The Emergence of Biography Blockades: Political Imprisoned Women in the GDR and Their Family Background

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Abstract

There are only a few approaches in socialization theory that give empirical insights into the processes of growing up in an autocratic system. However, political regimes like the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) have (had) only limited control over private family structures. Thus, the different family backgrounds of women who were part of the opposition movement and imprisoned because they tried to (illegally) migrate to West Germany will be illustrated in this paper. The study consists of biographical narratives with women born in the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. The very different family backgrounds of these women influenced the acquired strategies to deal with the autocratic system. However, these strategies can fail or become ineffective in different life circumstances leading to biographical blockades. I argue that biographical blockades can be considered as a key concept to explain high-risk emigration decisions.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages12
JournalGesellschaft – Individuum – Sozialisation : Zeitschrift für Sozialisationsforschung : GISo
Volume3 (2022)
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 20 May 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-8413-4529/work/142242270
Mendeley 0d8fcd5d-cb7d-3c1d-a1c3-7359109f1637

Keywords

Library keywords