Varieties of Transition: The East European and East German Experience

by Claus Offe

Claus Offe has spent most of his career analyzing the inner workings (andnonworkings) of Western democracies. After the upheavals of the late 1980s, however, his attentionwas drawn increasingly to the East, and particularly to the transformations occurring in the formerGerman Democratic Republic.The nine essays collected here, all written within the last few years,report what Offe has learned. They explore such topics as the characteristics and shortcomings ofstate socialist societies and of democratic capitalism, the role of ethnic politics in East Europeantransitions, issues of retribution and restitution in the transition to a democratic society basedon a private economy, and the effects the collapse of Communism have had on Western democracies andon the Left in particular. Three essays focus on the "special path" to capitalism followed by theformer GDR, including a fascinating comparison betewen post-1945 West Germany and post-1989 EastGermany.

259 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996