Suchergebnisse

Oppression and violence are often cited as the pivotal aspects of modern dictatorships, but it is the collusion of large majorities that enable these regimes to function. The desire for a better life and a powerful national, if not imperial community provide the basis for the many forms of people's cooperation explored in this volume

Laute, Bilder und Texte bezeichnen unterschiedliche Materialien und mediale Formate, die in Archiven gelagert und von Interessierten genutzt und ausgewertet werden. Die Beiträgerinnen und Beiträger dieses Bandes sondieren anhand alltagshistorischer Studien die Praktiken der Akteure im Umgang mit diesen Spuren und Überresten und decken dabei ein breites Medienspektrum ab: Tonaufnahmen, Manuskripte, Fotografien, Filme, Videos sowie all die vergessenen Dinge, die in den Mappen und Kartons der Archive gelagert sind. Dabei geraten auch die Unterschiede zwischen ?kolonialen? und ?indigenen? Archiven sowie die monopolistische Stellung der westlich geprägten Wissenschaften in den Blick. Dr. Alf Lüdtke ist Honorarprofessor an der Universität Erfurt sowie seit 2009 Distinguished Professor of History, Hanyang University, Seoul. Dr. Tobias Nanz ist wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter im ERC-Projekt »The Principle of Disruption« an der Technischen Universität Dresden.

Alf Lüdtke (Hrsg.): "Herrschaft als soziale Praxis". Historische und sozialanthropologische Studien. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1991. 596 Seiten, geb., 120,- DM

In East Germany (GDR) the aim of total control of society occupied both: those on the 'heights of command' and the various 'organs' of the ruling party (SED) and state. In this pursuit efforts to strictly regulate any passage of the border of state (Staatsgrenze) had a very high priority. The formal closure of the border to the 'West' (on 13 August 1961) marked an ultimate step placing border control among the pivotal political necessities of the GDR. In this vein, the actual staffing of the remaining checkpoints by employees of the Ministry of State Security (MfS) underlined the dominant logic of encompassing surveillance and intervention, whether concealed or openly. This article focuses on one location at the centre of the 'capital of the GDR', the check point: Grenzübergangsstelle (GÜSt) Bahnhof Friedrichstraße. The goal is an inspection of the actual activities of the border guards: how did they 'do it'? The spectrum ranges from the physical and architectural settings to the locks and the protocols of control to the practices of the guards who checked (and decided) on personal identities. To what extent were rank and file in the checking booths (and behind the scenes) in charge of opening or closing the door? Who, in the last instance, allowed or denied access or exit? Certainly, customs control and related checks of personal belongings of visitors or travellers were an integral part of the 'Grenzregime'; yet they are not part of this investigation. More generally: does the analysis of the everyday of control as 'work' provide insights into both the intensities and the duration of domination in the GDR? Is GÜSt Bahnhof Friedrichstraße also a symbol of the limits if not the demise of (the work of) domination 'in the colours of the GDR'?

This piece shall explore the use-value of ego-documents which are not in the focus of the recent surge of interest in these materials. At the center is an unpublished 'Aufschreibebuch' (not a diary but a notebook) of a Krupp-worker covering the 1920s into the late 1940s (with some addenda even into the 1970s). How did the writer try to 'keep time' in his recordings of his spending and using time? One of the striking features is the spatial 'simultaneity of registers' which the author pursued: politics, family and weather/ gardening stand out, occasionally seasoned by local, national or global catastrophes. More generally, this spatial frame paralleled multiple activities and occurrences. Still, the writer followed their temporal sequence. In other words: the spatial recordings show the flipside of the 'timespace' (Jon May) the writer encountered and appropriated. Thus, temporality appears as the space of and for writing - made visible and at the same time consumed by inscribing pages of paper. From this angle the author wants to re-set the question of 'acceleration' which has become a principal label of the modern era, esp. the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Here his take is that 'acceleration' is missing crucial practices (and experiences) of the historical actors. Rather, scrutiny of people's usage of space when writing time reveals various forms of intensification.

"This piece shall explore the use-value of ego-documents which are not in the focus of the recent surge of interest in these materials. At the center is an unpublished 'Aufschreibebuch' (not a diary but a notebook) of a Krupp-worker covering the 1920s into the late 1940s (with some addenda even into the 1970s). How did the writer try to 'keep time' in his recordings of his spending and using time? One of the striking features is the spatial 'simultaneity of registers' which the author pursued: politics, family and weather/ gardening stand out, occasionally seasoned by local, national or global catastrophes. More generally, this spatial frame paralleled multiple activities and occurrences. Still, the writer followed their temporal sequence. In other words: the spatial recordings show the flipside of the 'timespace' (Jon May) the writer encountered and appropriated. Thus, temporality appears as the space of and for writing - made visible and at the same time consumed by inscribing pages of paper. From this angle the author wants to re-set the question of 'acceleration' which has become a principal label of the modern era, esp. the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Here his take is that 'acceleration' is missing crucial practices (and experiences) of the historical actors. Rather, scrutiny of people's usage of space when writing time reveals various forms of intensification." (author's abstract)

Der Autor untersucht das spezifische Verhältnis historischer Akteure zu den verschiedenen deutschen Staaten und ihrer Gewaltordnung und -praxis. Der Staat als Bezeichnung für das "gemeine Wesen" ist ihm zufolge eine historische Konstellation von relativ langer Dauer, aber keineswegs von universaler Geltung. Die zweifache Polarität von Zwangsgewalt und Fürsorgeversprechen einerseits und Herrschaft und Teilhabe andererseits verweist vielmehr auf spezifische Kontexte. Der Autor zeichnet die "Liebe zum Staat" und zu seiner Gewalt und Macht anhand von verschiedenen Texten von der Frühen Neuzeit bis zur Gegenwart nach und problematisiert die Art und Weise, wie sich die Menschen aktiv in das staatliche Regelwerk einfügen und an der Beherrschung ihrer selbst und der anderen mitwirken - ein Mitwirken, ohne das die Staatsgewalt nicht funktionieren könnte. Die Wirksamkeit von Herrschaft in der Moderne gründet sich somit weder allein noch vorwiegend auf einem Gehorchen, das gewaltsam angedroht oder erzwungen wird. Herrschaft und Staat sind hingegen erst möglich durch Gefühle der Zuwendung der Vielen für das "große Ganze" und ihr aktiv-alltägliches Streben nach Teilhabe. (ICI2)