Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bickford, Andrew J

Titel

Command performance: Militarization, masculinity, and the state in the German Democratic Republic and post -unification Germany

Ort / Verlag

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

Erscheinungsjahr

2002

Quelle

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• This dissertation investigates the political construction of masculinity, militarization policies, and the state in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and post socialist and post-unification Germany, focusing on the life histories of former members of the National People's Army (NVA) of the German Democratic Republic. I provide a detailed account of the workings, logic, and influence of a state-sponsored militarization program, how and why a state uses and shapes identity for military purposes, and the ways in which individuals impacted by this program participated in, supported, opposed, and resisted militarization. I give an ethnographic and historical perspective on militarization and male identity in two different state systems, investigating the creation of “soldiers” as an intentional process in the Cold War and post-Cold War nation-state, and the ways in which this process is used to create and shape public and personal conceptions of military service and ideal citizens. My dissertation examines the lives of former NVA soldiers in post-unification Germany, how the militarization of the GDR continues to effect them, and the creation of new forms of militarized political identities after unification. Identity formation often takes the form of a negative example. By stating that a certain group acts in a certain manner, or has certain characteristics, one defines one's own identity through contrast. I argue that such a process is occurring in post-unification Germany in regard to the memory and representation of the NVA. Representations of the NVA as highly aggressive and concerned solely with preparations for an invasion of western Europe or the suppression of internal dissent within the GDR elide the complicated political, social, and economic dynamics within the NVA, and the role of the military in the GDR. My dissertation concludes with a theoretical discussion on the connections between militarization, gender, and the state, and the often contradictory nature of such a process, exploring how militarization involves more than just the creation of a viable army, but also the creation of internal “others” and a disciplined citizenry.