Andreas Glaeser
What I have said about East Germany before, is true for Soviet socialisms more generally: they provide an intriguing arena to investigate the creation and dissolution of institutions. More, since the once actually existing socialisms constitute arguably the most profound effort ever undertaken by human beings to consciously change an entire society, it also tells us a lot about the politics more generally, which is always an effort to either maintain or alter an institutional status quo.
The Dissolution of Socialism in the GDR:
The literature on socialism’s decline emphasizes economic and political reasons for
its disintegration. On the one hand the rigidities of centrally planned economies
are held responsible, on the other the administrative and political rigidities of
a dictatorial regime. Both of these accounts of socialism’s failure have merit, and
yet, as I argue in Political Epistemics: The Secret Police, the Opposition and the
End of East German Socialism (for reference and sample chapters see HERE) they are
falling short. The reason is simple. People living in socialism–-
Learning from Socialism:
Comparative systems accounts of socialism are riddled with yet another problem. The
liberal market economies of western Europe and north America serve as the default
comparison point. Socialism’s failure is then often diagnosed as a failure to be
like “the West”. The effect is a self-
Ironically, the epistemic process dynamics that eventually led to socialism’s demise appear not so different from the ones that lead to the emergence of bubble economies. But this is for a new book to explore.
Socialism