Divided in Unity: Identity, Germany, and the Berlin Police

Glaeser, Andreas

ISBN 10: 0226297837 / ISBN 13: 9780226297835

Published by University of Chicago Press, 2000

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 45T45_26_0226297837

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Divided in Unity: Identity, Germany, and the Berlin Police
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226297837
• ISBN 13: 9780226297835
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the political unification of East and West Germany, the joy over unity quickly gave way to a profound sense of alienation between easterners and westerners. It was said that the Berlin Wall was simply replaced by the walls in the minds of people. The Berlin police force is one of the few organizations in united Germany in which easterners and westerners have been forced to work together, and Andreas Glaeser takes advantage of this unique opportunity to examine how the police officers relate to each other and to understand their expectations and hopes, their attitudes toward work and their understanding of democracy and morality. Accompanying East and West German police officers on their daily patrols through Berlin, Glaeser gathers firsthand accounts that help to illustrate why East and West Germans remain deeply divided. The result of his study is a theory of identity that moves beyond the dominant concerns with race, class and gender to describe how experiences of otherness and sameness are constructed in social interaction.

About the Author

Andreas Glaeser is associate professor of sociology at the University of Chicago.