Participation & Control in a State Socialist Society: The German Democratic Republic (WPS 17, 1988) Marilyn Rueschemeyer.

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PARTICIPATION AND CONTROL IN A SfATE SOCIALISf SOCIETY:

THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

by Marilyn RueschemeyerRhode Island School of Design

Working Paper Series #17

This paper studies the organizational penetration of social life in one state socialist country, theGerman Democratic Republic. Comparing organizations and participat ion at the place of work andin residential areas, the paper focuses on the latter. It is based on empirical research onneighborhood interaction in relation to the activities of official organizations in new towns builtduring the last twenty years. The paper identifies uneven patterns of organization and

participation and relates these to problems of political control and stability.

Fall 1988



1

PARTICIPATION AND CONTROL IN A STATE SOCIALIST SOCIETY:

THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (1)

Po l i t i ca l Control and Popular Par t ic ipa t ion

The s t a t e s o c i a l i s t regimes of Eas te rn Europe have fo r a

long pe r iod o f t ime shown a remarkable s t a b i l i t y . This

s t a b i l i t y was espec ia l ly evident in th e German Democrat ic

Republ ic (GDR). Coercion mingled with severa l important

o th e r fac to rs . In East Germany a f t e r th e Second World

War, the new regime was, fo r a t l e a s t some Germans, th e

a l t e rna t ive to fascism, while the o ld e l i t e s were

d i sc re d i t e d by Nazi crimes and d e f ea t in war.Denaz i f i ca t ion , massive emigrat ion to the West, and the

'de te rmina t ion to s t a f f c r i t i c a l pos i t ions ( in educa t ion ,

law, and o ther f i e lds ) with l oya l fo l lowers o f th e new

regime crea ted tremendous mobi l i ty chances fo r th e young.

This fos te red an a l leg iance to th e regime which, th rough

th e years , had been cemented by the pr ive leges and th e

s t a tus o f t he se pos i t ions . (2 ) The suppor t of core cadres

1. The work fo r t h i s p ro j e c t was supported by a re sea rch

gran t ~ r o m th e Jo i n t Committee on Easte rn Europe o f th e

American Counci l o f Learned Soc ie t i e s and the Soc ia l

Science Research Counci l , f inanced in p a r t by th e

Nat iona l Endowment fo r th e Humanit ies and th e Ford

Foundat ion. I am a lso g ra t e fu l fo r the he lp and comments

o f Archie Brown, B l a i r Ruble and Hartmut Zimmermann, and

fo r ex tens ive d iscuss ions with D ie t r i ch Rueschemeyer.



2

was complemented by a soc ia l and economic pol icy t h a t

guaranteed fu l l employment and t h a t of fe red a slowly

r i s ing s tandard o f l i v ing . As the most advanced

i ndus t r i a l country o f the Eas te rn b loc , the GDR was qu i t e

success fu l in t h i s economic po l icy even if its

achievements were modest when judged by western

s tandards . (3)

These broad h i s t o r i c a l cond i t ions o f s t a b i l i t y were

impor tan t . However, they must be complemented by an

unders tand ing of the so c i a l s t ruc tur ing of power in th e

GDR. A c r i t i c a l l y impor tan t fac to r under ly ing regime

s t a b i l i t y was th e organ iza t iona l pene t ra t ion of GDR

soc ie ty by the leading par ty and its a l l i e d

organ iza t ions . It i s in conjunc t ion with t h i s

. o rgan iza t iona l pene t ra t ion t h a t p o l i t i c a l ideology and

l eg i t ima t ion were impor tan t . Marxism-Leninism and a

2. For a di sccus ion o f the a l l i ance between profes s iona l

and p o l i t i c a l e l i t e s in th e s t a t e s o c i a l i s t coun t r i e s o f

Easte rn Europe as wel l as its breakdown in Poland, see

Gyorgy Konrad and Ivan Sze lenyi (1979) , Walter Connor

(1980) and Michael Kennedy (1987). For a d iscuss ion o f

i s sues of l eg i t imacy and re la ted i ssues in th e GDR by

weste rn so c i a l s c i e n t i s t s , see , fo r example, Thomas

Baylis (1974), Sigr id Meuschel (1987), James McAdams

(1985), and Michael Sodaro (1983).

3. P o l i t i c a l acquiescence exchanged t a c i t l y fo r so c i a l

and economic secur i ty has been analyzed us ing th e concept

o f soc ia l con t rac t . See Walter Connor (1981), Alex Pravda

(1986), and Steven Sampson (1988).



3

va r i e ty of pragmat ic der iva t ives , determined the

discourse wi th in th e s t a t e , the par ty and i t s a l l i ed

organ iza t ions . They s e t th e te rms o f acceptable

express ion , and crea ted within the appara tus o f ru le an

accep tance of the system t h a t ranged from a r a the r

fo rmal i s t acknowledgement to an - occas ional ly qu i t e

in tense - commitment to bas ic pr inc ip l e s . However

di lu ted , t h i s i n t e rna l " leg i t imat ion" was of c r i t i c a l

importance. It gave opportunism, f e a r fu l conformity,

ca r ee r making and p o l i t i c a l l y unconcerned profess iona l i sm

a pUblic appearance o f normal and p o l i t i c a l l y r espec tab le

behav ior . The appara tus as a whole thus gained

cons iderable coherence. And t h a t was fundamental for the

a b i l i t y of the par ty and th e re la ted mass organ iza t ion to

pene t ra t e soc ie ty to th e ex ten t it did .

The GDR as wel l as o th e r s o c i a l i s t coun t r ies had

developed a system o f mass organ iza t ions re la ted to a

wide va r i e ty o f i n t e r e s t s . Most people were involved in

one o r more of these o rgan iza t ions . They were led and

coordina ted by th e dominant par ty , th e Soc i a l i s t Unity

Par ty (SED). There was a massive i n s i s t ence on popular

pa r t i c ipa t ion and on more than rou t ine involvement , on"g e se l l s c h a f t l i c h e Akt i v i t i t " . Such pa r t i c ipa t ion became

a cond i t ion fo r soc ia l advancement, even fo r modest

advancement. The pa r t i c ipa n t s could n ot a l l be

charac te r ized as mere oppor tun i s t s . Some d id pursue

cu l t u ra l and so c i a l goals t h a t went beyond mere s e l f

i n t e r e s t .

Pa r t i c ipa t ion crea ted involvement. Many people

pa r t i c ipa t e d only on paper , b ut some d id become

involved in some ac t i v i t y o f t h e i r choosing. They

became - on some l eve l - inc reas ing ly p a r t o f

dec i s ion making, even if what they themselves could

determine was almost withou t excep t ion very l imi ted .



4

Such involvement, no mat te r how minimal, impl ied a

degree o f compl ic i ty in th e e x i s t i ng system and by

extens ion a t l e a s t a pass ive accep tance o f its

l eg i t imacy.

Such pa r t i c ipa t ion ex i s t ed within a network of con t ro l .

No assoc ia t ions t h a t were th e r e s u l t o f pr iva t e

i n i t i a t i v e s were al lowed. True, th e es tab l i shed churches

were given some space fo r organized ac t i v i t y , and

occas iona l ly a few n o n -p o l i t i c a l as soc ia t ions l ike soccer

fan c lubs also gave express ion to sen t iments beyond t h e i r

immediate spor t s concerns . However, a l l o ther a c t i v i t i e s

with any pub l ic charac te r func t ioned only wi th th e

consent and co n t r o l by th e leading par ty , the SED.

·At th e same t ime, the l inkage between par t i c i pa t i on and

consent had another s ide .. Organ iza t ions in which people

became ac t ive had to se rve some i n t e r e s t s of th e

pa r t i c ipa n t s if they were to involve them a t a l l . Much o f

th e o f f i c i a l l y r e g i s t e r e d publ ic pa r t i c ipa t ion had t h i s

charac te r o f mere paper ac t i v i t y . But the re ex i s t ed in

th e GDR a realm o f s i g n i f i c a n t ac tua l o rgan iza t iona l

pa r t i c ipa t ion . I t i s here - r a t h e r than in the i s sue o f a

general ized popular l eg i t ima t ion o f th e system - t h a t we

encounter one o f th e c ruc i a l underpinnings o f t h i s

p o l i t i c a l system.

The research to be r epor ted dea l s with th e d i s t r i bu t i on

o f pa r t i c ipa t ion and co n t r o l in d i f f e r e n t spheres o f

l i f e . I t focuses on r e s i den t i a l areas and in p a r t i c u l a r

on th e new towns t h a t have been th e r e s u l t o f a massive

cons t ruc t ion program s ince th e e a r l y 1970s. I t i nqu i res

in to th e r e l a t i ons between spontaneous so c i a l i n t e r a c t ion

and pa r t i c ipa t ion in mass organ iza t ions , and it compares

t h e i r ef fec t iveness in r e s i den t i a l a reas with such

par t i c i pa t i on in th e world o f work. E a r l i e r r esearch on



5

unions and work groups a l lows t h i s comparison o f

pa r t i c ipa t ion and con t ro l in th e two spheres o f l i f e t h a t

fo r most people are th e arenas of t h e i r c e n t r a l l i f e

i n t e r e s t s - th e world o f work and o f occupa t iona l

advancement and success and th e world o f pr iva t e l i f e ,

family, neighbors and f r i ends . The i n i t i a l i n t e r e s t in

these s tud ies was one of an th ropo log ica l , dense

desc r ip t ion . They were t o i n v e s t i g a t e th e forms of

pe rsona l l i f e in th e broader con tex t o f a d i f f e r e n t

p o l i t i c a l and economic orde r . Yet they also have profound

impl ica t ions fo r th e s t ru c t u re o f p o l i t i c a l l i f e as it

ex i s t ed in t h i s s t a t e s o c i a l i s t soc ie ty . To exp lore t he se

by comparing the po l i t i ca l / i deo l og i ca l p en e t r a t i o n of

work l i f e and o f r e s ide n t i a l areas in the GDR i s th e aim

o f t h i s paper .

Spheres o f Par t ic ipa t ion

In th e West, f requent a t tempts a re made to exclude.

p o l i t i c a l ac t i v i t y from work organ iza t ions . This

arrangement n ot only keeps p o l i t i c a l c o n f l i c t out o f the

workplace - the usua l j u s t i f i c a t i o n fo r th e separa t ion o f

p o l i t i c s and work. It also leaves t h i s major dimension o f

normal so c i a l l i f e - the arena in which one earns a

l i v ing , makes caree rs , and acqui res r espec t and s tanding

in soc ie ty - l a rge ly in th e con t ro l o f the employer.

Unions do, o f course , work within th e ente rpr i se once

they have won th e s t rugg le fo r r ep resen t ing workers and

employees. But th e range o f t h e i r ac t i v i t y i s of ten

narrowly confined and sharply s e t o f f from p o l i t i c s . Both

these l imi ta t ions o f union ac t i v i t y and th e exc lus ion o f

par ty p o l i t i c s are in many coun t r ies e x p l i c i t l y s t a t e d in

c o l l e c t i ve barga in ing agreements as wel l as in

l eg i s l a t i on and jUd ic ia l precedent .



6

During the Weimar pe r iod in Germany, communists

cons i s t en t ly sought to overcome such exc lus ion from th e

workplace. The S o c i a l i s t Unity Par ty in Eas t Germany

v i r t u a l l y e l imina ted pr iva te employment and made the

dimension o f work and occupa t ion the c e n t r a l axis o f

p o l i t i c a l organ iza t ion . The SED was the only par ty

al lowed in th e workplace. The subordina te p a ~ t i e s

Chr i s t i an Democrats , Libe ra l Democrats , Nat iona l

Democrats , and th e Farmers ' Par ty - were exc\uded from

the p lace of produc t ion . Moreover, it was in the

workplace t h a t th e SED developed i t s major organ iza t iona l

ac t i v i t y . Most of i t s rank and f i l e o r "base"

organ iza t ions were loca ted a t the p lace of work. At th e

higher l eve l s o f par ty s t ruc ture , t h i s "product ion

pr inc ip le" of organizat ion gave way to the " t e r r i t o r i a l

.p r inc ip le" , moving from the county through th e d i s t r i c t

to the na t iona l l e v e l . But it was pr imar i ly a t th e

workplace t h a t the p a r t y ' s re l a t ionsh ip to c i t i zens o f

th e GDR played i t s e l f out .

It was also a t work t h a t th e major mass organ iza t ions

were represented , above a l l the union - the Federa t ion o f

German Trade Unions (FOGB) - to which near ly a l l workers ,

white co l l a r employees and profess iona l s belonged, as

wel l a s th e youth organ iza t ion - th e Free German Youth

(FDJ). The FDJ, in which 75 pe rcen t of a l l ch i ld ren and

young adu l t s up to th e age of 25 were organized ( in

educa t ion and t r a in ing es tabl i shments it was near ly 100

percent , Zimmermann 1984,p.66) sought to involve younger

workers and employees in the workplace, though its main

focus of organ iza t ion was in the schools and i n s t i t u t i o n s

of highe r educa t ion .

This concen t ra t ion o f organ iza t iona l e f fo r t s on

product ion was pr imar i ly motivated by a concern fo r

occupying the space where men and women were most



7

dependent on t h e i r employer - th e s t a t e - fo r t h e i r

l ive l ihood and where they the re fo re were most respons ive

to p o l i t i c a l demands. The concern fo r secur ing power was

complemented by th e importance o f economic r econs t ruc t ion

and development a f t e r the Second World War. Sta te and

par ty were anxious to developa

s t rong i n d u s t r i a l base jthus workers had to be motivated to car ry o u t t h e i r t a sks

thoroughly and to cont inue to educa te themselves .

Fina l ly , t h i s emphasis was i deo log ica l ly consonant with

the Marxian view o f work as c e n t r a l to human l i f e and

human fu l f i l lment .

Par ty , union and management played d i f fe ren t i a t ed ro les

in the ente rpr i se . It would be mistaken to see them as a

s ing le organ iza t iona l system, a t r i ad simply replacing

. the c a p i t a l i s t employer. The par ty leadership may have

played a mediat ing and coordina t ing ro le a t the workplace

bu t was not dominant in th e day-to-day bus iness j its main

t ask was p o l i t i ~ a l . Management played th e dominant

opera t iona l p ~ r t . The union had a dua l func t ion pecu l i a r

to s t a t e s o c i a l i s t s oc i e t i e s . I t was to mobi l i ze workers

as wel l as to defend them aga ins t unscrupulous

admin is t r a to r s . I f th e l a t t e r func t ion of ten became a

r a the r ideo log ica l cla im over the years , i t ·was

never the les s impor tan t because it then crea ted p e r s i s t e n t

problems o f l eg i t ima t io n .

In t h e i r mobi l i z ing t a sk , the unions had th e c l a s s i c

func t ion of a t ransm{ssion b e l t from the Communist Par ty

to the masses (Ruble 1981jRueschemeyer and Scharf 1986).

In the CDR, the va r ious spec ia l i zed member organizat ions

o f the union were n o t al lowed to push on t h e i r own fo r

p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t s . Reso lu t ions o f the presidium were

bind ing on th e spec ia l i zed i n d u s t r i a l and t r ade unions so

t h a t these - even a t th e county and d i s t r i c t l eve l - were

subordina te to th e f edera t ion , the FDGB, which in tu rn



8

was s u b j ec t to guidance and con t ro l by the dominant p a r t y

(Zimmermann 1984,p .63) .

The union of fe red s ubs t a n t i a l incen t ives fo r

pa r t i c ipa t ion . Although volunta ry , membership in th e

union ind ica ted genera l p o l i t i c a l and work commitment,

which was necessary for even middle - leve l ca r ee r

advancement. (Par ty membership was requi red fo r most

rea l ly impor tant pos i t i ons . ) Equal ly impor tant , the union

was the source of a number o f s i gn i f i can t be ne f i t s ,

inc luding apar tments , vaca t ion p laces , hea l th be ne f i t s ,

and he lp with repa i r s . In the non-market economy o f Eas t

European s oc i e t i e s , such consumer be ne f i t s cannot eas i l y

be obtained on the open market , and they were long

accorded a low p r i o r i t y in economic planning. The unionthus provided fo r its members a - p a r t i a l , b u t

subs tan t ia l - sUbs t i tu te fo r what the pr iv i l eged few

gained by e i t h e r o f f i c i a l ass ignment or pe rsona l

"connect ions" .

In l a rg e r ente rpr i ses , the union organ iza t ion was

subdivided, wi th small union groups of i de a l ly only 10

30 members as th e lowes t un i t . Here th e union t r i e d to

capture the persona l energy o f workers and employees by

f i t t i ng i t s own base organizat ion to th e spontaneous

group format ion a t th e work p lace . Jo in ing th e formal

mechanisms o f a c e n t r a l l y s tee red organ iza t ion to th e

gras s roo t s o f so c i a l l i f e was n ot an easy under taking ,

b u t th e a t t empt was no t uniformly unsuccessfu l . A

l i ngu i s t i c i nd ica t ion fo r t h i s may be seen in the f a c t

t h a t th e word "work co l l ec t ive" was of ten used commonly

both fo r th e lowest u n i t o f union organ iza t ion and fo r

col leagues wi th whom one works and i s f r i end ly and with

whom one ge t s toge ther , whether or no t the o f f i c i a l union

group worked wel l .



9

J o in t ly , the union group and the work c o l l e c t i ve

encompassed the ac tua l work and th e micro-planning o f

tasks as wel l as p o l i t i c a l di scuss ion and l e i s u r e t ime

a c t i v i t i e s . The union group arranged common excurs ions to

t h e a t r e p lays , museums and conce r t s as wel l as r egu la r

ce leb ra t ions , some o f which included th e spouse .It

alsoat tempted to mediate c e r t a in f r i c t i ons between work and

fami ly ob l iga t ions and to extend help to those in t roub le

(Rueschemeyer 1983) .

My research has shown t h a t a success fu l work c o l l e c t i ve

an achievement o f a t l e a s t some - became a cen t e r o f

persona l commitment, f r i endsh ip , and mutual he lp .

Col lec t ives t h a t worked wel l were one o f th e most

impor tan t sources of genera l s a t i s f a c t i on , c lose ly

fo l lowing fami ly and occupat iona l success . I f th e work

c o l l e c t i ve were success fu l , it cou ld be inf luenced by its

members. I t thus served to some ex t en t as a micro

i n t e r e s t group. In t u r n , a success fu l work c o l l e c t i ve

cou ld - p re c i s e l y because. it answered s ign i f i c a n t

persona l needs - ask members to become ac t ive in a number

o f volunta ry a c t i v i t i e s . I t could thus become a way o f

s t reng then ing work commitment and of l ink ing somemembers, inc luding those who were n ot par ty members, to

th e p o l i t i c a l goals of the p a r ty .

The oppos i te was t r u e as wel l : I f th e c o l l e c t i ve did no t

work wel l and if it d id no t succeed in g e t t i n g a t l e a s t

some response to the sugges t ions and d i s sa t i s f ac t i ons

expressed , mot iva t ion fo r fu l f i l l i n g th e demands o f th e

work organ iza t ion was low. In fac t , GDR research has

shown t h a t workers w i l l leave and a t t empt to f ind jobs

e lsewhere , if they a re d i s s a t i s f i e d with t h e i r work

c o l l e c t i ve - a r eac t ion with some leverage in an

employment system t h a t works with a chron ic shor tage o f



10

hands. (4) Work c o l l e c t i ve s i l l u s t r a t e parad igmat ica l ly

th e fundamental , and u l t ima te ly ine rad icab le rec iproc i ty

inheren t in the r e l a t i on between pa r t i c ipa t ion and

con t ro l .

Whenever 30 o r more young people were employed, the Free

German Youth was represented in th e union and ente rpr i se

4. Sable and Stark (1982) d iscuss the i n t e r r e l a t i o n

between th e l abor shor tage endemic in s t a t e s o c i a l i s t

economies and worker in f luence . My own in te rv iews with

profes s iona l s (1983, 1986) are suppor ted by a number o f

s tud ies on the responses of workers to t h e i r c o l l e c t i ve s

and to t h e i r work s i t ua t i on in genera l . Only a few of

these s tud ies are publ i shed and o ther s are merely

r e f e r r e d to in more genera l pub l i ca t ions . The informat ion

on methods used t ends to be l imi ted and it i s of ten

d i f f i c u l t t o d i s t ingu i sh normat ive from fac tua l

arrangements or causa l cond i t ions from mere c or r e l a t e s .

Rudhard Sto l lbe rg (1981, p.122) found in a 1977 s tudy of

745 produc t ion workers t h a t the sa t i s f ac t i on from good

r e l a t i ons i n the c o l l e c t i ve was an impor tan t motiva t ion

fo r work fo r 4 ou t o f 5 workers . , An e a r l i e r s tudy (1978,

p. 153) of 732 workers in chemical f a c to r i e s showed t h a t

c o l l e a g i a l r e l a t i ons ranked h ighes t in judgements o f work

sa t i s f ac t i on . The r e l a t i o n sh i p to col leagues a t work

plays an espec ia l ly important ro le fo r workers with lower

qua l i f i c a t i ons and l e s s demanding work. (1988, p . 187) .



11

leadersh ip counc i l s . I t s ro l e was vaguely analogous to ,

though much l e s s powerful than , t h a t o f the union. Here,

too , ce r t a in be ne f i t s were assoc ia ted with membership,

such as fu tu re mob i l i ty , th e p o s s i b i l i t y o f a new

apartment o r a place fo r one ' s ch i ld i n t he k indergar t en .

Yet th e ro l e of t he FDJ a t th e workplace was f a r l e s sex tens ive t han t h a t of t he union. As to th e leadersh ip

provided , t he re have been a number o f pe r s i s t en t .

compla in ts . These inc luded the type o f a c t i v i t i e s of fe red

- too much t a lk , too po l i t i c a l , bor ing - as wel l as th e

ex ten t and range o f a c t i v i t i e s - no t enough!

The GDR of fe red its workers near ly complete employment

s e c u r i t y , though t h i s d id not mean a r i g h t t o one ' s

c u r r e n t job o r even employment i n one ' s occupa t ion . At

the same t ime , workers had some choice among workplaces .

Overa l l , however , t he re was no t a high degree of

mobi l i t y . This i s o f i n t e r e s t fo r the problems a t hand

because it gave a number of workers a sense o f

a f f i l i a t i o n w ~ t h t h e i r workplaces , re inforc ing th e

importance t h a t a t t aches in any soc ie ty to the p lace

where one makes a l iv ing and determines one ' s pos i t i on in

th e l a r ge r soc ie ty (5) . In th e GDR as in o the r s t a t e

5. Andrew Walder (1986) has recen t ly argued t h a t th e

"corpora teness" of workplaces i s a pe c u l i a r and

c r i t i c a l l y impor tant cha rac te r i s t i c of s oc i a l s t ruc ture

common to a l l s t a t e s o c i a l i s t (or communist) count r i e s .

Rest ing on th e at tachment t h a t goes with job s e c u r i t y as

wel l as on the p rov i s ion o f many bene f i t s and on

p o l i t i c a l involvement and con t ro l a t the p lace o f work,

t h i s corpora t e c h a r a c t e r o f work organ iza t ion in s t a t e



12

s o c i a l i s t s oc i e t i e s , then , work and produc t ion were the

soc ia l loca t ion o f massive e f f o r t s to organ ize and

involve people , and both successes and f a i l u res o f these

a t t empts a t organ iza t iona l pene t ra t ion of the popula t ion

i l l u s t r a t e th e " d i a l e c t i c " o f pa r t i c ipa t ion and con t ro l .

The c l a s s i c loca t ion o f genera l ized so c i a l con t ro l in th e

west - as wel l as in o th e r soc ia l orde rs - has long been

th e r e s ide n t i a l community. Thus r e l i g i o u s communities

inc luding those o f E a s ~ Germany and o ther East European

coun t r ies - a re v i r tua l ly without excep t ion o rgan ized on

a r e s ide n t i a l and n o t a workplace b a s i s . The same i s t r ue

of p o l i t i c a l par t i e s in th e west . And it was also t r ue o f

th e organ iza t iona l s t ruc ture o f fascism.

One may t r e a t t h i s t e r r i t o r i a l pr inc ip l e of organ iza t ion

as a mere inher i t ance from the pa s t , when in any case th e

place o f work and t he p l ace o f res idence were th e same

fo r the v a s t major i ty . That the p lace of work has

acquired in a l l modern s oc i e t i e s a s ign i f i cance separa te

from th e p lace o f res idence i s c e r t a in ly t r u e . I t i s in

f a c t a commonplace o f soc io logy, though one whose

impl ica t ions fo r p o l i t i c a l hegemony and con t ro l havefound little a t t e n t ion - in th e c a p i t a l i s t west no more

than in Eas t European ana lyses .

Yet to recognize t h i s elementary d i f fe rence between

agra r ian and i ndus t r i a l s oc i e t i e s i s not th e same as

dismiss ing the r e s ide n t i a l community as an arena o f

s o c i a l i s t coun t r ies has in h is view not been apprec ia t ed

by perspec t ives t h a t were informed by the theory

t o t a l i t a r i an i sm with its d i a l ec t i c between so c i a l

a tomiza t ion and ideo log ica l con t ro l o r by extens ions of

p l u r a l i s t i n t e r e s t group t heor i es .



13

s o c i a l co n t r o l . In c o n t r a s t to th e f a i r l y spec ia l i zed

groups a t work, t e r r i t o r i a l communi t ies encompass a much

g r ea t e r v a r i e t y o f people and a c t i v i t i e s . In fac t , they

come more o r l e s s c lose to rep re sen t ing a smal l sca le

ve rs ion o f soc ie ty . In view of the r ec ip r o ca l play

between pa r t i c ipa t ion and co n t r o l , t h i s p a r t i c u l a r

ch a r ac t e r made them a s i g n i f i c a n t arena o f p o l i t i c a l

discourse , equa l ly s ign i f i c a n t - though in q u i t e

d i f f e r e n t ways - in the s t a t e s o c i a l i s t e a s t as in th e

c a p i t a l i s t and p o l i t i c a l l y p l u r a l i s t west .

I f we focus on th e immediate r e s ide n t i a l area , we must

~ e c o g n i z e ano ther long-term development t h a t has shaped

s o c i a l and c u l t u r a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n .It

i s c lo s e ly assoc ia t ed with th e same forces t h a t brought about the

· d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n between workplace and place o f res idence :

With i nc rea s ing mobi l i t y and a growing d ive r s i t y o f

i n t e r e s t s , many c u l t u r a l and l e i su re a c t i v i t i e s have

become more s p ec i a l i z ed , and t h e i r loca t ion has t y p i c a l l y

been concen t ra ted in th e cen te r s o f l a rg e r r e s i d e n t i a l

a reas . Also, f r i endsh ip and s imi l a r r e l a t i o n s today range

over a l a rg e r t e r r i t o r y than was th e case wi th l e s s

e f f i c i e n t ways o f t r a v e l i n g . These changes . did no t ,

however , as r a d i c a l l y dimin ish the ro le o f th e

r e s i d e n t i a l community as some commentators have c la imed.

Very few r e s ide n t i a l areas have l i t e r a l l y been tu rned

i n to bedroom communit ies . They remain th e major loca t ion

o f educa t ion in fami l i e s and schoo ls , the arena o f most

workday r ec r ea t i o n a l and l e i su re a c t i v i t i e s as wel l as a

p l ace of pe rsona l ly meaningfu l i n t e r a c t i o n with fami ly ,

ne ighbors and f r i ends . The world o f res idence has changedits ch a r ac t e r b u t it remains a c ru c i a l dimension in th e

l i f e o f most people .

What, then , was th e p a t t e rn o f so c i a l and p o l i t i c a l

pa r t i c ipa t ion in r e s ide n t i a l communit ies in th e s t a t e



14

s o c i a l i s t soc ie ty of the CDR? Did th e regime a t t empt to

c rea te a s t ruc ture p a r a l l e l to th e organ iza t iona l

pa t t e rns a t th e p lace of work in the r e s i d e n t i a l

community? And d id th e r e s ide n t i a l organ iza t ions succeed

in a s imi la r way in absorbing t he ene rg ie s and

commitments o f th e re s iden t s and di rec t ing t he se to more

genera l p o l i t i c a l goals? I w i l l t ry to answer these

ques t ions in some d e t a i l , focusing on th e ro le played by

o f f i c i a l organ iza t ions , on spontaneous so c i a l i n t e r a c t ion

and on its r e l a t i on to th e mass organ iza t ions and th e

par ty . Considerab le d e t a i l i s necessary p re c i s e l y because

th e evidence i s l e s s e a s i l y av a i l ab l e and t he re fo re more

fragmentary than it would be in the west ; b u t I d id have

th e oppor tuni ty to see CDR research on the new towns as

wel l as to conduct in te rv iews with re s iden t s and va r ious

exper t s on my own (6 ) . The ana lys i s wi l l c lose with a

6. The research fo r t h i s p ro j e c t was concent ra ted in

Rostock, a c i t y of about 250,000 i nhab i t an t s s i t ua t e d a t

the Bal t i c Sea, approximately th ree hours nor th o f

Ber l in . Six ty pe rcen t o f t he popula t ion now l i ve s i n new

r e s i den t i a l areas with a popula t ion o f 20,000-30,000

each. I a l so r e f e r to housing developments in o the r

c i t i e s . These vary in s i ze (Marzahn, fo r example, a new

r e s i d e n t i a l community ou ts ide o f Ber l in has 150,000

i nhab i t an t s )as wel l in t h e i r r e l a t i on to th e inner c i ty

and in t h e i r a rc h i t e c tu r a l shape and form (though a l l are

l imi ted to th e use o f pre fab r i ca ted p a r t s ) . The research

on th e new towns o f Rostock took p lace over a t h ree year

pe r iod . I spen t a t o t a l o f approximately two months in

res idence in one of the new towns and in te rv iewed



15

di scuss ion of the broader p o l i t i c a l s ign i f i cance of the

p a t t e rn s o f soc ia l and p o l i t i c a l pa r t i c ipa t ion found in

th e " res iden t ia l areas .

From In i t i a l Concept ions to tb e Design o f New Towns:

New Soc i a l i s t Communities?

The rap id crea t ion o f new towns in the CDR during th e

l a s t two decades r ep resen t s an e x c e l l e n t oppor tuni ty fo r

studying these ques t ions o f pa r t i c ipa t ion and con t ro l in

the r e s ide n t i a l areas . The bulk of t h i s development came

a f t e r th e overa l l organ iza t iona l s t ru c t u re was wel l

se t t l ed . (Table I ) Thus, th e new towns of fe red th e chance

o f a new beginning . It i s t rue t h a t the massive crea t ion

. rep resen ta t ives o f mass organ iza t ions in th e d i f f e r e n t

r e s ide n t i a l areas , r ep resen ta t ives of p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s

in the c i t y , c i ty planners and a rc h i t e c t s , as well as

res iden t s . My. in te rv iew with th e approximately 90

respondents l a s ted on the average o f 2 hours . Throughout

t h i s s tay , I had r egu la r consu l ta t ions with soc io log i s t s

who had done research on th e new towns as wel l as

informal t a l k s with col leagues and acquaintances who l i ve

in th e new towns. The research in R o s ~ o c k was

complemented by a s e r i e s o f in te rv iews with soc io log i s t s

and a rc h i t e c t s involved in th e planning and cons t ruc t ion

o f r e s ide n t i a l areas in othe r c i t i e s , i n Eas t Ber l in ,

Weimar, Dessau, Dresden, and Leipzig , and by an ana lys i s

o f CDR l i t e r a t u r e on housing cons t ruc t ion , on so c i a l l i f e

in the r e s ide n t i a l a reas , and on p o l i t i c a l and so c i a l

pa r t i c ipa t ion .



16

of l a rge new r e s ide n t i a l areas a l so en ta i l s spec i f i c

problems. Organising 20,000 o r even 100,000 people, who

sUddenly f ind themselves in a s ingle new town, has to

overcome d i f f i c u l t i e s not encountered in the slow process

of o rgan iza t ion in an old. l i v ing q u a r t e r . (7) We must

al low fo r these spec ia l fea tu res and problems of thesudden crea t ion of whole communit ies. At th e same t ime ,

the huge housing cons t ruc t ion program of f e r s us unique

oppor tun i t i e s to c on t r a s t i n i t i a l ideas and des igns with

subsequent r e a l i t y .

Table I

Housing Construct ion in the GDR, 1971-1986

(number of annual ly completed housing u n i t s ) .

Year Tota l Number Of Uni ts New Const ruc t ion Only

1971 86,777 65,021

1972 117,026 69,552

1973 125,769 80,725

1974 138,301 88,312

1975 140,793 95,976

7. About 17 percen t o f the popula t ion has l i ved in

Rostock l e s s than 18 yea rs . I f we look a t th e recen t new

towns o f Schmarl and Lichtenhagen, 20 percent of the

popula t ion has been in Rostock 9 years o r l e s s . In th e

years from 1971 - 1981, Rostock ranked f i r s t in the

growth o f housing s tock: Rostock - 16. 8 percen t ;

Frankfur t /O . - 12.1 percen t ; Ber l in - 11.8 percen t ;

Er fu r t - 11.7 percent ; Gera - 11.1 percent ; Schwerin

11.1 percen t (Kahl and Riede l 1985, p. 152) .



17

1976 150,617 103,091

1977 162,745 106,828

1978 167,799 111,909

1979 162,743 117,355

1980 169,233 120,206

1981 185,350 125,731

1982 187,053 122,417

1983 197,221 122;636

1984 207,034 121,654

1985 212,222 120,728

1986 215,690 119,355

Source: Guenther I<abus, "Zu den Aufgaben bei der wei teren

Umgesta1tung und Erneuerung i nne r s t a e d t i s c he r Gebiete in

.Auswertung des IX. I<ongresses des BdA", Arch i tek tur der

DDR, Ber l in 36 (1987), 9, p.35 .

The cons t ruc t ion o f mass housing, came many years a f t e r

the rebui ld ing and development of product ion . Although

the r econs t ruc t ion o f th e damaged houses began

immediately a f t e r the War, little funding was a l loca ted

e i t h e r fo r modernizing the ex i s t i ng s tock or fo r bu i ld ing

new housing, while pr iva te cons t ruc t ion was i nh ib i t ed by

low l eve l s o f ren t . It was only a t the Eighth Congress of

the SED (Soc ia l i s t Unity Par ty) in 1971, more than

twenty-f ive years a f t e r the end o f the War, t h a t housing

was given top pr io r i t y . A number of profound and

i nc reas ing ly se r ious s oc i a l problems were a t t r ibu ted by

th e p o l i t i c a l leadersh ip to the poor cond i t ion o f

housing, and the long range planning program t r i ed to

respond to these . These problems included th e lo w b i r t h

r a t e , the d i f f i c u l t y o f a t t r a c t i n g workers to

i n d u s t r i a l l y developing areas , the r e f us a l of sk i l l ed

workers to t ake on more important jobs if housing

condi t ions were poor , and th e compla in ts o f GDR c i t i z ens

about l iv ing condi t ions which were seen as t h rea t en ing



18

th e very s t a b i l i t y of the regime. (8) Housing was now to

be cons t ruc ted as quickly and as cheaply as poss ib le .

Espec ia l ly in th e 60s and e a r l y 70s, the re was a g re a t

dea l of discuss ion about th e s o c i a l i s t way of l i f e . The

s logan "soz i a l i s t i s ch leben, wohnen und arbe i ten"

( s o c i a l i s t l i v ing , r es id ing , and working) i nd ica tes t h a t

th e r e s i d e n t i a l world was seen as th e equal ly impor tan t

coun te rpar t to th e world o f work. The new r e s i den t i a l

communities were to represent , to r e f l e c t a s o c i a l i s t way

o f l i f e :

Whereas soc ia l planning wi th in the p lace o f work i s

aimed a t inc reas ing produc t iv i ty a t work, t e r r i t o r i a l

soc ia l plann ing embraces th e way o f l i f e of the

c o l l e c t i ve as a whole(Voigt 1973,p .625) .

Ideas o f what exac t ly t h a t way of l i f e should e n t a i l were

vague, var ied , and n ot a r t i c u l a t e d in any way comparable

to the o rgan iza t ion of an e n t e rp r i s e or th e func t ions o f

th e union i n s ide and ou ts ide o f th e p lace o f work. But

one can i de n t i f y a number of ideas t h a t were i n f l u e n t i a l

in planning the new r e s ide n t i a l areas .

Perhaps the most impor tan t was the idea of making c e r t a in

needed se rv ices a c o l l e c t i ve r e s pons ib i l i t y , which would

enable both men and women to become produc t ive in th e

l abor fo rce . The roo t s o f some of the se ideas can be

t raced to ea r ly s o c i a l i s t t h e o r i s t s (Engels 1942) and to

r a d i c a l thought in th e 1920s and 1930s which envis ioned a

combinat ion o f minimal p r i v a t e apar tments (with very low

8 . For fu r the r d iscuss ion o f th e ro le o f e n te rp r i s e s in

housing in th e Sovie t Union and Hungary, see Andrusz

(1984), Pickvance (1988), and Sze1enyi (1987).



19

r en t ) and a number of s e rv ice i n s t i t u t i o n s , inc luding

shops, schools , b u t also communal ki t chens and a

concept ion o f neighborhood, which l a t e r became crude ly

t ransformed dur ing th e Nazi pe r iod . The a rc h i t e c t s o f the

Bauhaus - and o ther s - had proposed sp e c i f i c des ign

responses to crea te a new utopian v i s ion o f community

l i v ing (Lane 1985). Rejected during .the ear ly years o f

th e GDR as r ep resen ta t ive of an i n t e rn a t i o n a l

a rc h i t e c t u re , th e Bauhaus i s now seen as an impor tan t

p red ecesso r of cu r ren t concep t ions .

The ac tua l planning - both a rc h i t e c tu r a l and soc ia l

organ iza t iona l - was inf luenced by t he se ideas , but it

was a l so , given the r e a l i t i e s o f a massive bu i ld ing program under harsh economic c o n s t r a i n t s , more modest .

'The new r e s ide n t i a l communities in the GDR were to meet

th e bas ic educa t iona l , h ea l t h , and rec rea t iona l needs o f

the i n h ab i t an t s and they were also to be wel l connected

to th e c i ty and workplace . Planners and a rc h i t e c t s were

asked to e s t a b l i s h t he p recond i t ions fo r a success fu l

family l i f e , fo r th e equa l pa r t i c ipa t ion o f women in

soc ie ty , fo r the educa t ion and s oc i a l i z a t i on o f th e

young, and fo r th e ca re o f th e e l d e r l y and d isab led .

Therefore , each new area inc ludes in th e i d e a l plan homes

fo r th e aged, c l i n i c s , markets , res t au ran t s , pubs ,

bu i ld ings fo r cu l tu re and r ec r ea t i o n , l i b r a r i e s , youth

c lubs , spor t s f a c i l i t i e s , and necessary s e r v i ce s . At

presen t , most housing developments still lack many o f

these planned f ac i l i t i e s even though near ly a l l are

equipped from th e f i r s t bu i ld ing phase on with schoo ls

and day ca re cen t e r s as wel l a s foodshops and a

r e s t a u ra n t .

What was th e des ign fo r o rgan iza t iona l l i f e? Planning

env i s ioned - and formal ly pu t in to place - a complex

v a r i e t y of o rgan iza t ions , mass organ iza t ions and o ther s ,



20

t h a t were to be ac t ive in th e r e s i d e n t i a l areas and to

a t t r a c t members on the b a s i s o f t h e i r d i f f e r e n t needs ,

and d i f f e r ing c u l tu r a l , p o l i t i c a l , and o th e r i n t e r e s t s .

We can perhaps b e s t begin wi th the ind iv idua l bu i ld ing .

Fami l i es in the new towns as wel l as in the inner c i ty

are organized in to Hausgemeinschaften, house

organ iza t ions . These were to help maintain order ,

c lean l iness , and s t a b i l i t y in th e l iv ing area bu t a l so to

give suppor t to the p o l i t i c a l programs in t roduced and

genera l ly to encourage a " s o c i a l i s t way o f l i f e . " The

i d e a l house organ iza t ion comprises not more than twelve

f ami l ies and con ta ins a mixture o f apartment s i z e s to

encourage mutual help among people o f d i f f e r e n t ages .

(S taufenb ie l 1983, p.130) In r ea l i t y , many exceed t h i s

modest s ize by fa r .

One might see these Hausgemeinschaften in analogy to

union work c o l l e c t i ve s and expec t t h a t they a re s imi la r ly

capable o f absorbing, i n t e g ra t i n g , se rving and shaping

the informal and spontaneous t endenc ies o f assoc ia t ion in

an apar tment bu i ld ing and the neighborhood. Linking

informal neighborhood i n t e r a c t ion and th e very bas ic

human concerns ( for company and occas iona l help ) to which

it responds to the wider organ iza t iona l s t ruc tu r e would

indeed c ons t i t u t e a major achievement. We w i l l r e t u rn

shor t ly to th e ques t ion o f whether th e Hausgemeinschaf ten

met t he se expec ta t ions .

In each new town t he re are Schiedskommissionen,

a rb i t r a t i on commit tees , t h a t t r y to re so lve conf l i c t s i n

th e l iv ing area and main ta in orde r and s t a b i l i t y . Thei r

con t ro l beg ins with moral pressure and informal t a l k s

with f ami l ies , schoo ls , e t c . and reaches to the sanct ions

o f a minor cour t . For th e purposes o f t h i s d iscuss ion ,

these commissions a re r e l a t i ve l y unimpor tant .



21

The cha i r s of the Hausgemeinschaften meet regu la r ly with

th e Wohnbezirksausschuss or community coordina t ing

committee, a group of 18-20 members t ha t ex i s t s i n every

r e s i d e n t i a l d i s t r i c t compris ing 1 -3 ,000 people. A

t y p i c a l r e s ide n t i a l area o r "new town" in Rostock has onthe average 13-15 such r e s ide n t i a l d i s t r i c t s , each with

its own committee. It i s th ru these community

coordina t ing committees t h a t th e National Front , an

umbrel la organ iza t ion o f par t i e s and a l l soc ia l

organizat ions was to play an impor tan t ro le in th e

r e s ide n t i a l area . Here it i s impor tan t to note t h a t t h i s

coord ina t ing committee was n o t se lec ted by the house

committees, al though they are represented , b ut i s

composed o f rep resen ta t ives o f par t i e s and soc ia l

organ iza t ions , se lec ted whenever poss ib le from th e

r e s ide n t i a l area i t s e l f .

The National Front included the dominant communist par ty ,

the SED, as well as the subordina te par t i e s - Chr i s t i an

Democrat ic Union (CDU), th e Libe ra l Democrat ic Par ty

(LDPD), the National Democrat ic Par ty (NDPD), and th e

Democrat ic Farmers Par ty (DBD). In addi t ion , the Nat iona lFron t also encompassed the Federa t ion o f German Trade

Unions(FDGB), th e Free German Youth(FDJ) , the Democrat ic

Women's Federa t ion (DFD), and League of Cul ture (KB), and

o th e r soc ia l organ iza t ions . Ac t iv i ty in the community

coord ina t ing committees was th e lowes t organ iza t iona l

l eve l of the Nat iona l Fron t , which ex i s t ed a t a l l l eve l s

o f GDR soc ie ty . I t s core was th e "Democrat ic Bloc" which

cons i s ted o f the par t i e s and th e major mass

organ iza t ions . Thei r rep resen ta t ives composed a l l

par l iaments from the Peop le ' s Chamber, th e n a t io n a l

par l iament , downward. Elec ted on a s ing le s l a t e with

f ixed p ropor t ions o f r ep resen ta t ion , t he se pa r l i ament s

may be dismissed as i r r e l e va n t . Yet the d ive r s i t y o f



22

par t i e s and organizat ions crea ted th e p o t e n t i a l o f

responding d i f f e r e n t i a l l y to d i f fe ren t s t r a t a and

subcul tures , even though the l eader sh ip remained f i rmly

in th e hands o f th e SED.

The Free German Youth, as mentioned above, worked

pr imar i ly through school and th e workplace . As one might

expec t with such a l ev e l of organ iza t ion , membership was

seen as v i r tua l ly mandatory, bu t the sub jec t ive meaning

of··membership appears to have been ext remely d i lu t e d . The

i n i t i a l des igns saw th e youth organ isa t ion playing an

impor tant ro le in th e community.

The DFD, the Democrat ic Women's Federa t ion , i s no t an

independent Women's organ iza t ion in the western sense .

.Afte r th e War, it concerned i t s e l f with ending

t r ad i t i ona l a t t i t udes towards women's p a r t i ~ i p a t i o n in

th e workforce, l a t e r it s e t i t s e l f th e goal o f promot ing

the s e rv ices in th e r e s i d e n t i a l areas so t h a t women would

be able to work and represent ing t h i s need on a na t iona l

l eve l . Membership in th e Womens Federa t ion was lower than

in th e o th e r mass organ iza t ions • a f i f t h o f a l l e l i g i b l e

women belong (Schar f 1984,p .40) . In th e new towns, it

sponsors r eg u l a r l e c t u re s as wel l as c r a f t groups to

which a l l members are i nv i t ed and it works with The

Peop le ' s Sol ida r i t y to provide se rv ices to th e e lde r ly

and o ther s in need. Members also engage in counse l ing and

educa t iona l programs. The DFD i s not represented a t th e

workplace; r a the r most ente rpr i ses have a Women"s

Commission as wel l as mandated programs fo r th e

advancement and fu r the r educa t ion o f women.

The Peop le ' s Sol ida r i t y Movement, funded by th e s t a t e i s

a vo lun tee r o rgan iza t ion which provides impor tant

se rv ices to th e needy and the o ld in th e r e s i den t i a l

a reas . Within th e neighborhoods, it runs c lubs , provides



23

meals a t home and of f e r s help with household chores o r

shopping fo r those who cannot t ake care o f themselves .

I t s ac t ive members, many of whom are themselves r e t i r ed ,

a l so can be seen around th e nurs ing homes which provide

~ a r e fo r about 5 pe rcen t o f t he e l d e r l y in th e GDR. Two

o f the more ac t ive organ iza t ions in the r e s ide n t i a l area ,then , th e Peop le ' s S o l i d a r i t y and th e women's

organ iza t ion have more of a soc ia l work func t ion , r a t h e r

than serve as a l inkage to th e more p o l i t i c a l l y or ien ted

mass organ i i a t ions .

The Communist Par ty played, a t l e a s t d i r e c t l y , a minor

ro le in th e r e s ide n t i a l areas . I t s r e s ide n t i a l base

organ iza t ions were comprised pr imar i ly of people who were

not organized through th e work-based par ty organ iza t ion :

, o lde r peop le , women t emporar i ly not in the labor force ,

and members of the profes s ions - not the composi t ion most

promising fo r s t rong a c t i v i t y . Yet th e p a r t y ' s i n d i r e c t

ro le was more pe rvas ive . I t s members es tab l i shed l inkages

between e n t e rp r i s e s and th e community area coordina t ing

commit tees . One young a c t i v i s t sa id t h a t th e p a r t y had

e f f e c t ive r ep resen ta t ion everywhere, espec ia l ly in th e

Nat iona l Fron tand

in its

commit tees . Thep a r t y ' s

mostimpor tan t func t ions were to s igna l p o l i t i c a l d i f f i c u l t i e s

t h a t arose in th e new towns and to prepare th e e l e c t i o n s

through th e Nat iona l Fron t by loca t ing and sc reening

candida tes . These func t ions had, however, little to do

with th e r e a l cond i t ions o f everyday l i f e in th e

r e s ide n t i a l area , even if the candida tes showed up to

hear compla in t s before th e e l e c t i o n s . The ro le of th e

par ty cou ld not be compared to its ro le in the p laces of

product ion .

The c e n t r a l c i t y admin is t r a t ion was p r e s en t in th e new

towns with a l oca l admin is t r a t ive branch, inc luding

p o l i ce , which was respons ib le fo r c lean l iness , orde r , and



24

secur i ty , fo r r e l a t i ons with the var ious work

e n t e rp r i s e s , which inc luded those t h a t had been given a

spec ia l r e s pons ib i l i t y fo r th e p a r t i c u l a r r e s ide n t i a l

a rea , and s imi la r t a s k s . Members o f th e c i ty par l iament

he ld r eg u l a r meetings , and a rc h i t e c t s of the c i t y who

were involved in the cons t ruc t ion of a new town kep t in

con tac t with l a t e r developments through t he se meet ings ,

too .y

This ar ray o f i n s t i t u t i o n s and organ iza t ions , complexly

i n t e r re l a t ed among each o ther , may give th e impression

t h a t th e r e s ide n t i a l community was thoroughly organized.

A b l u e p r i n t o f organ iza t ions does not , however, descr ibe

the r e a l i t y o f pa r t i c ipa t ion . For eva lua t ing the s t reng th

and i n f luence o f t he se numerous organ iza t ions andcommittees, it i s c r i t i c a l to examine how they r e l a t e to

spontaneous neighborhood i n t e r a c t ion and to th e most

s t rong ly f e l t needs o f th e popula t ion . It i s

en l igh ten ing , t he re fo re , t o look more c lose ly a t l i f e in

th e new communities to determine where people turned to

fo r he lp , fo r the fu l f i l l m e n t o f t h e i r c u l t u r a l , s oc i a l ,

and r e c re a t i o n a l i n t e r e s t s and needs , and fo r a ss i s t ance

with housing and neighborhood problems.

The Real i t y o f Li fe in th e New Towns

Typica l ly the res iden t s o f a Neubaugebie t , a new

r e s ide n t i a l area , have been a t t r a c t e d by th e p o s s i b i l i t y

o f moving i n to a new apartment with c e n t r a l hea t ing and

i nne r bathroom f a c i l i t i e s . Given the d i f f i c u l t y o f

g e t t i n g any apartment and the deso la te cond i t ion o f mucho f the otherwise av a i l ab l e housing, j u s t "being the re"

i s , espec ia l ly a t f i r s t , reason fo r su b s t a n t i a l

sa t i s f ac t i on . People are even more s a t i s f i e d when th e

apartment i s w el l l inked to th e c i t y , workplace , and



2S

schools - impor tan t de te rminan t s of o v e ra l l sa t i s f ac t i on

t h a t are no t always presen t .

The landscaping i s of ten p rov is iona l in th e new towns,

th e t r e e s t i n y , and many se rv ice and publ ic i n s t i t u t i o n s

are to be es t ab l i s h ed in th e f u tu r e . People worry about

whether t he se w i l l be s a t i s f a c to ry , and they worry about

when they w i l l be added. Condi t ions 'vary from town to

town.

Arch i tec t s and planners tend to pu t t h e i r hopes and

ene rg ie s i n to th e newest r e s i d e n t i a l a reas , and a number

o f impor tan t changes have come about in t he se r ev i s ions

of p lans fo r t he n ex t Neubaugebiet . Arch i tec t s in th e

c i ty plann ing of f i c e s and in th e cons t ruc t ion f i rms do

, a t tempt to respond to major areas o f d i s sa t i s f ac t i on with

eXis t ing arrangements , b u t they p l a y a dual ro le . The

a rc h i t e c t who succeeds in making a small change t h a t

improves l i f e in th e community and. th e sa t i s f ac t i on o f

res iden t s has . a g r ea t sense o f accomplishment. On th e

o ther hand, a rc h i t e c t s and planners op era te wi th in harsh

c o n s t r a i n t s o f economy and t echnology . The cons t ruc t ion

technique us ing l a rge p re fabr ica ted p la t e s of concre te

al lows fo r v a r i a t i o n only within narrow l im i t s . The dr ive

fo r economy pushes t he ma jo r i ty o f bu i ld ings up to 5 and

6 f loor s (and t he se a re b u i l t as walk-ups) , whi le a

s i g n i f i c a n t minor i ty i s double t h a t s i ze (bu t then

equipped with e l e v a t o r s ) . One f requent complaint about

th e 11-12 f loo r b ~ i l d i n g s i s t h a t they are too l a rge to

see o r co n t ac t th e ch i ld ren a t play .

Planners may have designed a complex i n f r a s t ruc tu r e o f

shops and rec rea t iona l a reas , bu t then th e c i ty

government. can decide t h a t too much money h as been spent

on th e apar tments and th e department re spons ib l e fo r th e

a l l o c a t i o n o f funds may delay o r fo rge t th e " f r i l l s . "



26

Many spaces rese rved fo r new communal i n s t i t u t i o n s ,

se rv ices and shops in th e new towns o f Rostock are still

empty. In th e bu i ld ings themselves, the re a re also

problems with th e qua l i t y o f the mate r ia l used and th e

s tandards o f th e f a c i l i t i e s within th e apar tments .

However, a t t e n t ion - and resources - are a l ready turned

to con s t ruc t ing the next community and, impor tant ly now,

to modernizing and rebui ld ing th e inner c i t y . Arch i tec t s

who had hopes fo r s ign i f i c a n t improvements in th e l a t e s t

Neubaugebiete of ten now encounte r new budget c ons t r a in t s

t h a t reduce th e l a t e s t developments as much to th e bare

bone s t ru c t u re o f apartment bu i ld ings as any o f th e o lder

se t t l emen ts .

A newly cons t ruc ted area tends to a t t r a c t predominantly

. younger f ami l ies with ch i ld ren . Even though some a t t empts

to "balance" the popula t ion s t ruc tu r e o f the s e t t l emen ts ,

they tend to be somewhat segrega ted by to age. OVer th e

years the people (as well as the publ ic f a c i l i t i e s ) age

(S taufenb ie l i 983 ,p . l 3 ) . This c re a t e s p e r s i s t e n t problems

in th e provis ion and u l t i l i z a t i o n o f kindergardens ,

schoo ls , youth c lubs and o ther f a c i l i t i e s , and it has

consequences fo r th e soc ia l l i f e in th e new towns.

I t i s un l ike ly t h a t i nhab i t an t s have met to con t r ibu te

t h e i r ideas fo r the new se t t l emen ts , al though models a re

on d isp lay fo r comment. This i s even t rue o f th e members

o f housing coopera t ives

(Arbeiterwohnungsbaugenossenschaften - AWG). AWG-built

housing comprises about 35-45 percen t o f th e new housing

un i t s i n Rostock, while the balance i s s t a t e owned.

Members o f th e Genossenschaften par t i c i pa t e i n some o f

th e cons t ruc t ion and con t r ibu te e x t r a payments in

add i t ion to labor . Yet th e members have no say in th e

des ign o f t h e i r housing . The s t ruc tu r e s are es tab l i shed

without t h e i r coopera t ion - th e a rc h i t e c t u re and l oca t ion



27

o f th e houses as well as th e inne r des ign o f th e

apar tments . In fac t , members may not even have worked in

th e same r e s ide n t i a l area where t h e i r apartment i s

l oca ted .

Opinions vary on whether l i v ing in co-op o r sta te-owned

housing makes any d i f f e r en ce . One study, though done in a

d i f f e r e n t c i ty than Rostock, ind ica ted d i f f e r en ces

between sta te-owned apar tments and coopera t ives in th e

ca re of the a rea and th e involvement o f res ide! l t s . In

t h i s s tudy , th e response o f th e AWG which has i t s own

r e p a i r se rv ice , was quicker than th e s t a t e . On the o ther

hand, it i s fea red t h a t the appeal o f the coopera t ives

may ac tua l ly weaken if they do not y ie ld advantages

compensat ing fo r th e 250-900 hours of cons t ruc t ion workvarying wi th the s ize o f th e apartment (Rudloff , Sc h i l l e r

and Fiebig 1983 ,p . l l ) , espec ia l ly because some advantages

in the ass ignment o f housing w i l l lose i n a t t r a c t i ve ne s s

in the coming years when the q u a n t i t a t i v e housing

shortage i s overcome.

At the beginning, many people p u t an enormous amount o f

energy i n to f ix ing up the a rea around them, in s ide the

apartment as well as ou ts ide . However, a l l men and 87

percen t o f a l l e l i g i b l e women work out s ide th e house, a

t h i rd par t - t ime(Gysi and Speigner 1983, p .38) . Since th e

new towns a re of ten n ot c lose to th e place o f work, it i s

n o t unusual fo r people to g e t up as ea r ly as 5 t o ge t to

work and -g iven the t ime needed fo r t r a ve l and shopping

to remain o u t o f th e housing developoment fo r 10-11

hours. Although th e ch i ld ren e a t t h e i r main meal a t

school and most o f the paren t s a t work, they are n o tthrough with the l i g h t evening meal and o ther chores

u n t i l 8 in th e evening . That schedule alone exp la ins a

g re a t dea l about what goes on - or does not go on - in



28

th e new towns. Nearly a l l o f p eo p le ' s t ime i s spent a t

work o r with the family.

But t ime cons t ra in t s a re not the only f a c t o r discouraging

pa r t i c ipa t ion . The res iden t s face f requent problems in

meet ing th e need fo r s e rv ices o f a l l kinds and fo r

repa i r s in the house . The lack o f reso lu t ion o f these

problems d i r e c t l y r e l a t e s to th e unwi l l ingness o f th e

res iden t s to become act ive - o r even to be l ieve t h a t any

formal i n s t i t u t i o n re la ted to th e r e s ide n t i a l area i s

capable or wi l l ing to respond to these needs .

The Hausgemeinschaft i s supposed to rece ive money from

th e c i ty admin is t r a t ion fo r repa i r s . When responses to

compla in t sfrom the res iden t s t ake a

long t imeto

beresolved, when money fo r r e p a i r s i s n o t forthcoming, when

equipment par t s are near ly imposs ib le to acqui re or take

months to a r r ive , people become discouraged and even ifthey carne with some enthusiasm, become l e s s ac t ive in th e

H a u s g e m e i n s c h ~ f t , unwi l l ing to respond to pub l ic

campaigns fo r c leaning up the a rea , e tc . . The

Hausgemeinschaf t i s then t aken as an i n s t i t u t i o n t h a t can

pre t t y much be ignored .

GDR c i t i zens have th e r i g h t to complain fo rmal ly , and

these compla in t s have to be answered with a c e r t a in

pe r iod o f t ime . Such pe t i t i ons , Eingaben, may be se n t to

the branch of the c i ty admin is t r a t ion t h a t i s in th e

Neubaugebiet , th e rep resen ta t ives in the Nat iona l Front ,

or the par ty . The complaints , according to i n t e rv iews

with organ iza t iona l rep resen ta t ives and r e s i d e n t s of the

newtowns, revolve

around a number o fthemes

and o f

course are no t only concerned with housing. Members o f

t he va r ious p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s o f the Nat iona l Fron t do

spend a lo t o f t ime answering compla in t s , and many o f

these a re u l t ima te ly resolved. When compla in t s and t h e i r



29

r eso lu t ion t ake p lace ind iv idua l ly , as most are , there i s

n ot only no need fo r o rgan iza t iona l involvement ; the re i s

also no c o l l e c t i ve recogn i t ion o f anything p o s i t i v e t h a t

the Nat iona l Fron t has done.

Complaints are also voiced a t l a rge meet ings when publ i c

o f f i c i a l s are i nv i t ed to address the res iden t s . These

become more f requent before the e l e c t i o n s . Arch i tec t s may

also hold meet ings with th e res iden t s once o r twice a

year . Here, again , no p a r t i c u l a r group, mass

organ iza t ion , community coord ina t ing committee or

Hausgemeinschaft plays a s i g n i f i c a n t ro le . The

r e s i d e n t i a l organ iza t ions do no t have p a r t i c u l a r c lou t .

That does not mean t h a t with t ime they cannot e x e r t any

pres su re . There have been changes in th e new towns. It

does mean, however, t h a t th e organ iza t ions have

d i f f i c u l t y a t t r ac t i ng people , no l e s s exer t ing any

i n f luence on them, s ince they are not seen as responding

to t h e i r needs . (9)

The Spec ia l Needs o f Di f f e r en t Groups

Chi ld ren , young people , women, and th e e l d e r l y have

s p ec i a l needs in th e r e s ide n t i a l a reas , and it i s

en l igh ten ing to see how t he se needs a re met and through

which channels . Theore t ica l ly , if t he o rgan iza t ions

involved wi th t he se groups respond generously and

9 . For i n t e r e s t i ng comparat ive work on cond i t ions o f

a1inat ion and power lessness in Chinese c i t i e s , see Whyte

and Par ish (1984) .



30

e f f e c t ive ly to t h e i r needs , they a re l ike ly to have more

impact and i n f luence than otherwise .

As mentioned above, th e se t t l emen ts are b u i l t with the

appropr i a t e nurse r i es and schools and th e needs o f the

youngestare

f a i r lywel l

served in mostp laces . Paren t s

are , as in th e West, involved and ac t ive in the schools ,

and if even they a re involved in little e l s e , they w i l l

t u rn up a t those meetings.

A widely discussed problem i s th e s i t ua t i on of the young

- o f adolescents and young adu l t s - in th e new towns.

Young people en joy meeting outs ide o f t h e i r apar tments ,

b u t during th e week they may not have th e t ime to leave

the r e s ide n t i a l area . They a re t he re fo re dependent on th e

. r e s i den t i a l area fo r meet ing , fo r spor t s , e tc . . There are

some f a c i l i t i e s in th e schools , though in th e r e s i d e n t i a l

areas themselves some o f th e l o t s t h a t were used fo r

spor t s became park ing areas fo r c a r s . There are a few

di scos bu t n o enough cafes o r c lubs and prac t i ca l l y no

working spaces fo r repa i r ing b icyc les , cars , e tc . . In

Marzahn, the l a rge housing development in Ber l in ,

youngs te r s are "hanging out" with little e l se to do.

Severa l meet in foo tba l l fan c lubs , which are spontaneous

informal groups . I t i s sa id t ha t some of the youngs te r s

involved in an a t t ack on an audience a t a rock conce r t

(where they shouted ant i -communis t as wel l as an t i - J ewish

s logans) were from such c lubs in Marzahn, though such

express ions o f antagonism are not unique to Marzahn.

Within Rostock as a whole, a c i t y o f 250,000 i nhab i t an t s ,

the re are 500 youth c lubs b u i l t by th e c i t y . Only 41 o f

these are led by paid l eader s . While some o f these c lubs

a re qu i t e a t t r ac t ive , most are in poor f a c i l i t i e s and

plan little more than d iscos . Even then , t he re may not be

room fo r a l l th e youngs te r s who want to come, and a small



31

group o f young people may form a cl ique and take over th e

club fo r t h e i r own purposes . In D i e r ~ o w , one o f the new

se t t l emen ts , the promise to r ep l ace a barrack t h a t was

used as a youth club but then t o rn down was no t kep t . The

youngs te r s go t toge the r and submit ted a p e t i t i o n , an

Eingabe, to th e c i ty and th e par ty , and eventual ly th e

youth c lub was b u i l t . In a s tudy o f young workers in

Rostock , more than h a l f o f th e youngste rs d id no t th ink

it was poss ib l e to spend t ime in t h e i r r e s i d e n t i a l area

in an i n t e re s t ing and s t imu la t ing way (Klohr 1975,pp . l04

lOS). Young people l8-2S years o ld who l ived in th e

o lde r p a r t of the c i ty spent about a quar t e r o f t h e i r

f ree t ime ou ts ide t h e i r apartment in t h e i r r e s iden t i a l

community, whi le youngste rs in th e new r e s iden t i a lcommunities sa id they spent no t ime in t h e i r communit ies ,

. but d iv ided t h e i r f ree t ime between the apar tment and

c i ty (S t au fenb ie l 1983, p .39 ) .

The Free German Youth was in e f f e c t no t invo lved in th e

r e s iden t i a l a reas . And a l though some people advocated

more involvement , th e f ac t t h a t it was a compulsory

organiza t ion in school and th e workplace , made it

d i f f i c u l t to a t t r a c t youngs te r s . In th e s tudy o f young

workers in Rostock mentioned above only 10 percen t

ind ica ted t h a t the leadersh ip of t he Free German Youth

was concerned with th e l e i s u r e t ime o f th e youngs te r s and

only 4.9 percen t ind ica ted t h a t the Nat iona l Front was

concerned(Klohr 1983,pp . l04- l0S}. Young people have been

a t t r ac ted to th e Pro t e s t a n t Church where they have

expressed open concern about a number o f i s s ue s ,

i nc lud ing environment concerns, . peace i n i t i a t i v e s , e tc . .

Meeting th e widespread i n t e r e s t of the youth in the open

d iscuss ion o f problems was one of the most se r ious

cha l l enges to th e youth organiza t ion and, ul t ima te ly , the

par ty . It i s by now c l e a r t h a t t h e i r e f fec t iveness was

indeed qui t e l imi ted .



32

Women in the new r e s ide n t i a l areas have p a r t i c u l a r needs .

Most work and most have ch i ld ren . There are two

organ iza t ions i n t e r e s t e d i n a t t r ac t i ng them, in add i t ion

to the Hausgemeinschaften. The f i r s t i s the Par ty , which

encourages them to become ac t i v e if they a re conf ined toth e r e s ide n t i a l area dur ing t h e i r baby year leave from

work. Here th e par ty i s unsuccessfu l ; it has little to

of f e r to mothers who a re re l i eved to have some pr iva te

t ime without th e need to balance th e demands o f both work

and the fami ly . The second group, the Democrat ic Women"s

Federa t ion , also has d i f f i c u l t y a t t r ac t i ng women to

meetings a t the end o f th e work day. Most women become

involved in formal a c t i v i t i e s only when members o f t h e i r

family or the immediate neighborhood are a f f ec t ed . The

DFD does a t t r a c t women who a re n o t working and w a n ~ to

volun tee r t h e i r se rv ices . It has been been most

success fu l when it managed to accomplish concre te changes

in th e r e s ide n t i a l a reas - a ramp fo r baby c a r r i a g e s ,

more conven ien t hours fo r food shopping, needed

playgrounds, e tc . . However, most working women t ake an

a t t i t ude s imi la r to one profes s iona l woman who sa id :

I b a r e ly know they e x i s t . I never go to a l e c tu r e .I"ve heard everyth ing they want to say a t work. And I

hear b e t t e r l e c t u re s e lsewhere .

Women who a re working outs ide th e home, 87 percen t o f a l l

e l i g i b l e women (Gysi and Speigner 1983, p .38) come in to

d i r e c t con tac t with th e women"s commissions in th e

e n t e rp r i s e s . th e par ty . They may be pressured to t ake

fu r the r t e ch n i ca l t r a in ing o r prepare themselves fo r a

pos i t ion with more r e s pons ib i l i t y , such as complet ing

work fo r th e second doc to ra te , necessary fo r th e h ig h es t

academic p o s i t i o n s . Women themselves of ten r e s i s t t he se

demands. The reasons fo r t h i s are complex and o f course

r e l a t e i n p a r t to th e husband"s wil l ingness to share



33

household chores , bu t the re are o ther problems as wel l

(Rueschemeyer 1988) . Issues revo lv ing around work

cond i t ions , housing, or reques t s fo r vaca t ion p l aces and

o th e r b e n e f i t s are addressed by th e work organ iza t ion . It

i s th e work organ iza t ion t h a t prov ides t he se . b e n e f i t s and

it i s th e work organ iza t ion t h a t makes th e demands. I s

the re anything t h a t cou ld be of fe red in the r e s i d e n t i a l

area?

The woman or the occas iona l man l i v ing a lone with th e

ch i ld ren may not only face a myriad o f demands a f t e r work

b u t a lso i s o l a t i on and lone l ines s . Although s ing le

paren t s with ch i ld ren who remain unmarr ied rece ive

b e n e f i t s from th e s t a t e ( fo r example, par t i cu l a r l y good

access to apartments . and k indergar tens ) , the re are no

formal s t ru c t u re s o f l i v ing which might encourage

communal arrangements; housing i s geared to f ami l ies .

With th e increas ing divorce r a t e , good use could be made

o f the l a rge a number o f smal le r apartments b u i l t because

plan fu l f i l l m e n t i s ca l cu l a t ed by number o f apar tments

r a t h e r than ava i lab le space. These un i t s have, however a

par t i cu l a r l y high ra te o f f luc tua t ion so t h a t those who

remain may lose suppor t from res iden t s with s imi la r

problems o r may be in a house where th e house committees

bare ly func t ion (S taufenbie l 1983, p.114 and Ziegenhagen

1987, p . 7 ) .

I f th e work c o l l e c t i ve i s succes s fu l , col leagues

undertake a number of so c i a l a c t i v i t i e s toge ther ,

ce leb ra te b i r thdays , e t c . , and they help each o ther if

p a r t i c u l a r fami ly problems a r i s e . They t ake each o t h e r ' s

ch i ld ren if a paren t i s ill, help f ix up apar tments , t ake

over c e r t a in work ob l iga t ions if necessary , to mention

j u s t th ree examples. The work c o l l e c t i ve , then , may be a

source of rea l help and s a t i s f a c t i on . But in th e

r e s ide n t i a l area , th e man or woman alone o r a lone with



34

ch i ld ren t yp i c a l ly r e tu rns to an apartment where t he re i s

no adu l t -to t a lk to . There i s little thought about what

might be needed a f t e r the workday i s over . I t i s o f

course na ive to th ink t ha t th e s t a t e can eas i l y preven t

i so l a t i on and l one l iness . But t he re are few th ings in th e

r e s ide n t i a l area t h a t s ingle people can eas i l y a t tend .

The occas iona l func t ioning house committee may organ ize

f e s t i v i t i e s once or twice a year ; it i s ra re , though, fo r

th e members to provide s ing le paren t s ongoing suppor t .

"These r e s ide n t i a l areas are only good

fo r marr ied people ."

"Sometimes a f t e r work I t r y to walk in th e

c i t y be fore coming back. There ' s nothing to do

here b u t with two young ch i ld ren , I c a n ' t re tu rn

to town."

Older women who l i ve a lone are among th e l o n e l i e s t in th e

r e s ide n t i a l areas . About 11 percen t of th e popula t ion o f

Rostock i s r e t i r ed ; o f these , a t h i rd are over 80. Three

quar t e rs of the e lde r ly who l ive in the Neubaugebi tete

came because t h e i r c h i l d re n are l i v ing the re (S taufenb ie l

1983 ,p .82) , though some o f th e apar tments b u i l t to

accommodate th e e lde r ly in prox imi ty to t h e i r ch i ld ren

have been used fo r f ami l ies . Those who cannot s t ay in

t h e i r own apar tments are in homes o r spec ia l r e s i den t i a l

apar tments .

Aside from th e occas iona l club for the e lde r ly , who

cannot eas i l y leave th e r e s i d e n t i a l a rea , t he re i s little

e l se to do. The Peop le ' s Sol ida r i t y Movement does indeed

provide impor tant p r a c t i c a l suppor t s with the help o f the

Young Pioneers , th e youngest sect ion of the youth

organ iza t ion . On occas ion , an o ld e r Hausgemeinschaf t

provides impor tant Support fo r its sen io r r e s i d e n t s .

Though the emotional wel l -be ing o f the e lde r ly i s a

problem in th e GDR as in th e West, the Peop le ' s



35

Sol ida r i ty Movement does accomplish a cons iderable amount

in th e r e s ide n t i a l area .

The League of Cul ture sponsors c lubs fo r fu r the r ing adu l t

educa t ion and i n t e r e s t s , promotes exh ib i t s and l e c t u re s .

Though most ac t ive in th e c i t y cen te r , it does have some

r ep resen ta t ion in th e new r e s ide n t i a l a rea s . I t s ea r ly

umbrel la func t ion fo r th e i n t e l l i g e n t s i a has been

weakened by th e growth o f spec ia l i zed as soc ia t ions - th e

Wri t e r s ' Assoc ia t ion , fo r example, or the Arch i t ec t s '

Assoc ia t ion . (Zimmermann 1984, p .68) .

The League of Cul ture has an impressive c lub in the

r e s ide n t i a l area of Schmarl , another o f Rostock ' s new

towns, which se rves 400 members and gues t s . Dominated by

. the loca l In t e l l i gen t s i a , th e e legance o f t h i s c lub i s

unusual fo r a Neubaugebiet . Others may f e e l

uncomfortable:

When one woman worker was ass igned by th e e n t e rp r i s e

to th e board , she h e s i t a t e d to speak fo r s ix months!

I t i s only now t h a t she i s a r egu la r pa r t i c ipa n t .

Here complaints and problems a re voiced dur ing var ied

discuss ions , and these a re repor ted , according to one of

the most ac t ive members. That l i nks th e club c lose ly to

those in au thor i ty , bu t s ince most o f th e r e s i d e n t s do

n ot have the oppor tuni ty to p a r t i c i p a t e , th e League i s

wi t hou t g re a t re levance fo r e i t h e r pa r t i c ipa t ion or

co n t r o l .

There are occas iona l l ec tu res in th e r e s i d e n t i a l areas ,

a t tended by r e l a t i ve l y few of the re s iden t s ; movies are

shown, though n o t in a l l Neubaugebie te ; t he re a re

r e s t a u ra n t s , and a few pubs and cafes . Since these a re

very few in number, the re i s little t h a t br ings th e

re s iden t s toge ther . After the long work day, people are

r e luc t a n t to r e tu rn to th e c i t y to par t i c i pa t e in



36

c u l t u r a l l i f e . At th e same t ime, h a l f o f the people

in terv iewed in the new r e s i d e n t i a l areas expressed

d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n with th e f ree- t ime and c u l t u r a l a c t i v i t e s

(S t au fenb ie l 1983, p .72 ) . During the week, people spend

most o f t h e i r f ree t ime in th e apar tment watchingt e l ev i s i on (Handke, 1989) . When the weather i s nice ,

people enjoy be ing ou ts ide , e i t h e r in th e nearby seas ide

r e s o r t o f Warnemunde (Staufenbie l 1983,p .42) o r in t he i r

little pr i va t e gardens which are some d is tance from th e

r e s iden t i a l area .

These gardens , grouped toge the r in co lon ies and each

equipped with a little garden house are very impor tant to

people , and no t only because of t he vege t ab l es t h a t are

hard to f ind in the s to r e s . About a t h i rd of the

re s iden t s in th e new towns have t h e i r own garden

accord ing to in fo rmal es t ima te . Those who have a garden

are more s a t i s f i e d with t h e i r housing in a Neubaugebie t ,

though a r ch i t ec t s be l i eve t h a t most people would ac tua l l y

p r e f e r p r i va t e housing. Newly b u i l t s ing le family housing

i s most ly found in the count rys ide . Given th e d i f f i c u l t y

o f ge t t i ng mate r i a l s and labor , bu i ld ing and mainta in ingone ' s own home i s a s t renuous under tak ing , a burden too

heavy fo r most who can g e t an apar tment . (IO)

Soc ia l Li f e , Organizat ional Involvement , and Privacy

10. Cons t ruct ion o f pr iva t e ly owned ( s ing le and poss ib ly

double family) houses in th e GDR has been has been low

compared to o t h e r Eas t European coun t r i e s - 12 percen t

compared to 20 percen t in Romania, 30 percen t i n Poland

and 70 percen t in Hungary (DDR Report 1985 ,p .5 l ) .



37

There i s a cons iderable amount of spontaneous

neighborhood i n t e r ac t i on i n th e Neubaugebie te . When

people have no t ye t l ived long in the bu i ld ing , most wi l l

not know each othe r . The web of ~ p o n t a n e o u s i n t e r ac t i on

takes t ime to become dense. In t ime, f r i endsh ips develop

as wel l as r e l a t ions involv ing mutual he lp o f a l l kinds .

Famil ies help with the care of the chi ld ren , r epa i r s ,

-. e t c . , so t h a t the s t a t i s t i c s on those ac t ive in the

d i s t r i c t committees of the Nat iona l Front or the house

committee leadersh ip are on the one hand i n f l a t ed and on

the o the r do no t r e f l e c t the r ea l ac t iv i t y t ha t t akes

p lace . Typica l ly , these are spontaneous a c t i v i t i e s t h a t

are no t l inked to o f f i c i a l organ iza t ions , and are f ree of

t h e i r ir1f1uence.

There are very few unof f i c i a l organiza t ions t h a t go

beyond such grass roo t s i n t e r ac t i on . We have mentioned

the foo tba l l fan clubs , which are not ~ e e n as a pos i t i ve

development. ~ addi t ion , there are the occas ional and

ac t ive spor t s groups .

From the p o i n t o f view of the o rgan iza t iona l pene t ra t ion

of s oc i a l l i f e in th e r e s iden t i a l areas , the c r i t i c a l

quest ions are how many people g e t involved in the var ious

o rgan iza t ions t h a t have been es t ab l i shed , how impor tant

these a c t i v i t i e s a re fo r them, and how wel l they are

i n t egra t ed with t h e i r needs and wants o f people and with

t h e i r spontaneous soc ia l l i f e .

A number of s tud ies ou ts ide of ~ o s t o c k have ind ica ted

t h a t a s i zeab le percentage o f the popula t ion i s s oc i a l l y

ac t ive in the r e s iden t i a l area (Nieder lander 1984, p .75 ) ,

bu t t h a t inc ludes many people who are ac t ive in name

only . The new r e s iden t i a l areas tend to a t t r a c t young

people as wel l as a di spropor t iona te number of the



38

educated and occupa t iona l ly qua l i f i e d . It appears t h a t

the most ac t ive re s iden t s in the new towns a l so have

r espons ib l e pos i t i ons a t work, and t h a t one ' s pos i t ion a t

work i s impor tant even a f t e r the r e s i de n t i s r e t i r ed

(Nieder lander 1984, pp .12 - l3 ) . This i s t rue fo r

pa r t i c ipa t i on i n th e Nat iona l Front a s we l l as th e housecommittees and the schools . (11)

In Nieder lander ' s s tudy (1984,p .76) more men than women

were ac t ive in organiza t ions - 62 p ~ r c e n t o f the men and

50 percen t o f th e women in terv iewed. Women are pr imar i ly

engaged in the Peop le ' s So l ida r i t y Movement, the

Democrat ic Women's Federa t ion , the ca re o f the e lde r ly ,

soc ia l commissions, youth work and th e schools

(Nider lander 1984,p .79) . In some o f th e olde r new towns

one can observe t h a t women become cons iderably more

ac t ive when they r e t i r e ( a t age 60, while men r e t i r e a t

65) . So t he re a re cases where they dominate th e community

coord ina t ing committes and house commit tees . Whether t h i s

makes a di f fe rence in th e s ty l e o f the o rgan iza t ions i s

an i n t e re s t ing ques t ion in need o f f u r t he r i nve s t i ga t i on ,

though it hard ly can inc rease the s t rength o f these

o rgan iza t ions v i s - i - v i s othe r i n s t i t u t i ons and thus t h e i re f f e c t i ve ne s s .

Without doubt , the re a re a number of people in the new

r e s iden t i a l a reas who r ea l ly want t o c rea t e a decen t

l i v ing envi ronment and who p u t an enormous amount o f

11. In a s tudy o f new r e s iden t i a l areas in Dresden, a

qua r t e r o f those who VOlunteered t h e i r t ime were members

o f th e i n t e l l i g e n t s i a , while l es s than 10 percen t were

workers and l e s s than 4 percen t white co l l a r employees

(Grundmann 1981,p .53) .



39

energy, t ime, and devot ion in to t h e i r work. But the

o f f i c i a l f igures o f pa r t i c ipa t ion give a rad ica l ly

exaggerated p i c t u re of ac t ive pa r t i c ipa t ion . They simply

do not accord with the percept ions o f ordinary c i t i z e n s

and evidence about th e ac tua l func t ioning o f

organ iza t ions , however fragmentary and anecdo ta l .

Many o f th e members of the var ious r e s ide n t i a l

commissions and_committees were pressured by t h e i r

organ iza t ions a t work to t ake on t he se ad d i t i o n a l

func t ions in the community. I f they responded pos i t i ve ly

it was i n p a r t because advancement and o ther b e n e f i t s

depended on a p o s i t i v e response . S t i l l , it was n ot easy

to fill th e many pos i t ions appropr ia te ly . Thus it was no t

ra re t h a t a par ty organ iza t ion de lega ted a person in to a

community coord ina t ing committee who d id no t a t a l l l i ve

in the a rea . Commanding r espec t in th e more f l u id

r e l a t i ons in th e community i s n ot a mat te r to be t aken

fo r granted . A c t i v i s t s have acquired r epu ta t ions a t th e

workplace t h a t may c a r r y o v e r to th e community and

g re a t l y i n f luence th e response of the res iden t s . I f

someone has a r epu ta t ion fo r decency - o r unscrupulous

behav ior- it

s t r tong ly a f f e c t s the percept ion o f th ecommittee and th e wi l l ingness o f t he res iden t s to

coopera te .

Those res iden t s with s p ec i a l needs, such as th e e l d e r l y ,

and those engaged in helping them see th e r e s i d e n t i a l

area as p rov id ing impor tant se rv ices . Others , sucp as

adolescents and t h e i r paren t s , s ing le paren t s , young

couples - t h a t i s , most o f those who l i ve i n the new

towns - are f rus t r a t e d by the l ack of oppor tun i t i e s fo r

c u l t u re , i n t e r e s t i ng l e i s u r e a c t i v i t i e s or spor t s . They

view th e r e s ide n t i a l areas as little more ~ h a n s l eep ing

q u a r t e r s .



40

Residents who have been involved in f rus t r a t i ng

nego t ia t ions fo r r e p a i r s , which may t ake months to

re so lve , a re very c r i t i c a l of the re spons ib l e

i n s t i t u t i o n s . From these and s i m i l a r exper iences a r i s e

demands fo r c e r t a in kinds o f s t a t e suppor ted

i n s t i t u t i o n a l i n i t i a t i v e s , but the se demands have little

to do with p o l i t i c a l involvement . In f a c t , such

exper iences fos t e r a fundamental skept ic ism abnout

involvement because it l eads to so little.

Most res iden t s simply want to remain undis turbed in t h e i r

l i ve s out s ide o f work. This des i re fo r pr ivacy i s hard to

overes t imate . It i s th e most powerful blockage to th e

organ iza t iona l p en e t r a t i o n o f th e r e s ide n t i a l areas .

Family and the place of l i v ing are anywhere much more

.persona1 a reas o f l i f e than work and th e so c i a l r e l a t i ons

a t work. In the r e s ide n t i a l a reas o f th e GDR, t h i s need

fo r pr ivacy seems even s t ronger than e l sewhere . A novel

about the new towns, which also was turned i n to a TV f i lm

makes th e " h o ~ y four wal l s" one o f its major themes

(Weber 1979) .

Typica l ly , people do only what they have to in th e

r e s ide n t i a l areas , and pre f e r to remain unincumbered by

th e demand fo r so c i a l involvement . Time d i s t r i bu t i on

s tud ies show a high propor t ion of t ime spent e i t h e r

in s ide one ' s apar tment o r away from the r e s i d e n t i a l area .

Gardens in an ou ts ide garden development a re pre fe r red to

gardens in th e immediate v i c i n i t y o f o n e ' s apar tment

bu i ld ing . (See also Table I I ) .

Table I I

Where i s f ree t ime spent?

(New towns around Rostock)



41

Locat ion Weekdays a f t e r work Weekends

in apar tment 62% 11%

ou ts ide apar tment but

in r e s iden t i a l area 8% 7%

ou ts ide the

r e s iden t i a l area 30% 82%

(16% gardening)

Source: Staufenbie1 , 1983, p.37 .

. The des i re to remain unencumbered and pr iva t e may be

descr ibed as withdrawal , bu t it i s withdrawal from

organized ac t iv i ty . And it i s withdrawal from the

pressu res a t work. For those who a re no t in successfu l

work co l l ec t i yes , and even fo r those who a re , t he re i s

too much organiza t ion as it i s . They have been organized

as youngste rs , they have been organized a t school , they

are organized a t work. And they have too much to do

a f t e r work to mainta in t h e i r apartments and ca re fo r

t h e i r chi ld ren .

The des i re to be l e f t undis turbed i s espec ia l ly s t rong

among fo r young f ami l i e s with chi ld ren . They concentra te

on t h e i r apar tments and t h e i r family l i f e . they may be

ac t ive in the k indergar tens or schools . They engage in

groups with a spec ia l i n t e r e s t in spor t s , chess , e tc . .

When they spend t h e i r f ree t ime with othe rs , it i s

usua l ly the extended family or c lo se f r i ends in othe r

pa r t s of the c i ty (Staufenbie1 1983, p .45 ) .



42

One person ac t ive in one of th e mass organ iza t ions

complained t h a t people withdraw and want to be a lone , b u t

then , he sa id , they fee l i s o l a t e d . Problems o f i so l a t i on

and a l i ena t ion in the new towns are of ten discussed. One

so c i o l o g i s t wondered if people r ea l l y want the con tac t

and whether a l l th e concern fo r th e lone ly res iden t s o f

anonymous Neubaugebiete i s in r ea l i t y about people who

are not r ea l l y i n t e r e s t e d i n more community as ide from

add i t iona l s to res and se rv ices . It seems c l e a r t h a t th e

much discussed anonymity i s l a rge ly a t r ans i t o ry

phenomenon, and lone l ines s i s a problem fo r c e r t a in

groups o f people whose condi t ion i s more determined by

o ther fac to rs than by th e s ize and a rc h i t e c t u re o f l a rge

apartment house complexes. In add i t ion , however, what th e

r e s ide n t i a l organ iza t ions have to of f e r in not very

appeal ing fo r the one, and not su f f i c i en t fo r the o ther

group.

The Hausgemeinschaft i s the o f f i c i a l organ iza t ion o f th e

most c ru c i a l importance fo r our examinat ion because it

was to be th e major l inkage between spontaneous

neighborhood i n t e r a c t ion and th e l a rge r organ iza t iona l

s t ruc ture . My research on the Hausgemeinschaften does not

suppor t such a view. Typica l ly the members meet once o r

twice a year , t h e i r rep resen ta t ives once a month. Much o f

the work t h a t has to be done fo r the ca re of the house

may ac tua l ly be informal ly organized.

The house committees do have impor tant pra c t i c a l

func t ions . They are re spons ib l e fo r orde r and

c lean l iness , fo r the ca re o f th e bu i ld ing and the

immediate grounds. Succeeding in these pr imary t a sks

makes an impor tant con t r ibu t ion to th e l i ve s o f th e

res iden t s . They have d i f f i c u l t y , however, even in

fu l f i l l i n g these ob l iga t ions , if th e Hausgemeinschaf t i s

too l a rge , if the re i s high turnover , o r if those who



43

l i ve i n th e house are f requent ly away because o f t h e i r

work (on ships fo r exam ple, in Rostock). In the b e s t

cases , th e house commit tees succeed in t h e i r immediate

t a sks , provide some suppor t to res iden t s in need, and on

occas ion ho ld house ce leb ra t ions . In order to ach ieve

even t h i s , th e house committee has t o ca jo le res iden t s to

p a r t i c i p a t e in c lean-up campaigns and o ther or9anized

a c t i v i t i e s . Many are a l l e rg i c to these exhor ta t ions and

want to be l e f t alone. Most Hausgemeinschaften the re fo re

conf ine themselves to th e t a sks o f order and c lean l iness ,

and with some d i f f i c u l t y most achieve those goa l s .

The head o f one house committee in Rostock, a young

eng ineer who a lso holds an important pos i t ion i n h i s

e n t e rp r i s e , descr ibed the long per iod o f t ime it took him

to bu i ld up h is Hausgemeinschaf t . He t a lked about

c leaning up regu la r ly with only a smal l number o f people

and o f sys temat ica l ly g ree t ing people , even those no t

par t i cu l a r l y l iked in th e house . He still cons ide rs t he

Hausgemeinschaft unsuccessfu l b u t i s se n s i t i v e t o th e

d i f f i c u l t i e s he faces and to the l im i t s t ha t th e

res iden t s impose on any broader p o l i t i c a l i n i t i a t i v e s he

may want to undertake.

Another Hausgemeinschaf t , one considered a model, was

headed by an o lder woman who no longer worked ou ts ide th e

house . Even with h e r au thor i t a r i an s ty le , to which

res iden t s in o th e r bu i ld ings reac ted unsympathe t i ca l ly ,

she too was aware o f the l im i t s and . t r i ed to bu i ld up

r e l a t i ons i n th e house - a very l a rge bu i ld ing - by

sending b i r thday cards to everybody in th e house , with

f lowers added fo r those who helped with work (only

h a l f th e r e s i d e n t s ) , and by o ther s imi la r means.

There i s little doubt t h a t th e Hausgemeinschaft i s n ot a

force comparable to th e work c o l l e c t i ve . It c e r t a in ly



44

does no t succeed in l ink ing spontaneous neighborhood

i n t e r a c t ion to the wider organ iza t iona l s t ruc tu r e , no t to

mention i n f luenc ing its members in a p o l i t i c a l sense . The

men and women I spoke with , who were ac t ive in house

commit tees , agreed t h a t - most impor tant ly - one should

n o t spout th e words o f the par ty : "No p o l i t i c s . " And aknowledgeable and r e a l i s t i c o lder pa r ty a c t i v i t i s t

commented: "As a p o l i t i c a l ins t rument , th e

Hausgemeinschaf t was a s t i l l b o r n baby ."

The l eading p a r ty , th e SED, had responded to th e

d i f f i c u l t i e s o f a t t r ac t i ng people to become ac t ive in the

Nat iona l Fron t and t he va r ious o rgan iza t ions and

committees in th e r e s i d e n t i a l areas by r e t r e a t i ng from

th e " ideas o f th e 1960s", which emphasized a s o c i a l i s t

.way o f l i v ing in th e r e s i d e n t i a l areas . There had been

some i n t e rna l di scuss ion about t he se ma t t e r s . There had

a lso been d iscuss ion in the Free German Youth about th e

importance o f doing more espec ia l ly in th e Neubaugebie te i

bu t the re w e r ~ many express ions o f skept ic ism t h a t FDJ

r ep r e s en t a t i v e s would n ot be accepted by th e r e s i d e n t s .

(Since th e opening o f th e borders and th e dramat ic

changes within th e SED, th e fundamental l inkage to th ep a r ty has been severed and l a rge numbers o f young people

dropped t h e i r membership in th e FDJ.) There had been

widespread d iscuss ion about th e importance o f f l e x ib i l i t y

and open debate wi th th e popula t ion responding to th e

widespread i n t e r e s t and support fo r Gorbachev-sty le

g lasnos t , bu t a t o f f i c i a l meetings t he appropr i a t e

r ep r e s en t a t i v e cont inued to r e l a t e as usua l the dec i s ions

t h a t were made a t a higher l eve l .

Concluding Ref lec t ions: Part ic ipat ion and Control in the

CDR



45

The organ iza t iona l pene t ra t ion o f GDR soc ie ty by th e

l eading par ty and its a f f i l i a t e d mass organ iza t ions ,

then , was extremely uneven. The mass organ iza t ions were

most ac t i v e a t th e workplace, espec ia l ly th e most

powerfu l and most inc lus ive organ iza t ions - th e union,

th e Free German youth and, o f course th e communist par ty .

They demanded an enormous amount of pa r t i c ipa t ion and

volunta ry a c t i v i t i e s o f a l l s o r t s and they of fe red

c ru c i a l b e n e f i t s answering to housing and o ther needs .

Yet while they used up much "co l l ec t ive energy" , t h e i r

focus was on product ion and work. And even though th e

demands o f work of ten came in to c o n f l i c t with o th e r

needs , th e work-or iented organ iza t ions responded poor ly

to these o therneeds .

(Successfu l workc o l l e c t i ve s

maybe

a p a r t i a l excep t ion to th e l a t t e r observa t ion , and it i s

.perhaps fo r t h i s reason t h a t they were more p o s i t i v e l y

eva lua ted . )

This organ iza t iona l dens i ty a t t he p l ace o f work had no

. coun terpar t i th e r e s ide n t i a l a reas . Compared to th e

demands and involvements a t work, organ iza t ions in th e

communities were n e i t h e r ab le to d i r e c t the energies o f

the res iden t s to s o c i a l - p o l i t i c a l work nor to shape t h e i r

f r ee t ime. Since they provided little t h a t was o f use to

th e res iden t s , they were seen as r e l a t i ve ly unimpor tan t ,

of ten were v i r t u a l l y unnot iced and d id n o t a t t r a c t

involvement.

The r e s ide n t i a l world represented in e f f e c t a space f r ee

o f p o l i t i c a l and organized soc ia l o b l ig a t i o n s . The des i re

fo r pr ivacy, th e overburdening with pa r t i c ipa to ry

ob l iga t ions a t work, and th e lack o f s t rong and e f f e c t ive

"se rv ice" t h a t might motivate people to par t i c i pa t e in

organ iza t ions in th e r e s ide n t i a l area were th e main

causes o f t h i s f a i l u re o f th e r e l ev an t mass

organ iza t ions . For f a i l u r e it probably should be ca l l ed ,



46

even if one cannot cla im t h a t th e i n i t i a l des ign aimed

fo r as s t rong a pa t t e rn of o rgan iza t iona l involvement as

a t th e workplace . Fai lu re o r not , the p o l i t i c a l

leadership had accepted th e ex is tence o f a r e l a t i ve l y

unpene t ra ted f ree space o f pr ivacy as a given.

What were th e consequences o f t h i s s t a t e o f a f f a i r s , and

what was its broader p o l i t i c a l s ign i f i cance? The e f f e c t

was in my view a double-edged one, if judged from the

p o in t o f view of the p o l i t i c a l l eader sh ip . On th e one

hand, t h i s f ree space gave people r e l i e f from an

otherwise overwhelming burden of ac t ive involvement ,

overwhelming even if some p a r t o f t h i s ac t iv i ty may have

to be judged a meaningless pre tense , "paper ac t i v i t y" .

The freedom to be l e f t a lone , espec ia l ly in th e pr iva t e

sphere o f fami ly , rec rea t ion and f r i ends , was a freedom

prec ious to many. I t was a freedom won by i n s i s t e n t

withdrawal , y e t it also was accepted and t a c i t l y approved

by th e managers of the p o l i t i c a l system. However

c i rcumscr ibed , it se rved th e acceptance o f th e system, if

to a l imi ted degree . One may perhaps i n t e r p r e t some

cur ren t reform proposa ls - such as an expanded pro tec t ion

aga ins t a rb i t r a ry dec i s ions by par ty and s t a t e about

mat te r s of ind iv idua l i n t e r e s t and g re a t e r l e g a l

pred i c t ab i l i t y in the r e l a t i ons o f ind iv idua l and s t a t e

as bu i ld ing on t h i s acknowledged sphere o f pr ivacy .

Yet th e very l imi ted organ iza t iona l pene t ra t ion o f the

r e s ide n t i a l a reas had a profoundly prob lemat ic s ide when

viewed from th e top of the p o l i t i c a l system. The

problemat ic consequences der ive in my view from t h ree

fac t s : (1) th e f a i l u re was a symptom o f a lack o f

conf idence in th e a b i l i t y of the system to meet

expec ta t ions , and it r e in fo rced t h a t l ack o f conf idence

in tu rn ; (2) more impor tant fo r th e fu tu re , th e world o f

res idence and l e i s u r e i s the arena in which needs and



47

wants are expanding and mult ip ly ing as th e educa t iona l

l e v e l and economic prosper i ty r i s e ; th e cen t e r of grav i ty

of so c i a l and c u l t u r a l l i f e w i l l move away from work;

f i na l l y (3) l i f e and di scourse in r e s i d e n t i a l areas a re

po te n t i a l l y more open to wide ranging d iscuss ions , and

these a re a t a sk fo r which th e more s p ec i a l i z ed

organ iza t ions a t the p lace o f work, locked i n to an

es tab l i shed product ion o r i e n t a t i o n , a re no t wel l su i t ed .

One reason t h a t th e mass organ iza t ions d id n ot push t h e i r

e f f o r t s hard in th e r e s ide n t i a l areas was t h a t they

be l i eved they would f a i l . They were not able to respond

e f f e c t ive ly to th e demands of the c i t i z e ns - whether t h i s

i n a b i l i t y was due to th e ever- invoked economicc o n s t r a i n t s , to th e i n f l e x i b i l i t y o f th e plann ing system

-o r to ideo log ica l l i m i t a t i o n s . Those organ iza t ions t h a t

de l ivered wanted se rv ices , as fo r i n s t ance the Peop le ' s

S o l i d a r i t y o r a few c u l tu r a l o r youth c lubs , had some

success , i l l u s t r a t i n g aga in th e rec ip roc i ty under ly ing

any a t t empt a t organ iza t iona l p en e t r a t i o n . That many

wants and demands in the a rea o f housing and community

development cou ld no t be met undercut th e organ iza t iona l

e f f o r t and decreased th e confidence in th e responsiveness

o f th e l oca l organ iza t ions and, by extens ion, o f the

p o l i t i c a l system.

P o t e n t i a l l y , th e r e s ide n t i a l community i s th e place where

people as c i t i z e ns - r a t h e r than in t h e i r s p ec i a l i z ed

occupat iona l ro les - i n t e r a c t with each o th e r and

conf ron t broader problems. The need fo r more open and

wide-rang ing p o l i t i c a l di scuss ion can probably be metb e t t e r in t h i s arena than in th e base organ iza t ions

c lus te red around work. The inheren t l im i t a t i ons o f th e

l a t t e r are r e in fo rced by t h e i r very s t rong o r i e n t a t i o n

toward i s sues o f product ion . That th e P ro t e s t a n t Church

has a t t r a c t e d those i n t e r e s t e d in more open di scuss ion o f



48

such concerns as envi ronment pro tec t ion and

unconventional peace i n i t i a t i v e s , may perhaps be taken as

an i nd ica t ion t h a t community based organ iza t ions are

spec ia l ly su i t ed fo r such dia logue . In tu rn , p re c i s e l y

because th e p o l i t i c a l system o f th e GDR had inves ted its

organ iza t iona l e f f o r t s so heav i ly in th e world o f

s p ec i a l i z ed work and product ion , it was l e s s able to

engage in p o l i t i c a l dia logues t h a t cu t across d i f f e r e n t

groups and s t r a t a withou t tempt ing d e fe a t and l o ss o f

con t ro l . But such i n f l e x i b i l t y involved grave r i s ks , as

r ecen t even t s have made apparen t .

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1990-1991 Committee of Senior Advisors:

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The Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies

The Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies is an interdisciplinary programorganized within the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences and designed to promote thestudy of Europe. The Center's governing committees represent the major social sciencedepartments at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Since its establishment in 1969. the Center has tried to orient students towards questionsthat have been neglected both about past developments in eighteenth- and nineteenthcentury European societies and about the present. The Center's approach is comparativeand interdisciplinary, with a strong emphasis on the historical and cultural sources whichshape a country's political and economic policies and social structures. Major interests ofCenter members include elements common to industrial societies: the role of the state inthe political economy of each country, political behavior, social movements, parties andelections, trade unions, intellectuals, labor markets and the crisis of industrialization,science policy, and the interconnections between a country's culture and politics.

For a complete list of the Center for European Studies Working Papers and informationabout its other publications (German Politics and Society, a journal appearing three timesannually; French Politics and Society, a quarterly journal; and the East European WorkingPaper Series) please contact the Publications Department, 27 Kirkland St, Cambridge MA02138. Additional copies can be purchased for $4.00. A monthly calendar of events at theCenter is also available at no cost.

Participation & Control in a State Socialist Society: The German Democratic Republic (WPS 17, 1988) Marilyn Rueschemeyer.

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