Description
Book SynopsisThis book examines the way communist East Germany worked from the point of view of its experts in law, economics, philosophy and cybernetics. The state-socialist countries aimed for a post-capitalist modernization, which they hoped to achieve by way of dictatorship. This failed combination of dictatorship and social transformation contains lessons that remain relevant today.
Trade Review'This is an important book. It provides a rare, concise and penetrating analysis of East German theorists' reactions to the evolving problems of socialism in the GDR … a highly readable introduction to some of the major intellectual debates during the Ulbricht years … excellent book … Caldwell has written an important study which will reward its readers with a much more sophisticated understanding of the GDR and its intellectual climate. For this reason, the book is not just important reading for those interested in social and political theory, but also for those interested in the political, cultural and everyday history of the GDR.' German History
'… engaging and thoroughly readable …' Totalitarianism and Democracy
'… Peter C. Caldwell's present work superbly details how the GDR's own economists and intellectuals had clearly foreseen, already in the 1950s, the quagmire, and tyranny, that an 'economically planned' and 'consciously directed' society would lead to. In an engaging and thoroughly readable monograph, Caldwell examines the economy, law, and social philosophy in the GDR from 1949 to 1968 … Caldwell's project is ambitious, broad, and largely successful.' Totalitarismus und Demokratie
Table of ContentsList of illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction: modernization, modernity and the plan; 1. The economics of state socialism: productivity and the law of value; 2. The legal theory of state socialism: socialist legality, the laws of historical development and the plan; 3. Philosophy and state socialism: consciousness, dialectical materialism and hope; 4. From planning metaphysics to cybernetics: planning, technique and politics after revisionism; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.
