This thesis explores women's experiences in rural areas under state socialism in the
GDR and in the New Germany since 1989. The study is located within feminist
geographical thinking and draws on a variety of qualitative and quantitative sources.
Data for the research were collated through various research methods both qualitative
and quantitative including correspondence, focus group interviews, key informant
interviews, and the consultation of documentary evidence and statistical sources. The
thesis employs a modified grounded theory approach. Data were processed and
analysed using the computer-assisted analysis programme NUD.IST Version 4.0.
The thesis focuses on questions that emerge from a critical analysis of social
transformation. A key concern is to evaluate how dominant patriarchal power structures
have impacted upon women's everyday lives under socialism and capitalism. Three main
themes are foci of this thesis: the changes in social dynamics in rural villages, the impact
of economic rationalisations on women, and the nature and extent of women's
participation in new political structures.
With reference to the former GDR the research showed that many rural women found
comfort in social relations they established within the village and the workplace. Such
social networks became important elements for women's self-identification and helped
counteract suppression through the patriarchal socialist State. German unification
overthrew previous values and daily routines of many rural women through vast
economic and political changes. The unfamiliarity with a new, sometimes undesirable
framework of reference for everyday life and society caused many rural women to
withdraw to the private sphere and question their previous identities as rural GDR
citizens. Positive opportunities for women's futures have not outweighed negative
experiences with transition. Instead, conflicts have prevented women's equal integration
into the political and economic structures of the New Germany.
Further areas of research are proposed that may add depth to insights gained from this
thesis as well as offering possible areas for gender-sensitive policy development in rural
Mecklenburg-Westpommerania.Department of
Geographical Sciences at the University of Plymouth, the Dudley Stamp Memorial Fund