Sigrid Meuschel
Biographic Data
| ID | 368866 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sigrid Meuschel |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sigrid |
| FAMILY NAME | Meuschel |
| SIGNATURE | MEUSCHEL S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Institut für Soziologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Babelsberger Str. 14-16, 1 Berlin 31, Germany |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 9 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1983 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Theories of Totalitarianism and Modern Dictatorships: A Tentative Approach
This essay discusses totalitarian theories with regard to their capacity to interpret in a normatively plausible way such different dictatorships as Nazism, Stalinism and post-Stalinism. In contrast to theoretical approaches which subsume all these regimes under a single concept (totalitarianism as total control), it argues in favor of discerning terror and ideology as main characteristics (totalitarianism as extermination). The focus on National…
The Other German Dictatorship: Totalitarianism and Modernization in the German Democratic Republic
In contrast to the home-made Nazi regime, the East German dictatorship was imposed by a foreign power and remained dependent on it. It did not cause a civilizational collapse comparable to Nazism, but it was more totalitarian in its efforts to subordinate all areas of social life to political control. This totalitarian logic resulted in a permanent dilemma: the party-state suppressed the innovative potential which at the same time it needed to ac…
Wandel durch Auflehnung: Thesen zum Verfall bürokratischer Herrschaft in der DDR
Revolution in the German Democratic Republic
This paper discusses the revolution in the GDR against the background of East German political culture and its social and political structures. The revolution caught up with the Hungarian and Polish transformation processes which had started many years earlier. In the GDR, the activists of the first hour intended neither to do away with socialism nor to put an end to the East German state. There was, however, a dual aspect to the revolutionary ev…
Le SED: Du stalinisme vers la démocratie ou vers la nation
Pourquoi n'y a-t-il pas eu en R.D.A., comme dans d'autres démocraties populaires de l'Europe de l'Est, des mouvements d'opposition recueillant le soutien de couches variées de la population ? L'auteur tente de répondre à ces questions en rappelant l'absence de traditions démocratiques de la culture politique et en analysant le rôle de l'intelligentsia durant les crises des années 50. Elle expose ensuite le processus de transformations technocrati…
"The End of "East German Socialism
In August, 1989, before the start of the East German revolution, Otto Reinhold, one of the SED's (Socialist Unity Party: Communist) chief ideologues, tied East Germany's “right to exist” to its “socialist identity.” He argued that, since East Germany could exist only as a socialist alternative to capitalist West Germany, the Parry's social strategy had to be to “consolidate the socialist order.”1 Reinhold's position was almost as old as the East …
On the Eruption of the German Volcano (Part I): Response to Feher and Heller
Suffering from defeat in the war and from the Versailles Treaty, Weimar Germany attributed blame to external and internal enemies: the power politics of the Western nations and the November criminals (Novemberverbrecher). Eager for national revenge, and in need of economic outlets, Weimar saw an opportunity to achieve both in rapprochement with the USSR. Politically, therefore, the Rapallo Treaty symbolized Germany's wandering between two Europea…
The Search for "Normality" in the Relationship between Germans and Jews
Sigrid Meuschel, Benjamin Gregg, The Search for "Normality" in the Relationship between Germans and Jews, New German Critique, No. 38, Special Issue on the German-Jewish Controversy (Spring - Summer, 1986), pp. 39-56
Neo-Nationalism and the West German Peace Movement's Reaction to the Polish Military Coup
In discussing the West German peace movement it should be pointed out that, as a whole, it does not properly fit within the tradition of German irrationalism. Nor is it appropriate to emphasize primarily its democratic and rational commitment. The movement reacts to different stimuli and encompasses a vast array of people. Hence, evaluations of its overall character are likely merely to confirm one's own prejudice or hopes. The movement is an ama…
Revolution in the German Democratic Republic
This paper discusses the revolution in the GDR against the background of East German political culture and its social and political structures. The revolution caught up with the Hungarian and Polish transformation processes which had started many years earlier. In the GDR, the activists of the first hour intended neither to do away with socialism nor to put an end to the East German state. There was, however, a dual aspect to the revolutionary ev…
The Search for "Normality" in the Relationship between Germans and Jews
Sigrid Meuschel, Benjamin Gregg, The Search for "Normality" in the Relationship between Germans and Jews, New German Critique, No. 38, Special Issue on the German-Jewish Controversy (Spring - Summer, 1986), pp. 39-56
Neo-Nationalism and the West German Peace Movement's Reaction to the Polish Military Coup
In discussing the West German peace movement it should be pointed out that, as a whole, it does not properly fit within the tradition of German irrationalism. Nor is it appropriate to emphasize primarily its democratic and rational commitment. The movement reacts to different stimuli and encompasses a vast array of people. Hence, evaluations of its overall character are likely merely to confirm one's own prejudice or hopes. The movement is an ama…
On the Eruption of the German Volcano (Part I): Response to Feher and Heller
Suffering from defeat in the war and from the Versailles Treaty, Weimar Germany attributed blame to external and internal enemies: the power politics of the Western nations and the November criminals (Novemberverbrecher). Eager for national revenge, and in need of economic outlets, Weimar saw an opportunity to achieve both in rapprochement with the USSR. Politically, therefore, the Rapallo Treaty symbolized Germany's wandering between two Europea…
The Search for "Normality" in the Relationship between Germans and Jews
Sigrid Meuschel, Benjamin Gregg, The Search for "Normality" in the Relationship between Germans and Jews, New German Critique, No. 38, Special Issue on the German-Jewish Controversy (Spring - Summer, 1986), pp. 39-56
Le SED: Du stalinisme vers la démocratie ou vers la nation
Pourquoi n'y a-t-il pas eu en R.D.A., comme dans d'autres démocraties populaires de l'Europe de l'Est, des mouvements d'opposition recueillant le soutien de couches variées de la population ? L'auteur tente de répondre à ces questions en rappelant l'absence de traditions démocratiques de la culture politique et en analysant le rôle de l'intelligentsia durant les crises des années 50. Elle expose ensuite le processus de transformations technocrati…
"The End of "East German Socialism
In August, 1989, before the start of the East German revolution, Otto Reinhold, one of the SED's (Socialist Unity Party: Communist) chief ideologues, tied East Germany's “right to exist” to its “socialist identity.” He argued that, since East Germany could exist only as a socialist alternative to capitalist West Germany, the Parry's social strategy had to be to “consolidate the socialist order.”1 Reinhold's position was almost as old as the East …
Revolution in the German Democratic Republic
This paper discusses the revolution in the GDR against the background of East German political culture and its social and political structures. The revolution caught up with the Hungarian and Polish transformation processes which had started many years earlier. In the GDR, the activists of the first hour intended neither to do away with socialism nor to put an end to the East German state. There was, however, a dual aspect to the revolutionary ev…
Wandel durch Auflehnung: Thesen zum Verfall bürokratischer Herrschaft in der DDR
Theories of Totalitarianism and Modern Dictatorships: A Tentative Approach
This essay discusses totalitarian theories with regard to their capacity to interpret in a normatively plausible way such different dictatorships as Nazism, Stalinism and post-Stalinism. In contrast to theoretical approaches which subsume all these regimes under a single concept (totalitarianism as total control), it argues in favor of discerning terror and ideology as main characteristics (totalitarianism as extermination). The focus on National…
The Other German Dictatorship: Totalitarianism and Modernization in the German Democratic Republic
In contrast to the home-made Nazi regime, the East German dictatorship was imposed by a foreign power and remained dependent on it. It did not cause a civilizational collapse comparable to Nazism, but it was more totalitarian in its efforts to subordinate all areas of social life to political control. This totalitarian logic resulted in a permanent dilemma: the party-state suppressed the innovative potential which at the same time it needed to ac…
Eastern European Communism and Reforms (6 works) · German History and Society (6 works) · History (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · European history and politics (5 works) · German (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Politics (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Communism (4 works)