Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk: Freedom Shock, Kartoniert / Broschiert
Freedom Shock
- Publisher:
- ibidem-Verlag, 03/2026
- Binding:
- Kartoniert / Broschiert
- Language:
- Englisch
- ISBN-13:
- 9783838220697
- Item number:
- 12617261
- Volume:
- 260 Pages
- Edition number:
- 26001
- Ausgabe:
- 1. Auflage
- Age recommendation:
- 12 Jahre
- Weight:
- 341 g
- Format:
- 210 x 148 mm
- Thickness:
- 15 mm
- Release date:
- 16.3.2026
- Note
-
Caution: Product is not in German language
Blurb
This book's basic thesis is that East Germans experienced a 'freedom shock' in 1989 / 1990. Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk tells the fascinating story of East Germany since the break-up of the Soviet bloc as an unfinished struggle for freedom, the outcome of which will determine the future of the entire German nation. Kowalczuk wants to encourage people, especially in the East, to take more personal responsibility. This means rejecting victimhood and accepting a realistic, non-nostalgic view of the so-called German Democratic Republic (GDR), East Germany. The West may have 'invented' the East. But the East also invented itself and continues to do so. The first successful revolution in Germany took place in the GDR. But what factors have led to the current questioning of liberal democracy? Why is the right-wing extremist party AfD (Alternative for Germany) particularly successful in East Germany? Why are so many East Germans friendly towards Putin's regime and hostile to Ukraine's struggle for independence? In this book, the GDR regime is unequivocally seen as a dictatorship and German reunification as a success story of liberation. Freedom Shock is a defense against current anti-liberal tendencies by one of the most prominent East German intellectuals today.
Biography
Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk, Jahrgang 1967, Studium der Geschichte in Berlin, 1995/98 Mitglied der Enquete-Kommission "Überwindung der Folgen der SED-Diktatur im Prozeß der deutschen Einheit", 1998 bis 2000 Mitarbeiter der Stiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur. Lebt als freier Autor in Berlin. Bücher u.a. "Der Tag X - 17. Juni 1953. Die "Innere Staatsgründung" der DDR als Ergebnis der Krise 1952/54" (Hg. mit Stefan Wolle und Armin Mitter), 1995; "Zwischen Selbstbehauptung und Anpassung. Formen des Widerstands und der Opposition in der DDR" (Hg. mit Ulrike Poppe und Rainer Eckert), 1995; "Legitimation eines neuen Staates. Parteiarbeiter an der historischen Front", 1997Notes:
Please note that we are subject to price changes from our suppliers and must pass price increases or decreases on to you.
