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The Party of Democratic Socialism is wrongly stigmatized as polarizing German politics on the left. In fact, Oswald argues, the PDS is East Germany's contribution to the regionalized pluralism of united Germany's party system. Although initially marginalized as the successor of East Germany's SED, the PDS legitimized itself by combining eastern regionalism, a left-socialist identity, and political ambition. The PDS has become an acceptable partner in center-left parties in eastern state governments, in stark contrast to its continuing irrelevance in West Germany. While its earlier exclusion was justified by portraying the PDS as crypto-communist, the integration strategies of the late 1990s were supported by modernization theorists recognizing the party's contribution to the integration of post-unification Germany.
An executive summary of the first decade of post-unification German politics, Oswald's book offers a precise interpretation of the learning processes within the PDS. It also provides a close analysis of the disputes within the PDS characterizing the party as a political subculture in which East Germans could come to terms with the ruptures of their history and their biographies while at the same time finding a role in the politics and society of united Germany.
List of contents
Preface
Introduction
During the Last Year of the GDR (1989-90)More Than a New Label: The Transition from SED to PDS (December 1989-March 1990)
Coming to Terms with Opposition Role and German Unification (February-December 1990)
Slowing Down the Decline, Surviving on the Margins (1990-94)Decline of PDS Encourages Exclusion Strategy (1991-93)
Towards the 1994 Elections: Survival and First Steps Out of Isolation (1993-94)
Transforming the Party: Can the PDS "Arrive" in the New Germany? (1995-98)PDS: Rethinking Its Opposition Role-SPD and Greens: Rethinking Their Exclusion Strategy (1995-97)
Junior Partner in Regional Government: Almost a Normal Party Now (1998)
Conclusion: The Place of the PDS in the Party System
Appendix: Chronology 1989-2000
Bibliography
Index
About the author
FRANZ OSWALD is Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia. His publications include
The Political Psychology of the White Collar Worker in Martin Walser's Novels.
