Synopses & Reviews
This book explores the East German attempt to create a perfect society.
Synopsis
In this groundbreaking study, Jonathan R. Zatlin explores the East German attempt to create a perfect society by eliminating money and explains the reasons for its failure. The Currency of Socialism offers a novel explanation for the collapse of communism in East Germany and an original interpretation of German unification.
Synopsis
The Currency of Socialism offers a novel explanation for the collapse of communism in East Germany and a highly original interpretation of German unification. By focusing on the economic and cultural meanings of money under communism, it shows how the dictatorship created the political and material conditions for its own demise. Draws on a wide range of sources, including unpublished communist reports, secret police files, literature, jokes, letters written by ordinary people, and conversations with key German politicians.
Table of Contents
Part I. Production: 1. Making and unmaking money: monetary theory and economic planning in East Germany; 2. Accounting and accountability: financing the planned economy under Honecker, 1971-1980; 3. Parsimony and the prince: crisis and stability, 1980-1985; 4. The currency of decline: the disintegration of the East Germany economy; Part II. Consumption: 5. The vehicle of desire: the Trabant, the Wartburg, and the discipline of demand; 6. Consuming ideology: the intershops, Genex, and retail trade under Honecker; 7. Appealing to authority: the citizens petition and the rhetoric of decline.