Creating a Democratic Civil Society in Eastern Germany

This book examines normative theories of civil society and deliberative democracy by using a case study of the East German 'citizen movements' that led the democratic opposition against the communist regime. These movements espoused political ideals and engaged in public activities with striking affinities to recent normative theoretical conceptions of civil society. Tracing the history of the citizen movements from the 1970s through the 1990s, this study analyzes their attempts to transform German politics through a 'politics of civil society.' This case reveals the democratic potential of civil society theories as well as the obstacles facing the realization of alternative visions of democracy in contemporary liberal democracies.

Autorentext

CHRISTIANE OLIVO is an assistant professor of political science at Antioch College. She previously taught at the University of Denver and University of Colorado at Denver. She has been a doctoral and post-doctoral fellow at the Free University of Berlin and the Humboldt University Berlin, respectively. Her work has appeared in Polity and German Politics and Society.

Inhalt

The Reemergence of Civil Society as a Concept of Democratic Politics Civil Society, Public Spheres, and Democratic Deliberation Political Dissidence and Civil Society in Pre-1989 East Germany Institutionalizing Civil Society during the GDR's Transition to Democracy Alliance 90: Citizen Movement or Political Party? Institutionalizing Citizen Movement Politics: Democratic Possibilities and Practical Limitations The Democratic Legacy of the Citizen Movements and Possibilities for a Politics of Civil Society