Access to knowledge and technology became a key resource during the Cold War and the process of decolonization. In this context, there were two major developments. First, privileged access to and the transfer of technology and knowledge exerted substantial influence on newly forming states. Second, the independence of former colonies was accompanied by the promise of being able to develop their own societies with the aid of technical and scientific expertise from Europe and North America.

International organizations, NGOs, transnational movements, and international law faced new challenges in the postwar period. While topics such as human rights, crime, the environment, and development occasioned entire alliances of state, international, and non-governmental organizations, the Cold War, decolonization, and the accompanying enforcement of the model of the nation-state as a global standard produced a complex situation characterized in equal measure by hopes and expectations for the future, international cooperation, competition, bloc formation, and retreat into the national.

Migration and mobility have become central themes for how societies understand themselves. The question of what distinguishes ‘migration’ from ‘flight’ and ‘mobility,’ and which people are categorized as ‘wanted’ or ‘unwanted’ or as ‘foreign’ or ‘belonging,’ has been the subject of fierce debates, especially in contemporary history. At issue was and is the question of which criteria establish belonging, inclusion, and exclusion, and thus what should constitute European societies at their core.

In der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts wurde vieles, was später als „populäre Kultur“ oder „Massenkultur“ galt, noch als Devianz skandalisiert. Um 1956 wurden diese neuen Ausdrucksformen als Jugenddelinquenz skandalisiert und kriminalisiert.

BMBF joint project
ZZF, LMU München and FU Berlin 
Project leader at ZZF: Prof. Dr. Frank Bösch, Dr. Jürgen Danyel, Christoph Classen 

Economic processes always involve the consumption or conversion of energy. Historically, the composition of primary energy sources has changed significantly. Since the emergence of the environmental movement and mounting concerns about global resource limits in the 1970s, the relation between economy and ecology has become a central social and political concern. Recently, its relevance has become even more pronounced due to the effects of climate change. How did national governments and international organizations try to ensure sufficient energy supplies?

What role did ideology and rule play in the everyday lives of GDR citizens? What social and cultural transformation processes can be observed? The topics examined here include, for example, the social history of the SED dictatorship, the transformation of the GDR state party, the history of the BND after 1968 and ideals of beauty.

The focus area examines political, economic and cultural changes, cultures of remembrance and the effects of communism and system change on the societies of Eastern Europe. Several international research projects are represented here: the interdisciplinary research network "Legacies of Communism?", the joint project "Europast" and the ERC project "Perestroika from Below". Individual projects are also being worked on

Prof. Dr. Frank Bösch is currently leading six projects at the ZZF that deal with the following topics: The Radical Right in Germany, 1945-2000 - Transformation in the World of Work – Media heritage of the GDR - East German universities - Book project about global interactions of the Federal Republic - History of Computerisation - Ministries of the Interior in West and East Germany - International Institutions in Crisis