Franz Oswald

The Party That Came Out of the Cold War (eBook, PDF)

The Party of Democratic Socialism in United Germany

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

The Party of Democratic Socialism is wrongly stigmatized as polarizing German politics on the left. In fact, Oswald argues, the PDS is East Germany's contribution to the regionalized pluralism of united Germany's party system. Although initially marginalized as the successor of East Germany's SED, the PDS legitimized itself by combining eastern regionalism, a left-socialist identity, and political ambition. The PDS has become an acceptable partner in center-left parties in eastern state governments, in stark contrast to its continuing irrelevance in West Germany. While its earlier exclusion was justified by portraying the PDS as crypto-communist, the integration strategies of the late 1990s were supported by modernization theorists recognizing the party's contribution to the integration of post-unification Germany. An executive summary of the first decade of post-unification German politics, Oswald's book offers a precise interpretation of the learning processes within the PDS. It also provides a close analysis of the disputes within the PDS characterizing the party as a political subculture in which East Germans could come to terms with the ruptures of their history and their biographies while at the same time finding a role in the politics and society of united Germany.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
• Seitenzahl: 200
• Altersempfehlung: ab 7 Jahre
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. Oktober 2002
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780313013584
• Artikelnr.: 37825037

Autorenporträt

Franz Oswald is Associate Professor of European Politics and International Relations at Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia, and the author of The Party That Came Out of the Cold War: The Party of Democratic Socialism in United Germany (Praeger, 2002).

Inhaltsangabe

Preface Introduction During the Last Year of the GDR (1989
90) More Than a New Label: The Transition from SED to PDS (December 1989
March 1990) Coming to Terms with Opposition Role and German Unification (February
December 1990) Slowing Down the Decline, Surviving on the Margins (1990
94) Decline of PDS Encourages Exclusion Strategy (1991
93) Towards the 1994 Elections: Survival and First Steps Out of Isolation (1993
94) Transforming the Party: Can the PDS "Arrive" in the New Germany? (1995
98) PDS: Rethinking Its Opposition Role
SPD and Greens: Rethinking Their Exclusion Strategy (1995
97) Junior Partner in Regional Government: Almost a Normal Party Now (1998) Conclusion: The Place of the PDS in the Party System Appendix: Chronology 1989
2000 Bibliography Index