History of State Socialist Societies beyond the Dichotomy of Oppression and Resistance

The volume focuses on emerging rooms for manoeuvre in the socialist societies of Central and Eastern Europe after the Second World War. Unlike in other works, these areas of activity are not viewed as isolated spheres where citizens could act independently from political and societal constraints. They are rather conceptualized here as geographical, social or institutional spaces whose existence was either outside of political control or more or less intentionally allowed by authorities and other decision-makers. The contributions investigate how East Germans, Poles, Romanians, Slovaks and Czechs coped with the limitations of socialist reality. How did they adopt and successfully adapt given norms to their own specific interests? To what extent were the resulting rooms for manoeuvre not only essential aspects of the state socialist system, but even necessary to stabilize it?

Autorentext
Dr. Claudia Kraft ist seit 2018 Professorin für Kultur-, Wissens- und Geschlechtergeschichte am Institut für Zeitgeschichte der Universität Wien mit Schwerpunkten u.a. auf der Geschichte des Staatssozialismus in Mittel- und Osteuropa, Rechtsgeschichte und Zwangsmigration. Prof. Dr. Jerzy Kochanowski lehrt an der Faculty of Culture and Art Sciences, Warsaw University, Polen. Prof. Dr. Jerzy Kochanowski lehrt an der Faculty of Culture and Art Sciences, Warsaw University, Polen. Prof. Dr. Jerzy Kochanowski lehrt an der Faculty of Culture and Art Sciences, Warsaw University, Polen. Prof. Dr. Jerzy Kochanowski lehrt an der Faculty of Culture and Art Sciences, Warsaw University, Polen. Dr. Claudia Kraft ist seit 2018 Professorin für Kultur-, Wissens- und Geschlechtergeschichte am Institut für Zeitgeschichte der Universität Wien mit Schwerpunkten u.a. auf der Geschichte des Staatssozialismus in Mittel- und Osteuropa, Rechtsgeschichte und Zwangsmigration.

Klappentext

The volume focuses on emerging "rooms for manoeuvre" in the socialist societies of Central and Eastern Europe after the Second World War. Unlike in other works, these areas of activity are not viewed as isolated spheres where citizens could act independently from political and societal constraints. They are rather conceptualized here as geographical, social or institutional spaces whose existence was either outside of political control or more or less intentionally allowed by authorities and other decision-makers. The contributions investigate how East Germans, Poles, Romanians, Slovaks and Czechs coped with the limitations of socialist reality. How did they adopt and successfully adapt given norms to their own specific interests? To what extent were the resulting "rooms for manoeuvre" not only essential aspects of the state socialist system, but even necessary to stabilize it?