After the Fall of the Wall: Life Courses in the Transformation of East Germany (Studies in Social Inequality) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0804752087 ISBN 13: 9780804752084

Publisher: Stanford University Press, 2006

Synopsis

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?

About this title

About the Author

Martin Diewald is Professor of Sociology at the University of Bielefeld,
Germany. Anne Goedicke is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University
of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. Karl Ulrich Mayer is Chair of the Department of
Sociology and Director of the Center for Research on Inequalities and the
Life Course (CIQLE) at Yale University.

From the Back Cover

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?

Edition details

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0804752087
• ISBN 13: 9780804752084
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 408
• Editor: Diewald Martin, Goedicke Anne, Mayer Karl Ulrich