Reckoning with the GDR past

The post-communist transformations of the property ownership is a topic less attractive than other issues connected with the society and politics reconstruction but it has a fundamental dynamic for the social and political evolution. Although I am very much familiar with the legal and personal aspects involved by the restitution processes in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania, I wasn´t very much aware of the milestones of a similar process in the former GDR.

Alter Adel - Neues Land? by Dr. Ines Langelüddecke is based on the author´s doctoral researches. It covers three specific regions in the county of Brandenburg, through the perspective and changes brought over by the return of former nobel owners.

Brandenburg, formerly part of the GDR, a region with small villages and pristine nature, a beloved place for the Red Army soldiers who used former castles and palaces, as their headquarters or holiday residences, is currently undergoing a return of members of old nobel orders. Their former family properties are integrated into a new social and economic eco-system - like hotels - or used for private residence. Historically, there may be a continuity after the communist césure, but the social structure and human networks, as well as the economic framework is fundamentally different.

The book is based on extensive interviews and sociological and anthropological observations and research, offering not only date, but also an idea of the clash of mentalities - if any - and the new constructions being set.

It was a new topic for me that I hope to be able to deepen, especially as someone tho extensively explored the region of Brandenburg, particularly small villages and the micro-societies they represent. The book is only available in German so far.

Revolution and International Order

I am very late with my academic updates, but hopefully will be able post more in the next days and weeks. With an international order dramatically challenged, and a chaos - at least in terms of micro-historical decisions - taking over the ´order´ it is almost impossible to keep staying immersed in theoretical analysis. Reality - at least those days - is far beyond the imagination, therefore, the need to first observe the changes and make an assessment only if necessary and definitely only taking into account a very limited level of predictability.

 

The Internationalists and Their Plan to Outlaw War by Oona A. Hathaway and Scott J. Shapiro is a very serious, documented account of a dream: ending the war and turning the international conversation into the register of peace negotiations. A rationale approach of a dream shaped by the unjustly ignored 1928 Peace Pact, at a time when the wounds of one war were starting to heal, while another one was looming silently. 

It is a fascinating and very comprehensive overview taking into consideration juridic and historical arguments. The book doesn´t explain though the limited extent such a dream was successful in the international realm, particularly during and after the end of the Cold War. 

The information contained in the book is very vaste and acribic, and it may offer a lot of - pros and cons - arguments for the international law specialists.

The Revolutionists by The Guardian international correspondent Jason Burke may offer a counter-balance to the coldness of international law approaches. Undertitled ´The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s´, it may actually explain part of the non-pacifistic orientation of our times.

The domains of the two books are different, if not opposite, but reading them together I was able to fill some of the gaps and questions left unanswered by The Internationalists. The tormented events of those years are still shaping our international realities, more than the - normal - desire of peace. 

The international order was therefore challenged by non-state terrorist actors and this state of affairs continues until today. Non-state actors reclaiming state attention, attacking state institutions and being answered with state-ordained strength, while reclaiming extra priviledged as theoretically being a minority force in a non-state de jure position. 

Being written by a journalist, it does not spare too much time diving into theories, but the facts are well structured offering a good research basis for anyone interested in stories of political extremism and terrorism in the 1970s.