The unification of Germany set in motion one of the most interesting and uncharted developments of our era: the transformation of a whole society. This book examines key areas of transformation with special reference to the place and future of the family.

The unification of Germany set in motion one of the most interesting and uncharted developments of our era: the transformation of a whole society. This book examines key areas of transformation with special reference to the place and future of the family.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was the beginning of one of the most interesting natural experiments in recent history. The East German transition from a Communist state to part of the Federal Republic of Germany abruptly created a new social order as old institutions were abolished and new counterparts imported. This unique situation provides an exceptional opportunity to examine the central tenets of life course sociology. The empirical chapters of this book draw a comprehensive picture of life course transformation, demonstrating how the combination of life course dynamics coupled with an extraordinary pace of system change affect individual lives. How much turbulence was created by the transition and how much stability was preserved? How did the qualifications and resources acquired before 1989 influence the fortunes in the restructured economy? How did the privatization and reorganization of firms impact individuals? Did the transformation experiences differ by age/cohort and gender? How stable were social networks at work and in the family? Were personality characteristics important mediators of post-1989 success or failure or were they rather changed by them? How specific were the East German life trajectories in comparison with Poland and West-Germany?

A collection of papers first presented at a colloquium for postgraduate students held at the Institute for German Studies, University of Birmingham 1998.

Over three decades Gordon Smith has written authoratively and with style on almost every aspect of German politics. In this volume, leading UK and German scholars use themes from his work in an examination of the evolution of German policy in the face of socio-economic change, globalisation, European integration, and the domestic upheaval of unification.

This cutting-edge edited collection examines the impact of political and social change upon the modern German family. By analysing different family structures, gender roles, social class aspects and children's socialization, The Family in Modern Germany provides a comprehensive and well-balanced overview of how different political systems have shaped modern conceptualizations of the family, from the bourgeois family ideal right up to recent trends like cohabitation and same-sex couples. Beginning with an overview of the 19th-century family, each chapter goes on to examine changes in family type, size and structure across the different decades of the 20th century, with a focus on the relationship between the family and the state, as well as the impact of family policies and laws on the German family. Lisa Pine and her expert team of contributors draw on a wealth of primary sources, including legal documents, diaries, letters and interviews, and the most up-to-date secondary literature to shed new light on the continuities and changes in the history of the family in modern and contemporary Germany. This book is a fantastic resource for scholars, postgraduates and advanced undergraduates studying modern German history, sociology and social policy.

The transformation of east Germany since unification has wrought vast changes in the economy and in society and left deep scars as the types of social protection offered by the centralised socialism of the previous regime gave way to uncertainties and individualised life chances. Social Transformation in Eastern Germany investigates the deep economic and social processes which east Germany has undergone, highlighting the restructuring, the social impacts and the stresses of adjustment experienced by key social groups whose workplace and social context has been recast almost out of recognition since 1990.