Rethinking Regime Stability: The Life Stories of “Loyal” East German Activists in the Early German Democratic Republic

Port Andrew I. ()
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Port Andrew I.: Wayne State University, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 3094 FAB,656 W. Kirby, Detroit, MI 48202, USA

Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook, 2017, vol. 58, issue 2, 367-412

Abstract: In the early 1950s, East German officials at the storied Maxhütte steel mill in Thuringia collected short CVs or “life stories” (Lebensläufe) written by approximately 370 blue- and white-collar workers who had recently become Stakhanovite “activists”. These documents, which all contain the same basic biographical information about the authors – from their socioeconomic background to their political activities – shed light on a group that has received little systematic scholarly attention, namely, ostensibly loyal and ordinary East Germans at the grass roots. Their early support of the SED state and its economic goals ensured the longer-term stability of a largely unloved regime. These valuable documents thus provide important clues for understanding the puzzling political and economic viability of the German Democratic Republic.

Keywords: labour history; labour relations; Stakhanovism; East Germany; ego documents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J L N Y Z (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bpj:jbwige:v:58:y:2017:i:2:p:367-412:n:3

DOI: 10.1515/jbwg-2017-0014

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