"Der Sozialismus Siegt": Women's ordinary lives in an East German factory

Susanne Kranz, Zayed University

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Journal of International Women's Studies

Publication Date

1-1-2017

Abstract

© 2017 Journal of International Women's Studies. Socialism Triumphs adorned the roof of the office equipment factory (BWS) in the Thuringian town of Sömmerda until 1990. The factory became a driving economic force in the GDR. The city, called "the capital of computers," represents a unique case of urban development and governmental support, showcasing the state's anticipated unity of economic and social policy. This article explores the everyday lives of women working in the factory (1946 and 1991) and examines the state-sanctioned women's policies, how they were implemented and how women perceived these policies and the officially accomplished emancipation of men and women. Sömmerda had roughly 23,000 inhabitants in the 1980s of which 13,000 (nearly half of them women) worked in the BWS. This research relies on archival records and personal accounts by women who worked in the factory. These records shed light on and question the actually accomplished equality of the sexes that was so imperative in socialist state rhetoric.

ISSN

1539-8706

Publisher

Bridgewater State College

Volume

18

Issue

4

First Page

50

Last Page

68

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Keywords

East Germany, Employment, Gender equality, State socialism

Scopus ID

85028733117

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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