Popular Protest In East Germany

"Popular Protest in East Germany is an incisive new study of dissent and protest in the German Democratic Republic, focusing on the upheaval of 1989-1990.
Gareth Dale, an active participant both in the 'Citizens Movement' and in the street protests of that year, explores the causes and processes of the East German revolution by:
- Drawing upon interviews with participants and functionaries, as well as previously untapped archive material.
- Includes detailed studies of the popular uprising of June 1953; industrial relations; youth subcultures; church-linked 'grassroots groups' of the 1980s.
- Proposes new interpretations of the 1953 uprising, the 'socio-ethical' movements of the 1980s, and of the divergence between 'citizens movements' and the mass protests in the autumn of 1989.
- Includes a rebuttal of the dominant interpretations of 1989 as the consummation of the 'aborted revolution' of 1953.
This lucid and vibrant narrative history acts as a pioneering contribution to research in this field. It will be of particular interest to students of German Politics/History, European Politics and International Studies.