal p r i v a t e apar tments (with very low
8 . For fu r the r d iscuss ion o f th e ro le o f e n te rp r i s e s in
housing in th e Sovie t Union and Hungary, see Andrusz
(1984), Pickvance (1988), and Sze1enyi (1987).
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r en t ) and a number of s e rv ice i n s t i t u t i o n s , inc luding
shops, schools , b u t also communal ki t chens and a
concept ion o f neighborhood, which l a t e r became crude ly
t ransformed dur ing th e Nazi pe r iod . The a rc h i t e c t s o f the
Bauhaus - and o ther s - had proposed sp e c i f i c des ign
responses to crea te a new utopian v i s ion o f community
l i v ing (Lane 1985). Rejected during .the ear ly years o f
th e GDR as r ep resen ta t ive of an i n t e rn a t i o n a l
a rc h i t e c t u re , th e Bauhaus i s now seen as an impor tan t
p red ecesso r of cu r ren t concep t ions .
The ac tua l planning - both a rc h i t e c tu r a l and soc ia l
organ iza t iona l - was inf luenced by t he se ideas , but it
was a l so , given the r e a l i t i e s o f a massive bu i ld ing program under harsh economic c o n s t r a i n t s , more modest .
'The new r e s ide n t i a l communities in the GDR were to meet
th e bas ic educa t iona l , h ea l t h , and rec rea t iona l needs o f
the i n h ab i t an t s and they were also to be wel l connected
to th e c i ty and workplace . Planners and a rc h i t e c t s were
asked to e s t a b l i s h t he p recond i t ions fo r a success fu l
family l i f e , fo r th e equa l pa r t i c ipa t ion o f women in
soc ie ty , fo r the educa t ion and s oc i a l i z a t i on o f th e
young, and fo r th e ca re o f th e e l d e r l y and d isab led .
Therefore , each new area inc ludes in th e i d e a l plan homes
fo r th e aged, c l i n i c s , markets , res t au ran t s , pubs ,
bu i ld ings fo r cu l tu re and r ec r ea t i o n , l i b r a r i e s , youth
c lubs , spor t s f a c i l i t i e s , and necessary s e r v i ce s . At
presen t , most housing developments still lack many o f
these planned f ac i l i t i e s even though near ly a l l are
equipped from th e f i r s t bu i ld ing phase on with schoo ls
and day ca re cen t e r s as wel l a s foodshops and a
r e s t a u ra n t .
What was th e des ign fo r o rgan iza t iona l l i f e? Planning
env i s ioned - and formal ly pu t in to place - a complex
v a r i e t y of o rgan iza t ions , mass organ iza t ions and o ther s ,
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t h a t were to be ac t ive in th e r e s i d e n t i a l areas and to
a t t r a c t members on the b a s i s o f t h e i r d i f f e r e n t needs ,
and d i f f e r ing c u l tu r a l , p o l i t i c a l , and o th e r i n t e r e s t s .
We can perhaps b e s t begin wi th the ind iv idua l bu i ld ing .
Fami l i es in the new towns as wel l as in the inner c i ty
are organized in to Hausgemeinschaften, house
organ iza t ions . These were to help maintain order ,
c lean l iness , and s t a b i l i t y in th e l iv ing area bu t a l so to
give suppor t to the p o l i t i c a l programs in t roduced and
genera l ly to encourage a " s o c i a l i s t way o f l i f e . " The
i d e a l house organ iza t ion comprises not more than twelve
f ami l ies and con ta ins a mixture o f apartment s i z e s to
encourage mutual help among people o f d i f f e r e n t ages .
(S taufenb ie l 1983, p.130) In r ea l i t y , many exceed t h i s
modest s ize by fa r .
One might see these Hausgemeinschaften in analogy to
union work c o l l e c t i ve s and expec t t h a t they a re s imi la r ly
capable o f absorbing, i n t e g ra t i n g , se rving and shaping
the informal and spontaneous t endenc ies o f assoc ia t ion in
an apar tment bu i ld ing and the neighborhood. Linking
informal neighborhood i n t e r a c t ion and th e very bas ic
human concerns ( for company and occas iona l help ) to which
it responds to the wider organ iza t iona l s t ruc tu r e would
indeed c ons t i t u t e a major achievement. We w i l l r e t u rn
shor t ly to th e ques t ion o f whether th e Hausgemeinschaf ten
met t he se expec ta t ions .
In each new town t he re are Schiedskommissionen,
a rb i t r a t i on commit tees , t h a t t r y to re so lve conf l i c t s i n
th e l iv ing area and main ta in orde r and s t a b i l i t y . Thei r
con t ro l beg ins with moral pressure and informal t a l k s
with f ami l ies , schoo ls , e t c . and reaches to the sanct ions
o f a minor cour t . For th e purposes o f t h i s d iscuss ion ,
these commissions a re r e l a t i ve l y unimpor tant .
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The cha i r s of the Hausgemeinschaften meet regu la r ly with
th e Wohnbezirksausschuss or community coordina t ing
committee, a group of 18-20 members t ha t ex i s t s i n every
r e s i d e n t i a l d i s t r i c t compris ing 1 -3 ,000 people. A
t y p i c a l r e s ide n t i a l area o r "new town" in Rostock has onthe average 13-15 such r e s ide n t i a l d i s t r i c t s , each with
its own committee. It i s th ru these community
coordina t ing committees t h a t th e National Front , an
umbrel la organ iza t ion o f par t i e s and a l l soc ia l
organizat ions was to play an impor tan t ro le in th e
r e s ide n t i a l area . Here it i s impor tan t to note t h a t t h i s
coord ina t ing committee was n o t se lec ted by the house
committees, al though they are represented , b ut i s
composed o f rep resen ta t ives o f par t i e s and soc ia l
organ iza t ions , se lec ted whenever poss ib le from th e
r e s ide n t i a l area i t s e l f .
The National Front included the dominant communist par ty ,
the SED, as well as the subordina te par t i e s - Chr i s t i an
Democrat ic Union (CDU), th e Libe ra l Democrat ic Par ty
(LDPD), the National Democrat ic Par ty (NDPD), and th e
Democrat ic Farmers Par ty (DBD). In addi t ion , the Nat iona lFron t also encompassed the Federa t ion o f German Trade
Unions(FDGB), th e Free German Youth(FDJ) , the Democrat ic
Women's Federa t ion (DFD), and League of Cul ture (KB), and
o th e r soc ia l organ iza t ions . Ac t iv i ty in the community
coord ina t ing committees was th e lowes t organ iza t iona l
l eve l of the Nat iona l Fron t , which ex i s t ed a t a l l l eve l s
o f GDR soc ie ty . I t s core was th e "Democrat ic Bloc" which
cons i s ted o f the par t i e s and th e major mass
organ iza t ions . Thei r rep resen ta t ives composed a l l
par l iaments from the Peop le ' s Chamber, th e n a t io n a l
par l iament , downward. Elec ted on a s ing le s l a t e with
f ixed p ropor t ions o f r ep resen ta t ion , t he se pa r l i ament s
may be dismissed as i r r e l e va n t . Yet the d ive r s i t y o f
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par t i e s and organizat ions crea ted th e p o t e n t i a l o f
responding d i f f e r e n t i a l l y to d i f fe ren t s t r a t a and
subcul tures , even though the l eader sh ip remained f i rmly
in th e hands o f th e SED.
The Free German Youth, as mentioned above, worked
pr imar i ly through school and th e workplace . As one might
expec t with such a l ev e l of organ iza t ion , membership was
seen as v i r tua l ly mandatory, bu t the sub jec t ive meaning
of··membership appears to have been ext remely d i lu t e d . The
i n i t i a l des igns saw th e youth organ isa t ion playing an
impor tant ro le in th e community.
The DFD, the Democrat ic Women's Federa t ion , i s no t an
independent Women's organ iza t ion in the western sense .
.Afte r th e War, it concerned i t s e l f with ending
t r ad i t i ona l a t t i t udes towards women's p a r t i ~ i p a t i o n in
th e workforce, l a t e r it s e t i t s e l f th e goal o f promot ing
the s e rv ices in th e r e s i d e n t i a l areas so t h a t women would
be able to work and represent ing t h i s need on a na t iona l
l eve l . Membership in th e Womens Federa t ion was lower than
in th e o th e r mass organ iza t ions • a f i f t h o f a l l e l i g i b l e
women belong (Schar f 1984,p .40) . In th e new towns, it
sponsors r eg u l a r l e c t u re s as wel l as c r a f t groups to
which a l l members are i nv i t ed and it works with The
Peop le ' s Sol ida r i t y to provide se rv ices to th e e lde r ly
and o ther s in need. Members also engage in counse l ing and
educa t iona l programs. The DFD i s not represented a t th e
workplace; r a the r most ente rpr i ses have a Women"s
Commission as wel l as mandated programs fo r th e
advancement and fu r the r educa t ion o f women.
The Peop le ' s Sol ida r i t y Movement, funded by th e s t a t e i s
a vo lun tee r o rgan iza t ion which provides impor tant
se rv ices to th e needy and the o ld in th e r e s i den t i a l
a reas . Within th e neighborhoods, it runs c lubs , provides
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meals a t home and of f e r s help with household chores o r
shopping fo r those who cannot t ake care o f themselves .
I t s ac t ive members, many of whom are themselves r e t i r ed ,
a l so can be seen around th e nurs ing homes which provide
~ a r e fo r about 5 pe rcen t o f t he e l d e r l y in th e GDR. Two
o f the more ac t ive organ iza t ions in the r e s ide n t i a l area ,then , th e Peop le ' s S o l i d a r i t y and th e women's
organ iza t ion have more of a soc ia l work func t ion , r a t h e r
than serve as a l inkage to th e more p o l i t i c a l l y or ien ted
mass organ i i a t ions .
The Communist Par ty played, a t l e a s t d i r e c t l y , a minor
ro le in th e r e s ide n t i a l areas . I t s r e s ide n t i a l base
organ iza t ions were comprised pr imar i ly of people who were
not organized through th e work-based par ty organ iza t ion :
, o lde r peop le , women t emporar i ly not in the labor force ,
and members of the profes s ions - not the composi t ion most
promising fo r s t rong a c t i v i t y . Yet th e p a r t y ' s i n d i r e c t
ro le was more pe rvas ive . I t s members es tab l i shed l inkages
between e n t e rp r i s e s and th e community area coordina t ing
commit tees . One young a c t i v i s t sa id t h a t th e p a r t y had
e f f e c t ive r ep resen ta t ion everywhere, espec ia l ly in th e
Nat iona l Fron tand
in its
commit tees . Thep a r t y ' s
mostimpor tan t func t ions were to s igna l p o l i t i c a l d i f f i c u l t i e s
t h a t arose in th e new towns and to prepare th e e l e c t i o n s
through th e Nat iona l Fron t by loca t ing and sc reening
candida tes . These func t ions had, however, little to do
with th e r e a l cond i t ions o f everyday l i f e in th e
r e s ide n t i a l area , even if the candida tes showed up to
hear compla in t s before th e e l e c t i o n s . The ro le of th e
par ty cou ld not be compared to its ro le in the p laces of
product ion .
The c e n t r a l c i t y admin is t r a t ion was p r e s en t in th e new
towns with a l oca l admin is t r a t ive branch, inc luding
p o l i ce , which was respons ib le fo r c lean l iness , orde r , and
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secur i ty , fo r r e l a t i ons with the var ious work
e n t e rp r i s e s , which inc luded those t h a t had been given a
spec ia l r e s pons ib i l i t y fo r th e p a r t i c u l a r r e s ide n t i a l
a rea , and s imi la r t a s k s . Members o f th e c i ty par l iament
he ld r eg u l a r meetings , and a rc h i t e c t s of the c i t y who
were involved in the cons t ruc t ion of a new town kep t in
con tac t with l a t e r developments through t he se meet ings ,
too .y
This ar ray o f i n s t i t u t i o n s and organ iza t ions , complexly
i n t e r re l a t ed among each o ther , may give th e impression
t h a t th e r e s ide n t i a l community was thoroughly organized.
A b l u e p r i n t o f organ iza t ions does not , however, descr ibe
the r e a l i t y o f pa r t i c ipa t ion . For eva lua t ing the s t reng th
and i n f luence o f t he se numerous organ iza t ions andcommittees, it i s c r i t i c a l to examine how they r e l a t e to
spontaneous neighborhood i n t e r a c t ion and to th e most
s t rong ly f e l t needs o f th e popula t ion . It i s
en l igh ten ing , t he re fo re , t o look more c lose ly a t l i f e in
th e new communities to determine where people turned to
fo r he lp , fo r the fu l f i l l m e n t o f t h e i r c u l t u r a l , s oc i a l ,
and r e c re a t i o n a l i n t e r e s t s and needs , and fo r a ss i s t ance
with housing and neighborhood problems.
The Real i t y o f Li fe in th e New Towns
Typica l ly the res iden t s o f a Neubaugebie t , a new
r e s ide n t i a l area , have been a t t r a c t e d by th e p o s s i b i l i t y
o f moving i n to a new apartment with c e n t r a l hea t ing and
i nne r bathroom f a c i l i t i e s . Given the d i f f i c u l t y o f
g e t t i n g any apartment and the deso la te cond i t ion o f mucho f the otherwise av a i l ab l e housing, j u s t "being the re"
i s , espec ia l ly a t f i r s t , reason fo r su b s t a n t i a l
sa t i s f ac t i on . People are even more s a t i s f i e d when th e
apartment i s w el l l inked to th e c i t y , workplace , and
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schools - impor tan t de te rminan t s of o v e ra l l sa t i s f ac t i on
t h a t are no t always presen t .
The landscaping i s of ten p rov is iona l in th e new towns,
th e t r e e s t i n y , and many se rv ice and publ ic i n s t i t u t i o n s
are to be es t ab l i s h ed in th e f u tu r e . People worry about
whether t he se w i l l be s a t i s f a c to ry , and they worry about
when they w i l l be added. Condi t ions 'vary from town to
town.
Arch i tec t s and planners tend to pu t t h e i r hopes and
ene rg ie s i n to th e newest r e s i d e n t i a l a reas , and a number
o f impor tan t changes have come about in t he se r ev i s ions
of p lans fo r t he n ex t Neubaugebiet . Arch i tec t s in th e
c i ty plann ing of f i c e s and in th e cons t ruc t ion f i rms do
, a t tempt to respond to major areas o f d i s sa t i s f ac t i on with
eXis t ing arrangements , b u t they p l a y a dual ro le . The
a rc h i t e c t who succeeds in making a small change t h a t
improves l i f e in th e community and. th e sa t i s f ac t i on o f
res iden t s has . a g r ea t sense o f accomplishment. On th e
o ther hand, a rc h i t e c t s and planners op era te wi th in harsh
c o n s t r a i n t s o f economy and t echnology . The cons t ruc t ion
technique us ing l a rge p re fabr ica ted p la t e s of concre te
al lows fo r v a r i a t i o n only within narrow l im i t s . The dr ive
fo r economy pushes t he ma jo r i ty o f bu i ld ings up to 5 and
6 f loor s (and t he se a re b u i l t as walk-ups) , whi le a
s i g n i f i c a n t minor i ty i s double t h a t s i ze (bu t then
equipped with e l e v a t o r s ) . One f requent complaint about
th e 11-12 f loo r b ~ i l d i n g s i s t h a t they are too l a rge to
see o r co n t ac t th e ch i ld ren a t play .
Planners may have designed a complex i n f r a s t ruc tu r e o f
shops and rec rea t iona l a reas , bu t then th e c i ty
government. can decide t h a t too much money h as been spent
on th e apar tments and th e department re spons ib l e fo r th e
a l l o c a t i o n o f funds may delay o r fo rge t th e " f r i l l s . "
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Many spaces rese rved fo r new communal i n s t i t u t i o n s ,
se rv ices and shops in th e new towns o f Rostock are still
empty. In th e bu i ld ings themselves, the re a re also
problems with th e qua l i t y o f the mate r ia l used and th e
s tandards o f th e f a c i l i t i e s within th e apar tments .
However, a t t e n t ion - and resources - are a l ready turned
to con s t ruc t ing the next community and, impor tant ly now,
to modernizing and rebui ld ing th e inner c i t y . Arch i tec t s
who had hopes fo r s ign i f i c a n t improvements in th e l a t e s t
Neubaugebiete of ten now encounte r new budget c ons t r a in t s
t h a t reduce th e l a t e s t developments as much to th e bare
bone s t ru c t u re o f apartment bu i ld ings as any o f th e o lder
se t t l emen ts .
A newly cons t ruc ted area tends to a t t r a c t predominantly
. younger f ami l ies with ch i ld ren . Even though some a t t empts
to "balance" the popula t ion s t ruc tu r e o f the s e t t l emen ts ,
they tend to be somewhat segrega ted by to age. OVer th e
years the people (as well as the publ ic f a c i l i t i e s ) age
(S taufenb ie l i 983 ,p . l 3 ) . This c re a t e s p e r s i s t e n t problems
in th e provis ion and u l t i l i z a t i o n o f kindergardens ,
schoo ls , youth c lubs and o ther f a c i l i t i e s , and it has
consequences fo r th e soc ia l l i f e in th e new towns.
I t i s un l ike ly t h a t i nhab i t an t s have met to con t r ibu te
t h e i r ideas fo r the new se t t l emen ts , al though models a re
on d isp lay fo r comment. This i s even t rue o f th e members
o f housing coopera t ives
(Arbeiterwohnungsbaugenossenschaften - AWG). AWG-built
housing comprises about 35-45 percen t o f th e new housing
un i t s i n Rostock, while the balance i s s t a t e owned.
Members o f th e Genossenschaften par t i c i pa t e i n some o f
th e cons t ruc t ion and con t r ibu te e x t r a payments in
add i t ion to labor . Yet th e members have no say in th e
des ign o f t h e i r housing . The s t ruc tu r e s are es tab l i shed
without t h e i r coopera t ion - th e a rc h i t e c t u re and l oca t ion
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o f th e houses as well as th e inne r des ign o f th e
apar tments . In fac t , members may not even have worked in
th e same r e s ide n t i a l area where t h e i r apartment i s
l oca ted .
Opinions vary on whether l i v ing in co-op o r sta te-owned
housing makes any d i f f e r en ce . One study, though done in a
d i f f e r e n t c i ty than Rostock, ind ica ted d i f f e r en ces
between sta te-owned apar tments and coopera t ives in th e
ca re of the a rea and th e involvement o f res ide! l t s . In
t h i s s tudy , th e response o f th e AWG which has i t s own
r e p a i r se rv ice , was quicker than th e s t a t e . On the o ther
hand, it i s fea red t h a t the appeal o f the coopera t ives
may ac tua l ly weaken if they do not y ie ld advantages
compensat ing fo r th e 250-900 hours of cons t ruc t ion workvarying wi th the s ize o f th e apartment (Rudloff , Sc h i l l e r
and Fiebig 1983 ,p . l l ) , espec ia l ly because some advantages
in the ass ignment o f housing w i l l lose i n a t t r a c t i ve ne s s
in the coming years when the q u a n t i t a t i v e housing
shortage i s overcome.
At the beginning, many people p u t an enormous amount o f
energy i n to f ix ing up the a rea around them, in s ide the
apartment as well as ou ts ide . However, a l l men and 87
percen t o f a l l e l i g i b l e women work out s ide th e house, a
t h i rd par t - t ime(Gysi and Speigner 1983, p .38) . Since th e
new towns a re of ten n ot c lose to th e place o f work, it i s
n o t unusual fo r people to g e t up as ea r ly as 5 t o ge t to
work and -g iven the t ime needed fo r t r a ve l and shopping
to remain o u t o f th e housing developoment fo r 10-11
hours. Although th e ch i ld ren e a t t h e i r main meal a t
school and most o f the paren t s a t work, they are n o tthrough with the l i g h t evening meal and o ther chores
u n t i l 8 in th e evening . That schedule alone exp la ins a
g re a t dea l about what goes on - or does not go on - in
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th e new towns. Nearly a l l o f p eo p le ' s t ime i s spent a t
work o r with the family.
But t ime cons t ra in t s a re not the only f a c t o r discouraging
pa r t i c ipa t ion . The res iden t s face f requent problems in
meet ing th e need fo r s e rv ices o f a l l kinds and fo r
repa i r s in the house . The lack o f reso lu t ion o f these
problems d i r e c t l y r e l a t e s to th e unwi l l ingness o f th e
res iden t s to become act ive - o r even to be l ieve t h a t any
formal i n s t i t u t i o n re la ted to th e r e s ide n t i a l area i s
capable or wi l l ing to respond to these needs .
The Hausgemeinschaft i s supposed to rece ive money from
th e c i ty admin is t r a t ion fo r repa i r s . When responses to
compla in t sfrom the res iden t s t ake a
long t imeto
beresolved, when money fo r r e p a i r s i s n o t forthcoming, when
equipment par t s are near ly imposs ib le to acqui re or take
months to a r r ive , people become discouraged and even ifthey carne with some enthusiasm, become l e s s ac t ive in th e
H a u s g e m e i n s c h ~ f t , unwi l l ing to respond to pub l ic
campaigns fo r c leaning up the a rea , e tc . . The
Hausgemeinschaf t i s then t aken as an i n s t i t u t i o n t h a t can
pre t t y much be ignored .
GDR c i t i zens have th e r i g h t to complain fo rmal ly , and
these compla in t s have to be answered with a c e r t a in
pe r iod o f t ime . Such pe t i t i ons , Eingaben, may be se n t to
the branch of the c i ty admin is t r a t ion t h a t i s in th e
Neubaugebiet , th e rep resen ta t ives in the Nat iona l Front ,
or the par ty . The complaints , according to i n t e rv iews
with organ iza t iona l rep resen ta t ives and r e s i d e n t s of the
newtowns, revolve
around a number o fthemes
and o f
course are no t only concerned with housing. Members o f
t he va r ious p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s o f the Nat iona l Fron t do
spend a lo t o f t ime answering compla in t s , and many o f
these a re u l t ima te ly resolved. When compla in t s and t h e i r
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r eso lu t ion t ake p lace ind iv idua l ly , as most are , there i s
n ot only no need fo r o rgan iza t iona l involvement ; the re i s
also no c o l l e c t i ve recogn i t ion o f anything p o s i t i v e t h a t
the Nat iona l Fron t has done.
Complaints are also voiced a t l a rge meet ings when publ i c
o f f i c i a l s are i nv i t ed to address the res iden t s . These
become more f requent before the e l e c t i o n s . Arch i tec t s may
also hold meet ings with th e res iden t s once o r twice a
year . Here, again , no p a r t i c u l a r group, mass
organ iza t ion , community coord ina t ing committee or
Hausgemeinschaft plays a s i g n i f i c a n t ro le . The
r e s i d e n t i a l organ iza t ions do no t have p a r t i c u l a r c lou t .
That does not mean t h a t with t ime they cannot e x e r t any
pres su re . There have been changes in th e new towns. It
does mean, however, t h a t th e organ iza t ions have
d i f f i c u l t y a t t r ac t i ng people , no l e s s exer t ing any
i n f luence on them, s ince they are not seen as responding
to t h e i r needs . (9)
The Spec ia l Needs o f Di f f e r en t Groups
Chi ld ren , young people , women, and th e e l d e r l y have
s p ec i a l needs in th e r e s ide n t i a l a reas , and it i s
en l igh ten ing to see how t he se needs a re met and through
which channels . Theore t ica l ly , if t he o rgan iza t ions
involved wi th t he se groups respond generously and
9 . For i n t e r e s t i ng comparat ive work on cond i t ions o f
a1inat ion and power lessness in Chinese c i t i e s , see Whyte
and Par ish (1984) .
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e f f e c t ive ly to t h e i r needs , they a re l ike ly to have more
impact and i n f luence than otherwise .
As mentioned above, th e se t t l emen ts are b u i l t with the
appropr i a t e nurse r i es and schools and th e needs o f the
youngestare
f a i r lywel l
served in mostp laces . Paren t s
are , as in th e West, involved and ac t ive in the schools ,
and if even they a re involved in little e l s e , they w i l l
t u rn up a t those meetings.
A widely discussed problem i s th e s i t ua t i on of the young
- o f adolescents and young adu l t s - in th e new towns.
Young people en joy meeting outs ide o f t h e i r apar tments ,
b u t during th e week they may not have th e t ime to leave
the r e s ide n t i a l area . They a re t he re fo re dependent on th e
. r e s i den t i a l area fo r meet ing , fo r spor t s , e tc . . There are
some f a c i l i t i e s in th e schools , though in th e r e s i d e n t i a l
areas themselves some o f th e l o t s t h a t were used fo r
spor t s became park ing areas fo r c a r s . There are a few
di scos bu t n o enough cafes o r c lubs and prac t i ca l l y no
working spaces fo r repa i r ing b icyc les , cars , e tc . . In
Marzahn, the l a rge housing development in Ber l in ,
youngs te r s are "hanging out" with little e l se to do.
Severa l meet in foo tba l l fan c lubs , which are spontaneous
informal groups . I t i s sa id t ha t some of the youngs te r s
involved in an a t t ack on an audience a t a rock conce r t
(where they shouted ant i -communis t as wel l as an t i - J ewish
s logans) were from such c lubs in Marzahn, though such
express ions o f antagonism are not unique to Marzahn.
Within Rostock as a whole, a c i t y o f 250,000 i nhab i t an t s ,
the re are 500 youth c lubs b u i l t by th e c i t y . Only 41 o f
these are led by paid l eader s . While some o f these c lubs
a re qu i t e a t t r ac t ive , most are in poor f a c i l i t i e s and
plan little more than d iscos . Even then , t he re may not be
room fo r a l l th e youngs te r s who want to come, and a small
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group o f young people may form a cl ique and take over th e
club fo r t h e i r own purposes . In D i e r ~ o w , one o f the new
se t t l emen ts , the promise to r ep l ace a barrack t h a t was
used as a youth club but then t o rn down was no t kep t . The
youngs te r s go t toge the r and submit ted a p e t i t i o n , an
Eingabe, to th e c i ty and th e par ty , and eventual ly th e
youth c lub was b u i l t . In a s tudy o f young workers in
Rostock , more than h a l f o f th e youngste rs d id no t th ink
it was poss ib l e to spend t ime in t h e i r r e s i d e n t i a l area
in an i n t e re s t ing and s t imu la t ing way (Klohr 1975,pp . l04
lOS). Young people l8-2S years o ld who l ived in th e
o lde r p a r t of the c i ty spent about a quar t e r o f t h e i r
f ree t ime ou ts ide t h e i r apartment in t h e i r r e s iden t i a l
community, whi le youngste rs in th e new r e s iden t i a lcommunities sa id they spent no t ime in t h e i r communit ies ,
. but d iv ided t h e i r f ree t ime between the apar tment and
c i ty (S t au fenb ie l 1983, p .39 ) .
The Free German Youth was in e f f e c t no t invo lved in th e
r e s iden t i a l a reas . And a l though some people advocated
more involvement , th e f ac t t h a t it was a compulsory
organiza t ion in school and th e workplace , made it
d i f f i c u l t to a t t r a c t youngs te r s . In th e s tudy o f young
workers in Rostock mentioned above only 10 percen t
ind ica ted t h a t the leadersh ip of t he Free German Youth
was concerned with th e l e i s u r e t ime o f th e youngs te r s and
only 4.9 percen t ind ica ted t h a t the Nat iona l Front was
concerned(Klohr 1983,pp . l04- l0S}. Young people have been
a t t r ac ted to th e Pro t e s t a n t Church where they have
expressed open concern about a number o f i s s ue s ,
i nc lud ing environment concerns, . peace i n i t i a t i v e s , e tc . .
Meeting th e widespread i n t e r e s t of the youth in the open
d iscuss ion o f problems was one of the most se r ious
cha l l enges to th e youth organiza t ion and, ul t ima te ly , the
par ty . It i s by now c l e a r t h a t t h e i r e f fec t iveness was
indeed qui t e l imi ted .
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Women in the new r e s ide n t i a l areas have p a r t i c u l a r needs .
Most work and most have ch i ld ren . There are two
organ iza t ions i n t e r e s t e d i n a t t r ac t i ng them, in add i t ion
to the Hausgemeinschaften. The f i r s t i s the Par ty , which
encourages them to become ac t i v e if they a re conf ined toth e r e s ide n t i a l area dur ing t h e i r baby year leave from
work. Here th e par ty i s unsuccessfu l ; it has little to
of f e r to mothers who a re re l i eved to have some pr iva te
t ime without th e need to balance th e demands o f both work
and the fami ly . The second group, the Democrat ic Women"s
Federa t ion , also has d i f f i c u l t y a t t r ac t i ng women to
meetings a t the end o f th e work day. Most women become
involved in formal a c t i v i t i e s only when members o f t h e i r
family or the immediate neighborhood are a f f ec t ed . The
DFD does a t t r a c t women who a re n o t working and w a n ~ to
volun tee r t h e i r se rv ices . It has been been most
success fu l when it managed to accomplish concre te changes
in th e r e s ide n t i a l a reas - a ramp fo r baby c a r r i a g e s ,
more conven ien t hours fo r food shopping, needed
playgrounds, e tc . . However, most working women t ake an
a t t i t ude s imi la r to one profes s iona l woman who sa id :
I b a r e ly know they e x i s t . I never go to a l e c tu r e .I"ve heard everyth ing they want to say a t work. And I
hear b e t t e r l e c t u re s e lsewhere .
Women who a re working outs ide th e home, 87 percen t o f a l l
e l i g i b l e women (Gysi and Speigner 1983, p .38) come in to
d i r e c t con tac t with th e women"s commissions in th e
e n t e rp r i s e s . th e par ty . They may be pressured to t ake
fu r the r t e ch n i ca l t r a in ing o r prepare themselves fo r a
pos i t ion with more r e s pons ib i l i t y , such as complet ing
work fo r th e second doc to ra te , necessary fo r th e h ig h es t
academic p o s i t i o n s . Women themselves of ten r e s i s t t he se
demands. The reasons fo r t h i s are complex and o f course
r e l a t e i n p a r t to th e husband"s wil l ingness to share
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household chores , bu t the re are o ther problems as wel l
(Rueschemeyer 1988) . Issues revo lv ing around work
cond i t ions , housing, or reques t s fo r vaca t ion p l aces and
o th e r b e n e f i t s are addressed by th e work organ iza t ion . It
i s th e work organ iza t ion t h a t prov ides t he se . b e n e f i t s and
it i s th e work organ iza t ion t h a t makes th e demands. I s
the re anything t h a t cou ld be of fe red in the r e s i d e n t i a l
area?
The woman or the occas iona l man l i v ing a lone with th e
ch i ld ren may not only face a myriad o f demands a f t e r work
b u t a lso i s o l a t i on and lone l ines s . Although s ing le
paren t s with ch i ld ren who remain unmarr ied rece ive
b e n e f i t s from th e s t a t e ( fo r example, par t i cu l a r l y good
access to apartments . and k indergar tens ) , the re are no
formal s t ru c t u re s o f l i v ing which might encourage
communal arrangements; housing i s geared to f ami l ies .
With th e increas ing divorce r a t e , good use could be made
o f the l a rge a number o f smal le r apartments b u i l t because
plan fu l f i l l m e n t i s ca l cu l a t ed by number o f apar tments
r a t h e r than ava i lab le space. These un i t s have, however a
par t i cu l a r l y high ra te o f f luc tua t ion so t h a t those who
remain may lose suppor t from res iden t s with s imi la r
problems o r may be in a house where th e house committees
bare ly func t ion (S taufenbie l 1983, p.114 and Ziegenhagen
1987, p . 7 ) .
I f th e work c o l l e c t i ve i s succes s fu l , col leagues
undertake a number of so c i a l a c t i v i t i e s toge ther ,
ce leb ra te b i r thdays , e t c . , and they help each o ther if
p a r t i c u l a r fami ly problems a r i s e . They t ake each o t h e r ' s
ch i ld ren if a paren t i s ill, help f ix up apar tments , t ake
over c e r t a in work ob l iga t ions if necessary , to mention
j u s t th ree examples. The work c o l l e c t i ve , then , may be a
source of rea l help and s a t i s f a c t i on . But in th e
r e s ide n t i a l area , th e man or woman alone o r a lone with
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ch i ld ren t yp i c a l ly r e tu rns to an apartment where t he re i s
no adu l t -to t a lk to . There i s little thought about what
might be needed a f t e r the workday i s over . I t i s o f
course na ive to th ink t ha t th e s t a t e can eas i l y preven t
i so l a t i on and l one l iness . But t he re are few th ings in th e
r e s ide n t i a l area t h a t s ingle people can eas i l y a t tend .
The occas iona l func t ioning house committee may organ ize
f e s t i v i t i e s once or twice a year ; it i s ra re , though, fo r
th e members to provide s ing le paren t s ongoing suppor t .
"These r e s ide n t i a l areas are only good
fo r marr ied people ."
"Sometimes a f t e r work I t r y to walk in th e
c i t y be fore coming back. There ' s nothing to do
here b u t with two young ch i ld ren , I c a n ' t re tu rn
to town."
Older women who l i ve a lone are among th e l o n e l i e s t in th e
r e s ide n t i a l areas . About 11 percen t of th e popula t ion o f
Rostock i s r e t i r ed ; o f these , a t h i rd are over 80. Three
quar t e rs of the e lde r ly who l ive in the Neubaugebi tete
came because t h e i r c h i l d re n are l i v ing the re (S taufenb ie l
1983 ,p .82) , though some o f th e apar tments b u i l t to
accommodate th e e lde r ly in prox imi ty to t h e i r ch i ld ren
have been used fo r f ami l ies . Those who cannot s t ay in
t h e i r own apar tments are in homes o r spec ia l r e s i den t i a l
apar tments .
Aside from th e occas iona l club for the e lde r ly , who
cannot eas i l y leave th e r e s i d e n t i a l a rea , t he re i s little
e l se to do. The Peop le ' s Sol ida r i t y Movement does indeed
provide impor tant p r a c t i c a l suppor t s with the help o f the
Young Pioneers , th e youngest sect ion of the youth
organ iza t ion . On occas ion , an o ld e r Hausgemeinschaf t
provides impor tant Support fo r its sen io r r e s i d e n t s .
Though the emotional wel l -be ing o f the e lde r ly i s a
problem in th e GDR as in th e West, the Peop le ' s
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Sol ida r i ty Movement does accomplish a cons iderable amount
in th e r e s ide n t i a l area .
The League of Cul ture sponsors c lubs fo r fu r the r ing adu l t
educa t ion and i n t e r e s t s , promotes exh ib i t s and l e c t u re s .
Though most ac t ive in th e c i t y cen te r , it does have some
r ep resen ta t ion in th e new r e s ide n t i a l a rea s . I t s ea r ly
umbrel la func t ion fo r th e i n t e l l i g e n t s i a has been
weakened by th e growth o f spec ia l i zed as soc ia t ions - th e
Wri t e r s ' Assoc ia t ion , fo r example, or the Arch i t ec t s '
Assoc ia t ion . (Zimmermann 1984, p .68) .
The League of Cul ture has an impressive c lub in the
r e s ide n t i a l area of Schmarl , another o f Rostock ' s new
towns, which se rves 400 members and gues t s . Dominated by
. the loca l In t e l l i gen t s i a , th e e legance o f t h i s c lub i s
unusual fo r a Neubaugebiet . Others may f e e l
uncomfortable:
When one woman worker was ass igned by th e e n t e rp r i s e
to th e board , she h e s i t a t e d to speak fo r s ix months!
I t i s only now t h a t she i s a r egu la r pa r t i c ipa n t .
Here complaints and problems a re voiced dur ing var ied
discuss ions , and these a re repor ted , according to one of
the most ac t ive members. That l i nks th e club c lose ly to
those in au thor i ty , bu t s ince most o f th e r e s i d e n t s do
n ot have the oppor tuni ty to p a r t i c i p a t e , th e League i s
wi t hou t g re a t re levance fo r e i t h e r pa r t i c ipa t ion or
co n t r o l .
There are occas iona l l ec tu res in th e r e s i d e n t i a l areas ,
a t tended by r e l a t i ve l y few of the re s iden t s ; movies are
shown, though n o t in a l l Neubaugebie te ; t he re a re
r e s t a u ra n t s , and a few pubs and cafes . Since these a re
very few in number, the re i s little t h a t br ings th e
re s iden t s toge ther . After the long work day, people are
r e luc t a n t to r e tu rn to th e c i t y to par t i c i pa t e in
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c u l t u r a l l i f e . At th e same t ime, h a l f o f the people
in terv iewed in the new r e s i d e n t i a l areas expressed
d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n with th e f ree- t ime and c u l t u r a l a c t i v i t e s
(S t au fenb ie l 1983, p .72 ) . During the week, people spend
most o f t h e i r f ree t ime in th e apar tment watchingt e l ev i s i on (Handke, 1989) . When the weather i s nice ,
people enjoy be ing ou ts ide , e i t h e r in th e nearby seas ide
r e s o r t o f Warnemunde (Staufenbie l 1983,p .42) o r in t he i r
little pr i va t e gardens which are some d is tance from th e
r e s iden t i a l area .
These gardens , grouped toge the r in co lon ies and each
equipped with a little garden house are very impor tant to
people , and no t only because of t he vege t ab l es t h a t are
hard to f ind in the s to r e s . About a t h i rd of the
re s iden t s in th e new towns have t h e i r own garden
accord ing to in fo rmal es t ima te . Those who have a garden
are more s a t i s f i e d with t h e i r housing in a Neubaugebie t ,
though a r ch i t ec t s be l i eve t h a t most people would ac tua l l y
p r e f e r p r i va t e housing. Newly b u i l t s ing le family housing
i s most ly found in the count rys ide . Given th e d i f f i c u l t y
o f ge t t i ng mate r i a l s and labor , bu i ld ing and mainta in ingone ' s own home i s a s t renuous under tak ing , a burden too
heavy fo r most who can g e t an apar tment . (IO)
Soc ia l Li f e , Organizat ional Involvement , and Privacy
10. Cons t ruct ion o f pr iva t e ly owned ( s ing le and poss ib ly
double family) houses in th e GDR has been has been low
compared to o t h e r Eas t European coun t r i e s - 12 percen t
compared to 20 percen t in Romania, 30 percen t i n Poland
and 70 percen t in Hungary (DDR Report 1985 ,p .5 l ) .
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There i s a cons iderable amount of spontaneous
neighborhood i n t e r ac t i on i n th e Neubaugebie te . When
people have no t ye t l ived long in the bu i ld ing , most wi l l
not know each othe r . The web of ~ p o n t a n e o u s i n t e r ac t i on
takes t ime to become dense. In t ime, f r i endsh ips develop
as wel l as r e l a t ions involv ing mutual he lp o f a l l kinds .
Famil ies help with the care of the chi ld ren , r epa i r s ,
-. e t c . , so t h a t the s t a t i s t i c s on those ac t ive in the
d i s t r i c t committees of the Nat iona l Front or the house
committee leadersh ip are on the one hand i n f l a t ed and on
the o the r do no t r e f l e c t the r ea l ac t iv i t y t ha t t akes
p lace . Typica l ly , these are spontaneous a c t i v i t i e s t h a t
are no t l inked to o f f i c i a l organ iza t ions , and are f ree of
t h e i r ir1f1uence.
There are very few unof f i c i a l organiza t ions t h a t go
beyond such grass roo t s i n t e r ac t i on . We have mentioned
the foo tba l l fan clubs , which are not ~ e e n as a pos i t i ve
development. ~ addi t ion , there are the occas ional and
ac t ive spor t s groups .
From the p o i n t o f view of the o rgan iza t iona l pene t ra t ion
of s oc i a l l i f e in th e r e s iden t i a l areas , the c r i t i c a l
quest ions are how many people g e t involved in the var ious
o rgan iza t ions t h a t have been es t ab l i shed , how impor tant
these a c t i v i t i e s a re fo r them, and how wel l they are
i n t egra t ed with t h e i r needs and wants o f people and with
t h e i r spontaneous soc ia l l i f e .
A number of s tud ies ou ts ide of ~ o s t o c k have ind ica ted
t h a t a s i zeab le percentage o f the popula t ion i s s oc i a l l y
ac t ive in the r e s iden t i a l area (Nieder lander 1984, p .75 ) ,
bu t t h a t inc ludes many people who are ac t ive in name
only . The new r e s iden t i a l areas tend to a t t r a c t young
people as wel l as a di spropor t iona te number of the
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educated and occupa t iona l ly qua l i f i e d . It appears t h a t
the most ac t ive re s iden t s in the new towns a l so have
r espons ib l e pos i t i ons a t work, and t h a t one ' s pos i t ion a t
work i s impor tant even a f t e r the r e s i de n t i s r e t i r ed
(Nieder lander 1984, pp .12 - l3 ) . This i s t rue fo r
pa r t i c ipa t i on i n th e Nat iona l Front a s we l l as th e housecommittees and the schools . (11)
In Nieder lander ' s s tudy (1984,p .76) more men than women
were ac t ive in organiza t ions - 62 p ~ r c e n t o f the men and
50 percen t o f th e women in terv iewed. Women are pr imar i ly
engaged in the Peop le ' s So l ida r i t y Movement, the
Democrat ic Women's Federa t ion , the ca re o f the e lde r ly ,
soc ia l commissions, youth work and th e schools
(Nider lander 1984,p .79) . In some o f th e olde r new towns
one can observe t h a t women become cons iderably more
ac t ive when they r e t i r e ( a t age 60, while men r e t i r e a t
65) . So t he re a re cases where they dominate th e community
coord ina t ing committes and house commit tees . Whether t h i s
makes a di f fe rence in th e s ty l e o f the o rgan iza t ions i s
an i n t e re s t ing ques t ion in need o f f u r t he r i nve s t i ga t i on ,
though it hard ly can inc rease the s t rength o f these
o rgan iza t ions v i s - i - v i s othe r i n s t i t u t i ons and thus t h e i re f f e c t i ve ne s s .
Without doubt , the re a re a number of people in the new
r e s iden t i a l a reas who r ea l ly want t o c rea t e a decen t
l i v ing envi ronment and who p u t an enormous amount o f
11. In a s tudy o f new r e s iden t i a l areas in Dresden, a
qua r t e r o f those who VOlunteered t h e i r t ime were members
o f th e i n t e l l i g e n t s i a , while l es s than 10 percen t were
workers and l e s s than 4 percen t white co l l a r employees
(Grundmann 1981,p .53) .
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energy, t ime, and devot ion in to t h e i r work. But the
o f f i c i a l f igures o f pa r t i c ipa t ion give a rad ica l ly
exaggerated p i c t u re of ac t ive pa r t i c ipa t ion . They simply
do not accord with the percept ions o f ordinary c i t i z e n s
and evidence about th e ac tua l func t ioning o f
organ iza t ions , however fragmentary and anecdo ta l .
Many o f th e members of the var ious r e s ide n t i a l
commissions and_committees were pressured by t h e i r
organ iza t ions a t work to t ake on t he se ad d i t i o n a l
func t ions in the community. I f they responded pos i t i ve ly
it was i n p a r t because advancement and o ther b e n e f i t s
depended on a p o s i t i v e response . S t i l l , it was n ot easy
to fill th e many pos i t ions appropr ia te ly . Thus it was no t
ra re t h a t a par ty organ iza t ion de lega ted a person in to a
community coord ina t ing committee who d id no t a t a l l l i ve
in the a rea . Commanding r espec t in th e more f l u id
r e l a t i ons in th e community i s n ot a mat te r to be t aken
fo r granted . A c t i v i s t s have acquired r epu ta t ions a t th e
workplace t h a t may c a r r y o v e r to th e community and
g re a t l y i n f luence th e response of the res iden t s . I f
someone has a r epu ta t ion fo r decency - o r unscrupulous
behav ior- it
s t r tong ly a f f e c t s the percept ion o f th ecommittee and th e wi l l ingness o f t he res iden t s to
coopera te .
Those res iden t s with s p ec i a l needs, such as th e e l d e r l y ,
and those engaged in helping them see th e r e s i d e n t i a l
area as p rov id ing impor tant se rv ices . Others , sucp as
adolescents and t h e i r paren t s , s ing le paren t s , young
couples - t h a t i s , most o f those who l i ve i n the new
towns - are f rus t r a t e d by the l ack of oppor tun i t i e s fo r
c u l t u re , i n t e r e s t i ng l e i s u r e a c t i v i t i e s or spor t s . They
view th e r e s ide n t i a l areas as little more ~ h a n s l eep ing
q u a r t e r s .
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Residents who have been involved in f rus t r a t i ng
nego t ia t ions fo r r e p a i r s , which may t ake months to
re so lve , a re very c r i t i c a l of the re spons ib l e
i n s t i t u t i o n s . From these and s i m i l a r exper iences a r i s e
demands fo r c e r t a in kinds o f s t a t e suppor ted
i n s t i t u t i o n a l i n i t i a t i v e s , but the se demands have little
to do with p o l i t i c a l involvement . In f a c t , such
exper iences fos t e r a fundamental skept ic ism abnout
involvement because it l eads to so little.
Most res iden t s simply want to remain undis turbed in t h e i r
l i ve s out s ide o f work. This des i re fo r pr ivacy i s hard to
overes t imate . It i s th e most powerful blockage to th e
organ iza t iona l p en e t r a t i o n o f th e r e s ide n t i a l areas .
Family and the place of l i v ing are anywhere much more
.persona1 a reas o f l i f e than work and th e so c i a l r e l a t i ons
a t work. In the r e s ide n t i a l a reas o f th e GDR, t h i s need
fo r pr ivacy seems even s t ronger than e l sewhere . A novel
about the new towns, which also was turned i n to a TV f i lm
makes th e " h o ~ y four wal l s" one o f its major themes
(Weber 1979) .
Typica l ly , people do only what they have to in th e
r e s ide n t i a l areas , and pre f e r to remain unincumbered by
th e demand fo r so c i a l involvement . Time d i s t r i bu t i on
s tud ies show a high propor t ion of t ime spent e i t h e r
in s ide one ' s apar tment o r away from the r e s i d e n t i a l area .
Gardens in an ou ts ide garden development a re pre fe r red to
gardens in th e immediate v i c i n i t y o f o n e ' s apar tment
bu i ld ing . (See also Table I I ) .
Table I I
Where i s f ree t ime spent?
(New towns around Rostock)
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Locat ion Weekdays a f t e r work Weekends
in apar tment 62% 11%
ou ts ide apar tment but
in r e s iden t i a l area 8% 7%
ou ts ide the
r e s iden t i a l area 30% 82%
(16% gardening)
Source: Staufenbie1 , 1983, p.37 .
. The des i re to remain unencumbered and pr iva t e may be
descr ibed as withdrawal , bu t it i s withdrawal from
organized ac t iv i ty . And it i s withdrawal from the
pressu res a t work. For those who a re no t in successfu l
work co l l ec t i yes , and even fo r those who a re , t he re i s
too much organiza t ion as it i s . They have been organized
as youngste rs , they have been organized a t school , they
are organized a t work. And they have too much to do
a f t e r work to mainta in t h e i r apartments and ca re fo r
t h e i r chi ld ren .
The des i re to be l e f t undis turbed i s espec ia l ly s t rong
among fo r young f ami l i e s with chi ld ren . They concentra te
on t h e i r apar tments and t h e i r family l i f e . they may be
ac t ive in the k indergar tens or schools . They engage in
groups with a spec ia l i n t e r e s t in spor t s , chess , e tc . .
When they spend t h e i r f ree t ime with othe rs , it i s
usua l ly the extended family or c lo se f r i ends in othe r
pa r t s of the c i ty (Staufenbie1 1983, p .45 ) .
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One person ac t ive in one of th e mass organ iza t ions
complained t h a t people withdraw and want to be a lone , b u t
then , he sa id , they fee l i s o l a t e d . Problems o f i so l a t i on
and a l i ena t ion in the new towns are of ten discussed. One
so c i o l o g i s t wondered if people r ea l l y want the con tac t
and whether a l l th e concern fo r th e lone ly res iden t s o f
anonymous Neubaugebiete i s in r ea l i t y about people who
are not r ea l l y i n t e r e s t e d i n more community as ide from
add i t iona l s to res and se rv ices . It seems c l e a r t h a t th e
much discussed anonymity i s l a rge ly a t r ans i t o ry
phenomenon, and lone l ines s i s a problem fo r c e r t a in
groups o f people whose condi t ion i s more determined by
o ther fac to rs than by th e s ize and a rc h i t e c t u re o f l a rge
apartment house complexes. In add i t ion , however, what th e
r e s ide n t i a l organ iza t ions have to of f e r in not very
appeal ing fo r the one, and not su f f i c i en t fo r the o ther
group.
The Hausgemeinschaft i s the o f f i c i a l organ iza t ion o f th e
most c ru c i a l importance fo r our examinat ion because it
was to be th e major l inkage between spontaneous
neighborhood i n t e r a c t ion and th e l a rge r organ iza t iona l
s t ruc ture . My research on the Hausgemeinschaften does not
suppor t such a view. Typica l ly the members meet once o r
twice a year , t h e i r rep resen ta t ives once a month. Much o f
the work t h a t has to be done fo r the ca re of the house
may ac tua l ly be informal ly organized.
The house committees do have impor tant pra c t i c a l
func t ions . They are re spons ib l e fo r orde r and
c lean l iness , fo r the ca re o f th e bu i ld ing and the
immediate grounds. Succeeding in these pr imary t a sks
makes an impor tant con t r ibu t ion to th e l i ve s o f th e
res iden t s . They have d i f f i c u l t y , however, even in
fu l f i l l i n g these ob l iga t ions , if th e Hausgemeinschaf t i s
too l a rge , if the re i s high turnover , o r if those who
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l i ve i n th e house are f requent ly away because o f t h e i r
work (on ships fo r exam ple, in Rostock). In the b e s t
cases , th e house commit tees succeed in t h e i r immediate
t a sks , provide some suppor t to res iden t s in need, and on
occas ion ho ld house ce leb ra t ions . In order to ach ieve
even t h i s , th e house committee has t o ca jo le res iden t s to
p a r t i c i p a t e in c lean-up campaigns and o ther or9anized
a c t i v i t i e s . Many are a l l e rg i c to these exhor ta t ions and
want to be l e f t alone. Most Hausgemeinschaften the re fo re
conf ine themselves to th e t a sks o f order and c lean l iness ,
and with some d i f f i c u l t y most achieve those goa l s .
The head o f one house committee in Rostock, a young
eng ineer who a lso holds an important pos i t ion i n h i s
e n t e rp r i s e , descr ibed the long per iod o f t ime it took him
to bu i ld up h is Hausgemeinschaf t . He t a lked about
c leaning up regu la r ly with only a smal l number o f people
and o f sys temat ica l ly g ree t ing people , even those no t
par t i cu l a r l y l iked in th e house . He still cons ide rs t he
Hausgemeinschaft unsuccessfu l b u t i s se n s i t i v e t o th e
d i f f i c u l t i e s he faces and to the l im i t s t ha t th e
res iden t s impose on any broader p o l i t i c a l i n i t i a t i v e s he
may want to undertake.
Another Hausgemeinschaf t , one considered a model, was
headed by an o lder woman who no longer worked ou ts ide th e
house . Even with h e r au thor i t a r i an s ty le , to which
res iden t s in o th e r bu i ld ings reac ted unsympathe t i ca l ly ,
she too was aware o f the l im i t s and . t r i ed to bu i ld up
r e l a t i ons i n th e house - a very l a rge bu i ld ing - by
sending b i r thday cards to everybody in th e house , with
f lowers added fo r those who helped with work (only
h a l f th e r e s i d e n t s ) , and by o ther s imi la r means.
There i s little doubt t h a t th e Hausgemeinschaft i s n ot a
force comparable to th e work c o l l e c t i ve . It c e r t a in ly
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does no t succeed in l ink ing spontaneous neighborhood
i n t e r a c t ion to the wider organ iza t iona l s t ruc tu r e , no t to
mention i n f luenc ing its members in a p o l i t i c a l sense . The
men and women I spoke with , who were ac t ive in house
commit tees , agreed t h a t - most impor tant ly - one should
n o t spout th e words o f the par ty : "No p o l i t i c s . " And aknowledgeable and r e a l i s t i c o lder pa r ty a c t i v i t i s t
commented: "As a p o l i t i c a l ins t rument , th e
Hausgemeinschaf t was a s t i l l b o r n baby ."
The l eading p a r ty , th e SED, had responded to th e
d i f f i c u l t i e s o f a t t r ac t i ng people to become ac t ive in the
Nat iona l Fron t and t he va r ious o rgan iza t ions and
committees in th e r e s i d e n t i a l areas by r e t r e a t i ng from
th e " ideas o f th e 1960s", which emphasized a s o c i a l i s t
.way o f l i v ing in th e r e s i d e n t i a l areas . There had been
some i n t e rna l di scuss ion about t he se ma t t e r s . There had
a lso been d iscuss ion in the Free German Youth about th e
importance o f doing more espec ia l ly in th e Neubaugebie te i
bu t the re w e r ~ many express ions o f skept ic ism t h a t FDJ
r ep r e s en t a t i v e s would n ot be accepted by th e r e s i d e n t s .
(Since th e opening o f th e borders and th e dramat ic
changes within th e SED, th e fundamental l inkage to th ep a r ty has been severed and l a rge numbers o f young people
dropped t h e i r membership in th e FDJ.) There had been
widespread d iscuss ion about th e importance o f f l e x ib i l i t y
and open debate wi th th e popula t ion responding to th e
widespread i n t e r e s t and support fo r Gorbachev-sty le
g lasnos t , bu t a t o f f i c i a l meetings t he appropr i a t e
r ep r e s en t a t i v e cont inued to r e l a t e as usua l the dec i s ions
t h a t were made a t a higher l eve l .
Concluding Ref lec t ions: Part ic ipat ion and Control in the
CDR
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The organ iza t iona l pene t ra t ion o f GDR soc ie ty by th e
l eading par ty and its a f f i l i a t e d mass organ iza t ions ,
then , was extremely uneven. The mass organ iza t ions were
most ac t i v e a t th e workplace, espec ia l ly th e most
powerfu l and most inc lus ive organ iza t ions - th e union,
th e Free German youth and, o f course th e communist par ty .
They demanded an enormous amount of pa r t i c ipa t ion and
volunta ry a c t i v i t i e s o f a l l s o r t s and they of fe red
c ru c i a l b e n e f i t s answering to housing and o ther needs .
Yet while they used up much "co l l ec t ive energy" , t h e i r
focus was on product ion and work. And even though th e
demands o f work of ten came in to c o n f l i c t with o th e r
needs , th e work-or iented organ iza t ions responded poor ly
to these o therneeds .
(Successfu l workc o l l e c t i ve s
maybe
a p a r t i a l excep t ion to th e l a t t e r observa t ion , and it i s
.perhaps fo r t h i s reason t h a t they were more p o s i t i v e l y
eva lua ted . )
This organ iza t iona l dens i ty a t t he p l ace o f work had no
. coun terpar t i th e r e s ide n t i a l a reas . Compared to th e
demands and involvements a t work, organ iza t ions in th e
communities were n e i t h e r ab le to d i r e c t the energies o f
the res iden t s to s o c i a l - p o l i t i c a l work nor to shape t h e i r
f r ee t ime. Since they provided little t h a t was o f use to
th e res iden t s , they were seen as r e l a t i ve ly unimpor tan t ,
of ten were v i r t u a l l y unnot iced and d id n o t a t t r a c t
involvement.
The r e s ide n t i a l world represented in e f f e c t a space f r ee
o f p o l i t i c a l and organized soc ia l o b l ig a t i o n s . The des i re
fo r pr ivacy, th e overburdening with pa r t i c ipa to ry
ob l iga t ions a t work, and th e lack o f s t rong and e f f e c t ive
"se rv ice" t h a t might motivate people to par t i c i pa t e in
organ iza t ions in th e r e s ide n t i a l area were th e main
causes o f t h i s f a i l u re o f th e r e l ev an t mass
organ iza t ions . For f a i l u r e it probably should be ca l l ed ,
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even if one cannot cla im t h a t th e i n i t i a l des ign aimed
fo r as s t rong a pa t t e rn of o rgan iza t iona l involvement as
a t th e workplace . Fai lu re o r not , the p o l i t i c a l
leadership had accepted th e ex is tence o f a r e l a t i ve l y
unpene t ra ted f ree space o f pr ivacy as a given.
What were th e consequences o f t h i s s t a t e o f a f f a i r s , and
what was its broader p o l i t i c a l s ign i f i cance? The e f f e c t
was in my view a double-edged one, if judged from the
p o in t o f view of the p o l i t i c a l l eader sh ip . On th e one
hand, t h i s f ree space gave people r e l i e f from an
otherwise overwhelming burden of ac t ive involvement ,
overwhelming even if some p a r t o f t h i s ac t iv i ty may have
to be judged a meaningless pre tense , "paper ac t i v i t y" .
The freedom to be l e f t a lone , espec ia l ly in th e pr iva t e
sphere o f fami ly , rec rea t ion and f r i ends , was a freedom
prec ious to many. I t was a freedom won by i n s i s t e n t
withdrawal , y e t it also was accepted and t a c i t l y approved
by th e managers of the p o l i t i c a l system. However
c i rcumscr ibed , it se rved th e acceptance o f th e system, if
to a l imi ted degree . One may perhaps i n t e r p r e t some
cur ren t reform proposa ls - such as an expanded pro tec t ion
aga ins t a rb i t r a ry dec i s ions by par ty and s t a t e about
mat te r s of ind iv idua l i n t e r e s t and g re a t e r l e g a l
pred i c t ab i l i t y in the r e l a t i ons o f ind iv idua l and s t a t e
as bu i ld ing on t h i s acknowledged sphere o f pr ivacy .
Yet th e very l imi ted organ iza t iona l pene t ra t ion o f the
r e s ide n t i a l a reas had a profoundly prob lemat ic s ide when
viewed from th e top of the p o l i t i c a l system. The
problemat ic consequences der ive in my view from t h ree
fac t s : (1) th e f a i l u re was a symptom o f a lack o f
conf idence in th e a b i l i t y of the system to meet
expec ta t ions , and it r e in fo rced t h a t l ack o f conf idence
in tu rn ; (2) more impor tant fo r th e fu tu re , th e world o f
res idence and l e i s u r e i s the arena in which needs and
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wants are expanding and mult ip ly ing as th e educa t iona l
l e v e l and economic prosper i ty r i s e ; th e cen t e r of grav i ty
of so c i a l and c u l t u r a l l i f e w i l l move away from work;
f i na l l y (3) l i f e and di scourse in r e s i d e n t i a l areas a re
po te n t i a l l y more open to wide ranging d iscuss ions , and
these a re a t a sk fo r which th e more s p ec i a l i z ed
organ iza t ions a t the p lace o f work, locked i n to an
es tab l i shed product ion o r i e n t a t i o n , a re no t wel l su i t ed .
One reason t h a t th e mass organ iza t ions d id n ot push t h e i r
e f f o r t s hard in th e r e s ide n t i a l areas was t h a t they
be l i eved they would f a i l . They were not able to respond
e f f e c t ive ly to th e demands of the c i t i z e ns - whether t h i s
i n a b i l i t y was due to th e ever- invoked economicc o n s t r a i n t s , to th e i n f l e x i b i l i t y o f th e plann ing system
-o r to ideo log ica l l i m i t a t i o n s . Those organ iza t ions t h a t
de l ivered wanted se rv ices , as fo r i n s t ance the Peop le ' s
S o l i d a r i t y o r a few c u l tu r a l o r youth c lubs , had some
success , i l l u s t r a t i n g aga in th e rec ip roc i ty under ly ing
any a t t empt a t organ iza t iona l p en e t r a t i o n . That many
wants and demands in the a rea o f housing and community
development cou ld no t be met undercut th e organ iza t iona l
e f f o r t and decreased th e confidence in th e responsiveness
o f th e l oca l organ iza t ions and, by extens ion, o f the
p o l i t i c a l system.
P o t e n t i a l l y , th e r e s ide n t i a l community i s th e place where
people as c i t i z e ns - r a t h e r than in t h e i r s p ec i a l i z ed
occupat iona l ro les - i n t e r a c t with each o th e r and
conf ron t broader problems. The need fo r more open and
wide-rang ing p o l i t i c a l di scuss ion can probably be metb e t t e r in t h i s arena than in th e base organ iza t ions
c lus te red around work. The inheren t l im i t a t i ons o f th e
l a t t e r are r e in fo rced by t h e i r very s t rong o r i e n t a t i o n
toward i s sues o f product ion . That th e P ro t e s t a n t Church
has a t t r a c t e d those i n t e r e s t e d in more open di scuss ion o f
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such concerns as envi ronment pro tec t ion and
unconventional peace i n i t i a t i v e s , may perhaps be taken as
an i nd ica t ion t h a t community based organ iza t ions are
spec ia l ly su i t ed fo r such dia logue . In tu rn , p re c i s e l y
because th e p o l i t i c a l system o f th e GDR had inves ted its
organ iza t iona l e f f o r t s so heav i ly in th e world o f
s p ec i a l i z ed work and product ion , it was l e s s able to
engage in p o l i t i c a l dia logues t h a t cu t across d i f f e r e n t
groups and s t r a t a withou t tempt ing d e fe a t and l o ss o f
con t ro l . But such i n f l e x i b i l t y involved grave r i s ks , as
r ecen t even t s have made apparen t .
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Program on Central and Eastern Europe Working Paper Series
The Program on Central and Eastern Europe at the Center for European Studies was established to develop andpromote research in the field of East European Studies. Made possible by a generous grant from the Ford Foundation, theProgram aims to attract students and faculty in the broader social sciences to the field. to bring prominent scholars and intellectuals from both the U.S. and Europe to Harvard, and to establish a pennanent meeting place for the effective exchangeof ideas among those interested in Central and Eastern Europe.
1990-1991 Committee of Senior Advisors:
Stanley Hoffmann (Chair), C. Douglas Dillon Professor of the Civilization of France and Chairman of the Minda deGunzburg Center for European StudiesStanislaw Baranczak, Alfred Jurzykowski Professor of Polish Language and Literature, Harvard UniversitySuzanne Berger, Ford International Professor of Political Science, MITJanos Kornai, Professor of Economics, Harvard UniversityCharles S. Maier, Professor of History, Harvard UniversityAndrei Markovits, Associate Professor of Political Science, Boston UniversityCharles Sabel, Professor of Political Science, MITAndrew G. Walder, Professor of Sociology, Harvard University
Program Coordinators:
Grzegorz Ekiert, Assistant Professor of Government, Harvard University
Anthony Levitas, Ph.D. Candidate, Deparunent of Political Science, MITAnnamaria Seleny, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science, MIT
The Program on Central and Eastern Europe Working Papers Series, edited by Grzegorz Ekiert, is designed to stimulate scholarly discussion in the field of Eastern European studies as well as to provide a useful means for circulating work in progress.The series is open to articles or chapters prior to final publication and papers prepared for professional meetings. Priority willbegiven to papers by affiliates or presented at study groups and conferences at the Center for European Studies.
1. Jan Kubik, "Social an d Political Instability in Poland: A Theoretical Reconsideration" (1990)2. Michael Bernhard, "Legitimation and Instability: The Fatal Link" (1990)3. Michael D. Kennedy, "The Constitution of Critical Intellectuals: Polish Physicians, Peace Activists
and Democratic Civil Society" (1989)4. Giuseppe di Palma, "Democratic Transitions: Puzzles and Surprises from West to East" (1990)
5. David Stark, "Work, Worth, and Justice in a Socialist Mixed Economy" (1990)6. Janusz M. Dabrowski, Michal Federowicz, Anthony Levitas, "Stabilization and State Enterprise Adjustment:
The Political Economy of State Firms after Five Months of Fiscal Discipline, Poland 1990"(1990)
7. Charles Maier, "Why Did Communism Collapse in 1989?" (1991)8. David Ost, "Shaping a New Politics in Poland: Interests and Politics in Post-Communist East
Europe" (1991)
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Center for Euro ea n Studies Workin Pa er Series
The Working Papers Series, edited by Peter A. Hall, reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the Minda de Gunzburg Center forEuropean Studies at Harvard. Papers by affiliates or presented at study groups and conferences range from economics andpolitical science to sociology and culture. European questions are looked at from both comparative andhistorical perspectives.Papers presently available are:
1. Andrei S. Markovits. "The Other 'American Exceptionalism': Why Is There No Soccer in the United States?" withCommentary by Charles S. Maier (1986)
2. Gavyn Davies, "The Macroeconomic Record of the Conservatives" (Britain) (1986)3. Peter Jelavicb, "At the Confluence of Cultural History: Cabarets in Berlin, 1901-1944" (1987)4. Samuel Cobn, "Plagues, Consciousness and High Culture in the Early Renaissance" (1987)
5. Aya Creybas an d Dick Pels, "The Character of Carmen and the Social Construction of a New Feminine Myth"(1987)6. Fritz W. Scbarpf. "The Political Calculus of Inflation and Unemployment in Western Europe" (1987)7. Carole Pateman, "The Patriarchal Welfare State: Women and Democracy" (1987)8. Robert D. Putnam, "Institutional Performance and Political Culture in Italy: Some Puzzles About the Power of the
Past" (1987)9. Peter J. Katzenstein, "Stability and Change in the Emerging Third West German Republic" (1988)10. Reimar LUst, "Europe in Space: An Example of Successful European Cooperation" (1988)11. Pier Paolo D'AUore, "Italian Reconstruction and 'Depressed Areas': The Marshall Plan in the 'Mezzogiomo'" (1988)12. David R. Cameron, "The Colors of a Rose: On the Ambiguous Record of French Socialism" (1988)13. Martin BUnkborn, "History in the Service of Politics: the Carlist Party and the Carlist Past"; Stanley Payne,
"Counterrevolution"; and Paul Preston, "Revenge and Reconciliation: the Spanish Civil War and Historical Memory"(1988)
14. Martha Ackelsberg, "Mujeres Libres, 1936-1986: Meaning, Memory and the Politics of Repression"; Susan
Harding, "Village Narratives of the Civil War" (1988)15. J. Martinez-Alier and Jordi Roca, "Spain After Franco: From Corporatist Ideology to Corporatist Reality";
Carlos Bustelo, "Economic Policy in Spain's Democracy: Dilemmas and Constraints" (1988)16. Jane Jenson, "Paradigms and Political Discourse: Labour and Social Policy in the USA and France Before 1914"
(1988)17. Marilyn Ruescbemeyer, "Participation and Control in a State Socialist Society: The German Democratic
Republic" (1988)18. Elisabetta Addis, "What Should Women Ask of the Law: Italian Feminist Debate on the Legal System and Sexual
Violence" (1989) .19. Peter Mandler, "The Strange Birth of Liberal England: Class, Religion, and the Market in the Making of the British
Political Tradition" (1989)20. Wolfgang Merkel, "After the Golden Age: A Decline of Social Democratic Policies in Western Europe during the
1980s?" (1989)21. Andrew Moravcsik, "Negotiating the Single Act: National Interests and Conventional Statecraft in the European
Community (1989)22. Hans Daalder, "Ancient and Modem Pluralism in the Netherlands" (1989)23. Ellen Immergut, "Political Arenas: The Effects of Representation on National Health Insurance Policies in Sweden,
Switzerland, and France (1990)24. Karl Hinrichs, "Irregular Employment Patterns and the Loose Net of Social Security: Some Findings on the West
German Development" (1990)25. Robert Keohane an d Stanley Hoffmann, "European Community Politics and Institutional Change" (1989)26. Barry H. Bergen, "Secularizing the Schools in France, 1870-1900: Controversy. Continuity, and Consensus" (1990)27. Paul Pierson, "Taking the Jewel From Labour's Crown? Mrs.Thatcher's Assault on the British Welfare State" (1990)
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The Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies
The Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies is an interdisciplinary programorganized within the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences and designed to promote thestudy of Europe. The Center's governing committees represent the major social sciencedepartments at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Since its establishment in 1969. the Center has tried to orient students towards questionsthat have been neglected both about past developments in eighteenth- and nineteenthcentury European societies and about the present. The Center's approach is comparativeand interdisciplinary, with a strong emphasis on the historical and cultural sources whichshape a country's political and economic policies and social structures. Major interests ofCenter members include elements common to industrial societies: the role of the state inthe political economy of each country, political behavior, social movements, parties andelections, trade unions, intellectuals, labor markets and the crisis of industrialization,science policy, and the interconnections between a country's culture and politics.
For a complete list of the Center for European Studies Working Papers and informationabout its other publications (German Politics and Society, a journal appearing three timesannually; French Politics and Society, a quarterly journal; and the East European WorkingPaper Series) please contact the Publications Department, 27 Kirkland St, Cambridge MA02138. Additional copies can be purchased for $4.00. A monthly calendar of events at theCenter is also available at no cost.