The Politics of Social Networks Interpersonal Trust and Institutional Change in Post-Communist East Germany Hedin, Astrid 2001 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Hedin, A. (2001). The Politics of Social Networks: Interpersonal Trust and Institutional Change in Post- Communist East Germany. Department of Political Science, Lund University. 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LUND UNIVERSITY PO Box 117 221 00 Lund +46 46-222 00 00 the politics of social networks / 1 The Politics of Social Networks 2 / the politics of social networks the politics of social networks / 3 The Politics of Social Networks interpersonal trust and institutional change in post-communist east germany Astrid Hedin Lund Political Studies 118 Department of Political Science Lund University 4 / the politics of social networks © Astrid Hedin 2001 ISSN 0460-0037 ISBN 91-88306-27-5 Cover design and typography: Johan Laserna Printed in Sweden by AIT Falun, Falun 2001 Distribution: Department of Political Science Astrid Hedin Lund University P.O. Box 52 SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden email: [email protected] http://www.svet.lu.se/LPS/LPS.html the politics of social networks / 5 Contents Preface and acknowledgements 9 1. introduction: 13 aim of the study Why Social Networks? 15 The Case Study 18 Methodological Considerations 22 Plan of the Book 27 2. transitions to democracy: 33 social networks and historical change Feminist Studies 34 Political Party Studies 46 3. the network society: 55 social networks and policy networks A Metaphor and Approach 56 Social Networks in the Policy Network Literature 60 The Origins of the Social Network Approach 68 Hypotheses on Social Network Recruitment 72 Conclusions 78 6 / the politics of social networks 4. the logic of interpersonal trust: 80 social networks and institutional change Reconceptualizing Institutions 84 Social Networking as Institutional Structuration 90 New Economic Institutionalism 97 Normative New Institutionalism 111 Conclusions 122 5. the strength of similarity: 123 gender in the structuration of social networks Similarity-Interaction 125 Social Networks versus Market and Hierarchy 128 Trust and Similarity 132 The Strength of Similarity 137 Similarity-Interaction as a Social Mechanism 149 Conclusions 154 6. the east german transition to democracy: 156 a historical overview of actors and institutions The Founding of the gdr 157 German Reunification 161 The Democratic Deficit of Rapid Reunification 163 The pds as Regional Protest␣ Party 171 Pds Feminism 174 Conclusions 178 7. the path-dependency of sed-pds reform: 180 social network entrepreneurship Background 183 The Reformation of the sed 188 The Extraordinary Party Conference 199 The “Modern Socialism” Group 204 the politics of social networks / 7 Informal Structures in the pds 214 Reaching West 221 Conclusions 230 8. conclusions 232 Methodological Implications 233 The Politics of Social Networks 238 references 245 Primary Sources 245 Secondary Sources 249 Lund Political Studies 280 Index 286 List of Tables Table 7.1 Chronology of events, autumn 1989 184 Table 7.2 Chronology of events, 1990 221 8 / the politics of social networks preface and acknowledgements / 9 Preface and acknowledgements There is always a story behind every choice of topic for academic dissertations. The path that eventually led me to the pds was a fascination with the fates of those liberated by the democratizations of former East Bloc countries. In the eventful autumn of 1989, I ex- perienced the “velvet revolution” from the streets of Prague. We spent Christmas with some students squatting a building of the Charles University and experienced the installment of Vaclav Havel as president on New Year’s Day. The iron curtain had been lifted. In the summer of 1992, I returned to Bratislava, interviewing young journalists and artists about their new situation. I was curious: what happens to people when a suffocating authoritarian system is toppled? How do they seize such opportunity? In the summer of 1994, I listened to a seminar at the International Political Science Association’s conference in Berlin, where a person on the panel caught my attention. Petra Bläss, a young Ph.D. candidate in literature, chaired the committee organizing the first democratic elections in East Germany, which were held in March 1990. In the autumn of the same year, Bläss took seat in the new all-German parlia- ment for the pds, the successor of the East German state communist party sed. I decided to interview Bläss for a Swedish daily newspaper. How could a young feminist end up in parliament for an old communist party? With this puzzle in mind, I later formulated a research proposal. Little did I realize that this topic would also bring me to the heart of␣ so common a historical debate and fervent political conflict. The representation of women in the pds touches on historical German- 10 / preface and acknowledgements German discords, the debate on the nature of Communism, as well as controversies within and about feminism. During the course of the research project, I have had to navigate these troubled seas (Hedin 1999; 1998; 1997). Needless to say, these challenges have been tre- mendously rewarding. However, the tendency of others who are less initiated to identify me with my object of inquiry – the pds and/or its feminist politics – has been a continuous source of personal frustration. Given the contested political status of the pds, it might be worth remarking that in this study, the pds and its feminist policies are not brought to court, but to the laboratory. I would like to take the opportunity to warmly thank all of the people who have helped, supported and inspired me in this academic enter- prise. My first and cordial thanks go to my academic advisor, Professor Lennart Lundquist, at the Lund University Department of Political Science. I would especially like to thank Lennart for the times he has reminded me that academic work is not only important, but a great pleasure, as well as for his confident and generous academic advice: “You should do exactly as you like! That’s what I’ve always done.” I am extremely fortunate to have enjoyed the informal mentorship of two scholars, who have supplied pep talks and taken me along to several interesting conferences, from Harvard to Helsinki. I am very grateful to Professor Myra Marx Ferree of the University of Wisconsin and at the time visiting scholar at the Wissenschaftszentrum-Berlin. In the early stages of the project, she urged me on with practical advice: “It’s a three-article thing.” During the writing up of the thesis, Professor Pushkala Prasad of Lund University and Skidmore College, U.S.A coached me in the field of organization studies. Thanks, Pushi. Professor Gert-Joachim Glæßner, head of the Berlin Humboldt University’s new department of political science, generously accepted to host me as a visiting Ph.D. candidate, from September 1996 until April 1998. In Berlin, I shared an office in the building of the Max- Planck-Gesellschaft in Berlin-Mitte. The Ph.D. candidates Cornelia preface and acknowledgements / 11 Neubert and Constanze Schweinsteiger were both wonderful office- mates. The three friends in Berlin who have helped me the most in gaining an understanding of German politics and history, East and West, are Dr. Ingrid Miethe, and the journalists and graduates in history Stefanie Flamm and Jan Selling. With their three very different perspectives, their intellectual commitment and generosity, they pushed and in- spired me to make my own readings. Trying to list all the individuals who were helpful in a project such as this is notoriously hazardous. Many people have gracefully read and commented on early versions of various parts of the thesis, presented as conference papers at the ecpr (European Consortium of Political Scientists), isa (International Studies Association), egsg (East German Studies Group), cos (Copenhagen Business School Center for Re- search on Public Organisation and Management), egos (European Group for Organizational Studies), nsu (Nordic Summer Univer- sity) and the Swedish and Nordic associations of political scientists, as well as at the seminars of the Lund University Department of Po- litical Science. I would like to express my gratitude to all of these readers for their constructive criticism. I am especially grateful to Dr. Anders Uhlin and Gissur Erlingsson, who performed a thorough reading of the whole draft thesis for the traditional “trial seminar”. I am also indebted to the following persons for excellent and very helpful written comments on larger blocks of the final manuscript: Caroline Boussard, Dr. Mikael Carleheden, Dr. Sven-Olof Collin, Christian Fernandez, Dr. Ella Johansson, Karl Löfgren, Dr. Ingrid Miethe, Dr. Bo Petersson, Dr. Richard Sotto, Dr. Erika Svedberg, Peter Svensson, Dr. Jonas Tallberg, Maria Wendt Höjer and Dr. Cecilia Åse. I am deeply grateful to all the good friends and colleagues who have supported me along the way in this project.