SFB 580: Social Developments after Structural Change - Discontinuity, Tradition, Structural Formation

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The first phase of research into the transformation of East Germany was guided by the expectation that the East would quickly adapt to the status of the West by a proc-ess of rapid modernisation. In the second phase this approach has been changed: The starting point no longer assumes that East Germany is simply hampered by a modernisation lag that can be reduced over time but rather that in the East there are developments particular to that region. This assumption that a specific logic of societal development and crisis management exists in the East is the central focus of this col-laborative research centre. The general research questions therefore are: Under which conditions and in which areas can we expect further moves in the East towards a greater similarity with the West, and where might we expect a stabilisation of differences? Do processes of social learning and the underlying transformation of societal institutions result in new permanent arrangements or will there be strong tensions and instabilities in East Germany that will lead to repeated disruptions? How do the East German social structures blend with new developments in Germany as a whole and across Europe? The research into the mid-term logic of societal developments and crisis management creates an important basis for comparisons both for the analysis of further transformations of East and mid-European post-socialist societies and for the discussion of modernisation crises in western societies. In a second grant period a stronger research focus on comparisons with developments in western and eastern European societies is there-fore planned.