From revolution to reunification: Popular protest, social movements and the transformation of East Germany

This dissertation analyzes popular protest and movements in the transformation of East Germany from the decline of GDR socialism in the late 1980s through the reshaping of movement politics following German reunification. Employing a variety of complementary theoretical perspectives, including social movement theory, institutional theory and cultural sociology, the project provides a novel analysis of the decline of socialism and the popular upheaval that overthrew it in the fall of 1989, drawing comparative conclusions concerning patterns of protest in repressive settings.; Drawing on institutional theories of state socialism, the dissertation reveals how party rule suffered from a period of prolonged erosion in the late 1980s that made the communist regime vulnerable to challenges and reduced it's own capacity for mobilization. The delayed emergence of opposition movements in East Germany is analyzed in terms of both the hostile political environment in the GDR, the role of the church as its main institutional support, and the ideological commitments of the East German intelligentsia. In uncovering why an unforeseen mobilization potential existed in East German society, sources of popular grievances and of informal structures of opposition in everyday life are analyzed. While the opposition movements evoked a vision of radical democracy, ordinary protesters increasingly called for German unification as the solutions to the crisis in the GDR.; The dissertation is based on extensive archival research, primarily conducted on the city of Leipzig and the surrounding district, in state, communist party, and opposition movement archives. In addition, material from the central party archives and GDR government ministries housed in Berlin, are also employed in an analysis of political processes and the role of state actors. These documentary sources are complemented by interviews with opposition activists, newspapers and samiszdat publications, analysis of oral histories, and published sources.