Social Transformation and the Family in Post-Communist Germany

The unification of Germany set in motion one of the most interesting and uncharted developments of our era: the transformation of a whole society. This book examines key areas of transformation with special reference to the place and future of the family.

Auteur

EVA KOLINSKY is Professor of Modern German Studies at Keele University and Director of Keele's Centre for the Study of German Culture and Society. Since the unification of Germany, she extended her established research interest in the emergence of social citizenship and equal opportunities to include the processes of post-communist transformation with special reference to women, the family and minority cultures. Recent publications include: Women in Contemporary Germany; Women in 20th Century Germany; Between Hope and Fear: Everyday Life in Post-Unification East Germany (editor), and Turkish Culture in German Society Today (editor with D.Horrocks). She is co-editor of German Politics (Frank Cass) and of a series on Culture and Society in Germany.

Résumé
This book explores one of the most interesting and uncharted developments of our era: the transformation of East German society after the unification of Germany in 1990. State socialism had guaranteed employment for men and women, wages were low, housing cheap, child-care plentiful and child-benefits generous. After its collapse, former certainties turned into unknown competition in the labour market, unemployment, income differentiation and in some cases poverty. Women, single mothers, the unskilled and blue collar workers lost the employment concessions or special status they had enjoyed before and faced unexpected risks of exclusion; others relished the opportunities of occupational mobility and increased income that also arose. In post-communist Germany, family duties and employment which were deemed compatible in the GDR, have begun to conflict, yet women have retained their employment motivation and their family orientation. Arising from a programme of research workshops funded by the Anglo-German Foundation and the ESRC, Social Transformation and the Family examines key areas of post-communist transformation in Germany with special reference to the place and future of the family. The first part of the book discusses family policy agendas, the second looks at income and employment change and the challenges faced by women, the young and older people in post-communist German society.

Contenu

Preface List of Tables List of Charts Notes on the Contributors Introduction: Social Transformation and the Family: Issues and Development; Eva Kolinsky PART 1: FAMILIES AND FAMILY POLICY Women and Women's Policies in East and West Germany, 1945-1990; Hildegard Maria Nickel Family Policy and Family Function in the German Democratic Republic ; Mike Dennis Social Protection and Family Transformation: Speculations on the German Agenda; Steen Mangen Family Policy as Social Policy in Unified Germany: Framework and Process Ilona Ostner PART 2: SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION AND FAMILY CHALLENGE Economic Transformation and Income Change; Christopher Flockton Recasting Biographies: Women and the Family; Eva Kolinsky Women's Career Choices after the Collapse of the East German Employment Society: Ingrid Hoelzler Young People and the Family; Hans Oswald Family Support of Older People in Post-Communist Germany; Thomas Scharf Conclusion: The Family Transformed: Structures, Experiences, Prospects; Eva Kolinsky Select Bibliography Index