Post-doc project

The focus of the project analyzes historical roots of present day anti-liberal and illiberal ideas in the (East) German society. Observing the drift by former GDR citizen rights activists to the populist right, it will collectively trace the intellectual and political evolution of prominent dissident figures from the East German civil rights movement during the democratization of the GDR beginning in 1989/90. The project will examine competing visions of democracy from 1989/90, the national and anti-communist currents of the Peaceful Revolution as well as the spaces of cooperation or convergence between elements of the citizen rights activist movement and the populist right.

The question is about the political differentiation of the actors, with a particular focus on the conservative forces, after the common enemy “SED” became increasingly weaker over the course of the revolution. The assumption is that there is more continuity than a sudden political change. The analysis focuses on terms and practices such as “freedom”, “party skepticism”, “anti-communism” and its related “anti-totalitarian consensus”, as well as discussions about exclusion mechanisms and contradictions in the (consensus) democracy that was then partially practiced.

The project is part of the joint project „Towards Illiberal Constitutionalism in East Central Europe: Historical Analysis in Comparative and Transnational Perspectives“ with partners in Prague, Warsaw, Jena and Budapest, funded by the VW Foundation.