Religion and the Secular in Eastern Germany 1945 to the present (Studies in Central European Histories)

The radical process of religious change in eastern Germany poses a real challenge to social researchers. Common explanations view either the socialist past or larger scale processes of modernization to be the cause of eastern German secularization, but fail to address historical contingencies and individual agency. This book focuses on the interplay between local bureaucracies and individual lives. Contextualizing individual choices is essential in order to gain insight into how religious meaning is produced, reproduced, contested, discontinued, and disrupted. Bringing together the disciplines of anthropology, history, political science, and sociology, what unites the articles is their qualitative approach. The collection of articles lays out an impressive mosaic of the religious and the secular in the GDR and contemporary eastern Germany.Contributors are Irene Becci, Anja Frank, Uta Karstein, Anna Körs, Esther Peperkamp, Małgorzata Rajtar, Thomas Schmidt-Lux, Nikolai Vukov, Kirstin Wappler, and Monika Wohlrab-Sahr. Religion and the Secular in Eastern Germany......Page 4 Copyright ......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Notes on Contributors......Page 10 Map of eastern Germany......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 1. Science as Religion: The Role of Scientism in the Secularization Process in Eastern Germany......Page 32 2. Secular Rituals and Political Commemorations in Eastern Germany, 1945-1956......Page 54 3. The Limits of Politicization of the Schools in the SED State: The Catholic Eichsfeld Region and the Protestant Erzgebirge – A Comparison......Page 74 4. Positions and Pathways of Families within the Religious Field of East Germany: Three Catholic Case Studies......Page 100 5. Between Menschlichkeit and Missionsbefehl: God, Work, and World among Christians in Saxony......Page 120 6. Religious Socialization in a Secular Environment: Jehovah’s Witnesses in Eastern Germany......Page 138 7. Young Eastern Germans and the Religious and Ideological Heritage of their Parents and Grandparents......Page 160 8. The Rehabilitation of Ex-Offenders in Eastern Germany: A Religious-Secular Configuration......Page 180 9. Church Buildings in Eastern Germany: Houses of God or Tourist Attractions?......Page 202 Conclusion: Dealing with Two Masters’ Commands – Explorations of the Complexities of Religious Life under a Dictatorial Regime......Page 222 Index......Page 234 The radical process of religious change in eastern Germany poses a real challenge to social researchers. Common explanations view either the socialist past or larger scale processes of modernization to be the cause of eastern German secularization, but fail to address historical contingencies and individual agency. This book focuses on the interplay between local bureaucracies and individual lives. Contextualizing individual choices is essential in order to gain insight into how religious meaning is produced, reproduced, contested, discontinued, and disrupted. Bringing together the disciplines of anthropology, history, political science, and sociology, what unites the articles is their qualitative approach. The collection of articles lays out an impressive mosaic of the religious and the secular in the GDR and contemporary eastern Germany. Contributors are Irene Becci, Anja Frank, Uta Karstein, Anna Körs, Esther Peperkamp, Małgorzata Rajtar, Thomas Schmidt-Lux, Nikolai Vukov, Kirstin Wappler, and Monika Wohlrab-Sahr The most common explanations view either the socialist past or larger scale processes of modernization to be the cause of eastern German secularization. The volume attempts to discover historically variable reconfigurations of religion and the secular at the local level Edited By Esther Peperkamp, Małgorzata Rajtar. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.