Deutsches Institut für Urbanistik (German Institute of Urban Affairs) Occasional Paper Albrecht Göschel Contrasts and Parallels – Cultural and Political Approaches to Identity in Succeeding East German Generations The „Occasional Papers“ are a collection of articles in languages other than German that have been written for various events such as conventions and conferences. They also contain summaries taken from selected publications of the institute. All papers of this collection are also available online: http://www.difu.de/english/occasional/ Summary of the institute's publication: Albrecht Göschel, Kontrast und Parallele – kulturelle und politische Identitätsbildung ost- deutscher Generationen, Stuttgart, Berlin and Köln 1999 (Schriften des Deutschen Insti- tuts für Urbanistik, vol. 91) The author: Dr. rer. pol. Albrecht Göschel German Institute of Urban Affairs, Berlin Distributed by: Deutsches Institut für Urbanistik German Institute of Urban Affairs Straße des 17. Juni 112 D-10623 Berlin Tel.: +49 (0)30/390 01-0 Fax: +49 (0)30/390 01-100 E-Mail:
[email protected] http://www.difu.de Contrasts and Parallels – Cultural an...in Succeeding East German Generations The results of research on East German youth and transformation are ambivalent. The Leipziger Jugendinstitut (Leipzig Institute of Youth) registered a clear individualization amongst young people of the 1980s – even before 1989. Studies of new employment after 1989 supported the postulate of a similar trend in the entire population of Germany. However, East Germany is also described as a static body, a society on hold without any value shifts. These conflicting research findings are confirmed by everyday experience. The euphoria of unification was buoyed initially by the idea of a joint culture and tradition in East and West.