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Opposition or Alternative Political Culture in the GDR ?

Opposition or Alternative Political Culture in the GDR ? ROGER WOODS (Aston, U.K.) OPPOSITION OR ALTERNATIVE POLITICAL CULTURE IN THE GDR? Why study opposition? z It is not too difficult to put together a list of reasons for not concerning oneself with opposition in the GDR today. The GDR enjoys considerable political stability, and the presence of around 380,000 Soviet troops is the ultimate guarantor of the SED's position of power. In any case the numbers involved in op- position activity are small: there is no mass movement of opposi- tion in the GDR, and what empirical evidence is available sug- gests that many of the attitudes of the few dissidents there are may well be out of line with the attitudes of the majority of the population. Admittedly, the number of East German citizens who have applied to emigrate from the GDR is very high-unofficial estimates range from 150,000 to 500,000 and even higher (out of a total- population of around 17 million),l but these would-be emigrants tend not to act in any co-ordinated way, and they are not. bent on altering the political system. They merely want out. Indeed, one needs to stretch one's definition of opposition to see this group as opposition at all. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png East Central Europe Brill

Opposition or Alternative Political Culture in the GDR ?

East Central Europe , Volume 14 (1): 151 – Jan 1, 1987

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1987 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0094-3037
eISSN
1876-3308
DOI
10.1163/187633087X00070
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

ROGER WOODS (Aston, U.K.) OPPOSITION OR ALTERNATIVE POLITICAL CULTURE IN THE GDR? Why study opposition? z It is not too difficult to put together a list of reasons for not concerning oneself with opposition in the GDR today. The GDR enjoys considerable political stability, and the presence of around 380,000 Soviet troops is the ultimate guarantor of the SED's position of power. In any case the numbers involved in op- position activity are small: there is no mass movement of opposi- tion in the GDR, and what empirical evidence is available sug- gests that many of the attitudes of the few dissidents there are may well be out of line with the attitudes of the majority of the population. Admittedly, the number of East German citizens who have applied to emigrate from the GDR is very high-unofficial estimates range from 150,000 to 500,000 and even higher (out of a total- population of around 17 million),l but these would-be emigrants tend not to act in any co-ordinated way, and they are not. bent on altering the political system. They merely want out. Indeed, one needs to stretch one's definition of opposition to see this group as opposition at all.

Journal

East Central EuropeBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1987

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