Does socialism make a difference? Dual-career families in the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic

Abstract

As work organization and attitudes toward work and family life are not isolated from the larger political and socio-economic structure, I decided to include a number of interviews with professionals from countries with structures quite different from those characterizing the United States. In particular, I am interested in the contrasts between socialist and capitalist societies. In this chapter, I explore the effects of school and work organization on personal relations outside work in marriage and with friends, in the German Democratic Republic and the Soviet Union. The first problem is whether these two socialist societies have at all succeeded in introducing a more co-operative orientation among the children at school. Secondly, I try to understand whether there is any continuity in this respect at the place of work after formal education has ended, in particular, whether professionals are involved in co-operative work groups with control over their own work lives. Thirdly, I discuss job security and other social supports, including those that make women’s participation in the labour force feasible on the large scale that is characteristic of Eastern European countries. Finally, I make an effort to link what happens in the world of work to certain developments in the family and in friendship.