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Missing Marx
Was East Germany a "Marxist" state? Some critics say that Marx was missing altogether from life in the German Democratic Republic and was sorely missed; others argue that the citizenry missed West German marks even more, and that this brought about the regimes collapse. Both criticisms miss their marks.
When Peter Marcuse and his wife left for a year of teaching and research in East Germany in August 1989, they had no idea that they were about to witness one of the most tumultuous years in German history. In this remarable political and personal narrative, marcuse chronicles the course of events as the country barrelled from Karl Marx to Deutsche marks. Marcuse, born in Germany, was uniquely able to meet and talk with people at all levels of society, and his description is presented in a chronological diary of events and experiences, interspersed with short analytic essays, which together give an extraordinary inside picture of "really existing socialism" as it manifested itself in East Germany.
Marcues's combination of personal diary and political analysis allows us to understand the extent to which East German society was socialist, as well as how that socialism affected people as they lived their daily lives. His discussion of how the political leadership and the dissident activists attempted first to guide and then to keep up with the rapid changes shows how the dissolution of the state was the result both of internal causes and of competition from the Western economic system. His final chapter examines what can be learned, and possibly saved, from the East German experience.
When Peter Marcuse and his wife left for a year of teaching and research in East Germany in August 1989, they had no idea that they were about to witness one of the most tumultuous years in German history. In this remarable political and personal narrative, marcuse chronicles the course of events as the country barrelled from Karl Marx to Deutsche marks. Marcuse, born in Germany, was uniquely able to meet and talk with people at all levels of society, and his description is presented in a chronological diary of events and experiences, interspersed with short analytic essays, which together give an extraordinary inside picture of "really existing socialism" as it manifested itself in East Germany.
Marcues's combination of personal diary and political analysis allows us to understand the extent to which East German society was socialist, as well as how that socialism affected people as they lived their daily lives. His discussion of how the political leadership and the dissident activists attempted first to guide and then to keep up with the rapid changes shows how the dissolution of the state was the result both of internal causes and of competition from the Western economic system. His final chapter examines what can be learned, and possibly saved, from the East German experience.
302 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
14 people want to read
About the author
Peter Marcuse
39 books14 followersPeter Marcuse is Professor of Urban Planning at Columbia University.
Peter Marcuse was born in 1928, the son of book sales clerk Herbert Marcuse and mathematician Sophie Wertheim. They soon moved to Freiburg, where Herbert began to write his habilitation (thesis to become a professor) with Martin Heidegger. In 1933, in order to escape the Nazi persecution, they joined the Frankfurt Institut für Sozialforschung and emigrated with it first to Geneva, then via Paris, to New York.
He attended Harvard University, where he received his BA in 1948, with a major in History and Literature of the 19th Century. In 1949 he married Frances Bessler (whom he met in the home of Franz and Inge Neumann, where she worked as an au pair while studying at NYU).
In 1952 he received his JD from Yale Law School and began practicing law in New Haven and Waterbury, Connecticut. Peter and Frances had 3 children, in 1953, 1957 and 1965.
He received an MA from Columbia University in 1963, and a Master of Urban Studies.
From 1972-1975 he was a Professor of Urban Planning at UCLA, and since 1975 at Columbia University. Since 2003 he is semi-retired, with a reduced teaching load.
Peter Marcuse was born in 1928, the son of book sales clerk Herbert Marcuse and mathematician Sophie Wertheim. They soon moved to Freiburg, where Herbert began to write his habilitation (thesis to become a professor) with Martin Heidegger. In 1933, in order to escape the Nazi persecution, they joined the Frankfurt Institut für Sozialforschung and emigrated with it first to Geneva, then via Paris, to New York.
He attended Harvard University, where he received his BA in 1948, with a major in History and Literature of the 19th Century. In 1949 he married Frances Bessler (whom he met in the home of Franz and Inge Neumann, where she worked as an au pair while studying at NYU).
In 1952 he received his JD from Yale Law School and began practicing law in New Haven and Waterbury, Connecticut. Peter and Frances had 3 children, in 1953, 1957 and 1965.
He received an MA from Columbia University in 1963, and a Master of Urban Studies.
From 1972-1975 he was a Professor of Urban Planning at UCLA, and since 1975 at Columbia University. Since 2003 he is semi-retired, with a reduced teaching load.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 4, 2022
I feel a certain pressure here, being the first reviewer of this book to provide an accurate and more detailed account than what I’m normally accustomed to.
As a leftist, reading theoretical books is something that is the norm. This isn’t that. It is a primary source. An outside perspective on a still controversial period within leftist discourse. His analysis of the situation is great, in my opinion. His honesty about the regimes of the west and east and the conclusions that come along with that are eye opening and certainly not anti-communist. His ideal is still a socialism, just not one that has a grand state apparatus like in the GDR. However, his criticism of such apparatus isn’t a political “blanket-statement” as he would say, but a sober view of the events of his time.
Anybody interested in “really existing socialism” and the fall of the Eastern Bloc should read this book.
As a leftist, reading theoretical books is something that is the norm. This isn’t that. It is a primary source. An outside perspective on a still controversial period within leftist discourse. His analysis of the situation is great, in my opinion. His honesty about the regimes of the west and east and the conclusions that come along with that are eye opening and certainly not anti-communist. His ideal is still a socialism, just not one that has a grand state apparatus like in the GDR. However, his criticism of such apparatus isn’t a political “blanket-statement” as he would say, but a sober view of the events of his time.
Anybody interested in “really existing socialism” and the fall of the Eastern Bloc should read this book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review