Zusammenhalt und Ressentiment in Krisenzeiten: Erinnerungen an die Wende- und Nachwende-Zeit im Ost-West-Vergleich [Cohesion and Resentment in Times of Crisis: Memories of the Wende 1989 and the post-’89 period in an East-West comparison]
Interviews

Abstract:
Biographical testimonies about the Wende 1989 and the post-’89 period are caught between experiences of self-empowerment and successful struggles to change society, experiences of de-solidarisation and helplessness in the face of often self-chosen powers, as well as rampant nationalism and racism.

In connection with the transfer project BER_T_01, the research project builds on collected memories of transformation. They will be examined for ideas of cohesion as well as for the relations between the experience of crisis and the emergence of resentment: Which narratives of cohesion or its erosion determine the memory of the Wende 1989 and the decade following it? What forms of inclusion and exclusion can be seen in these narratives? The design of the project as an East-West comparison is intended to make visible the commonalities and differences of the perspectives.

The focus of the project is on four groups whose memories can be considered as marginalized: activists of the social struggles against East Germany’s deindustrialisation, left-leaning people, Jews as well as former contract workers. The project investigates the long-term effects of the 1990s: How do those who remember the transformations of the 1990s and their struggles in it refer these memories to today’s society and politics? How do the actors of that time situate themselves in today's Germany or in the globalised world?

Contributor:
Yacine, Mira; Wilson, Joseph; Gäbelein, Tanja; Mildenberger, Helene; Becker, Albrecht

Funding Institution:
BMBF

Temporal Coverage:
10/2019 - 10/2023

Time Dimension:
n.a.

Sampled Universe:
targeted groups

Sampling:
theoretical sampling; snowball sampling; targeted selection

Collection Mode:
face-to-face

Geograhic Coverage:
Germany; Berlin; Saxony; Thuringia; Hamburg; Saxony-Anhalt

Resource Type:
audiofiles, transcripts

Availability:
limited access: scientific use

Institution:
RDC Qualiservice