The Break-Up of Communism in East Germany and Eastern Europe

by Feiwel Kupferberg

This book presents a novel understanding of the break-up of communist hegemony in East Germany and Eastern Europe. Based on comparative case studies, it argues that identity politics is a particular invention of communist rule, producing a political citizen. Focusing upon identity politics helps us better to understand the long-term stability of communist hegemony, its sudden collapse, the difficulties of transforming communist societies to liberal democracies and the unexpected revival of ethnic, nationalist and cultural conflicts in post-communist Eastern Europe.

204 pages, Hardcover

First published January 15, 1999