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SEHI2010 Dictatorship As Experience

Dictatorship As Experience: The Coexistence of Consensus and Refusal in the German Democratic Republic

UCL Credits: 30

Total Learning Hours: 300

ECTS: 15

Level: Advanced

Course Unit: 1.0

Full Year

Module Coordinator: Udo Grashoff

Taught By: Udo Grashoff

To find out more about this module, please contact the Module Coordinator.

Weekly Contact Hours: 2.0 (2 hour seminar per week)
Prerequisites: None
Compulsory Module for: None

Summative Assessment

Coursework Essay 2000-2500 words (25%)

Coursework Essay 2000-2500 words (25%)

3 Hour Examination (50%)

Formative Assessment

Class presentation with verbal feedback

Module Outline

In March 1990 the East German writer Stefan Heym feared that the GDR could wind up as ‘footnote in world history’. As far as historiography is concerned, this prophecy turned out to be too pessimistic.

The opening of the archives resulted in an upsurge in historical analyses of the East German state and thereby new insights into its politics, culture and society. However, the availability of new material did not result in historical consensus about the nature of the socialist system. The revival of totalitarian theory, with its focus on the instruments of repression and control, was challenged by models that sought to understand GDR society from the inside, as a ‘participatory dictatorship’ (Fulbrook), in which individuals negotiated a ‘normal life’ within the boundaries of the regime. Nevertheless, focusing on cultural aspects of the GDR run into danger to downplay the ever-present confinement and the subtle practices of intimidation.

The seminar aims for a holistic approach to the history of the German Democratic Republic. Hence it covers political, economic, social and cultural issues as well.

Indicative Texts

  • Mark Allinson, Politics and Popular Opinion in East Germany 1945-1968, Manchester University Press 2000
  • David Childs, The GDR: Moscow's German Ally, London: Allen & Unwin 1983
  • Mike Dennis, The rise and fall of the German Democratic Republic, 1945-1990, Harlow: Longman/Pearson 2000
  • Mary Fulbrook, Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR 1949–1989. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1995
  • Mary Fulbrook, The People's State. East German Society from Hitler to Honecker New Haven: Yale University Press 2005
  • Peter Grieder, The German Democratic Republic, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 2012
  • Konrad H. Jarausch (ed.), Dictatorship as experience. Towards a socio-cultural history of the GDR, Berghahn Books 1999

AFFILIATES

Affiliates

Course Code

Assessment

 ECTS

Full Year AffiliatesRegister for SEHI2010As Above 15

 

Please note: This outline is accurate at the time of publication. Minor amendments may be made prior to the start of the academic year.