Abstract
This part covers fieldwork done from August 1990 to July 1991. The aim was to capture real-time reactions of East German intellectuals to the end of their nation, the GDR (German Democratic Republic); the simultaneous end of their nearly universally shared dream of a socialist world succeeding capitalism; and the realization that it was capitalist West Germany, not the GDR, that had “won” the struggle for German national identity and economic survival. The virtually universal sentiment among these intellectuals in 1990–91 was that East Germany was not unifying with West Germany; rather the conclusion was that the GDR was being taken over and “colonized” by the FRG (Federal Republic of Germany). Lastly, there was confusion and a lack of consensus among these intellectuals regarding the viability of socialism as an organizing principle for society.
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Bednarz, D. (2017). Part I: After the Turn, 1990–91. In: East German Intellectuals and the Unification of Germany. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42951-9_2
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