Ralf Dahrendorf Research Articles

Making Amends After Communism

Making Amends After Communism Vojtech Cepl and Mark Gillis (bio) As breathtaking and inspiring as the revolutionary changes in Eastern Europe since 1989 have been, they could not and did not sweep the slate clean as regards people’s way of life and basic attitudes. To believe that the fall of communism would mark a decisive turn, after which the countries of this region would be “out of the woods,” was false optimism of a high order. Now, more than five years down the road, we suffer from the danger of complacency, and face the possibility that the very significant transformation which is taking place could be slowed or even reversed. The revolutionary changes that we have witnessed, we submit, are in their nascent stage and quite vulnerable. Only if people at large change their attitudes, their ways of thinking, and their behavior can these welcome changes be made secure. The complex transformation that has swept Eastern Europe over the past half-decade does not lend itself to brief treatment, so we will single out just one aspect of it. That aspect is the problem of coming to terms with the past or, more specifically, the problem of lustration (a screening whereby those whom secret-police files show to have been collaborators are barred from holding certain key governmental or societal posts), and the condemnation of the former regime’s crimes. Of all the transformation’s aspects, this one is the most elusive and the least amenable to concrete discussion. We will plunge ahead anyway because we think that it lies at the crux of the whole process. The case of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic is the case that we know best. It is also the most instructive, for the Czech Republic has taken certain routes to change [End Page 118] that other countries have either avoided completely or traveled only partially. Obviously, each of the region’s countries faced its own unique set of historical conditions. In Hungary, for instance, the rejection of communist orthodoxy in favor of market models began 20 years earlier and took place more gradually. Poland, to cite another case, saw the greatest popular resistance to communist intrusions from the very beginning. Polish agriculture was never collectivized, and Poles never allowed the Roman Catholic Church to be entirely suppressed. Historical conditions continue to operate, of course, and so may still account for the differences in the transition processes that are now taking place. Not long after the Berlin Wall fell, Ralf Dahrendorf observed that it would take six months to reform the political systems in Eastern Europe, six years to change the economic systems, and sixty years to effect a revolution in people’s hearts and minds. Dahrendorf probably borrowed his line about hearts and minds from Tomá s Masaryk; what is being cited is something close to what the American social critic Michael Novak means by “moral culture.” Our view on this matter is simple: Without rehabilitation, lustration, and restitution, there will be no transformation. The slowest, most complicated, most elusive—but also most crucial—part of any process of transition is the necessary metamorphosis of the norms of human conduct. These norms exist in the minds of the people, and form the basis of their day-to-day behavior and shared values. The norms inform their thought as to what is right or wrong, proper or improper, appropriate or inappropriate in particular situations, or even what they must do to get by in life. In this way, they know when they are bound to keep their promises, when it is proper or prudent to ignore a legally prescribed rule or to bribe an official, when a person’s conduct amounts to a provocation, and, most importantly, when they can object to improper actions by the state. Knowledge of such norms comes not from formal study but rather from life experience within a given society. These norms are psychological phenomena, part of human consciousness. They are what is foremost in people’s minds—not some involved theoretical account of how an independent judiciary protects rights or how a second house of the legislature can act to check possible abuses of power by the...

BOOK REVIEWS

Journal Article BOOK REVIEWS Get access LSE. A History of the London School of Economics and Political Science, 1895–1995. By RALF DAHRENDORF (Oxford: U.P., 1995; pp. xx + 584.£25). A. H. HALSEY A. H. HALSEY Nuffield CollegeOxford Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume CXI, Issue 443, September 1996, Pages 947–948, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/CXI.443.947 Published: 01 September 1996

On the Dahrendorf Report

The Political QuarterlyVolume 67, Issue 3 p. 194-197 On the Dahrendorf Report RALF DAHRENDORF, RALF DAHRENDORF Lord Dahrendorf is Warden of St Antony's College, Oxford.Search for more papers by this author RALF DAHRENDORF, RALF DAHRENDORF Lord Dahrendorf is Warden of St Antony's College, Oxford.Search for more papers by this author First published: July 1996 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-923X.1996.tb01584.xCitations: 3AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume67, Issue3July 1996Pages 194-197 RelatedInformation

Social Policy Digest

A study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that whilst the income of the poorest tenth of society fell by 18 per cent in real terms between 1979 and 1992 (after housing costs), their expenditure rose by 14 per cent. In a separate report on changes in individuals' incomes over time, the IFS found significant movement in and out of the poorest sections of society between 1991 and 1992. The latest edition ofHouseholds Below Average Incomeshowed that real net income rose by an average of 38 per cent (after housing costs) between 1979 and 1992/93, but fell by 17 per cent for the bottom tenth of the population (24:3/95,1.1). The narrowing of the gap in the north–south divide has halted, but a report on the geography of poverty explores many other divisions between and within areas of the UK. The report of the Commission headed by Lord Dahrendorf called for a new investment strategy and benefits structure, as well as measurement of social and environmental conditions as part of an annual audit of ‘wealth’. Tony Blair, the Labour Party leader, promised a fundamental review of the social security system once in power.

Lse: A History of the London School of Economics and Political Science, 1895-1995

The London School of Economics and Political Science - the LSE - is one of the most famous academic institutions in the world. This history provides a lively account of the fist century of a university which, form its beginnings has captured not only the minds of social scientists but also the imagination of a wider public. It is the biography of an institution written by an author who was closely involved as a student and later as Director of the School and who remains deeply attached to it. The book places the School in the context of the drama of the twentieth century and it does so through a mirror, the mirror of the social sciences. Lord Dahrendorf traces the story of the LSE from its 'invention' by Beatrice and Sidney Webb, George Bernard Shaw, and Graham Wallas as a breakfast in August 1894, through its foundation in 1895, the travails of its early years, the triumphs of the Beveridge years between the wars, the great expansion of the post-war period, and the changing moods of the succeeding decades, including the 'troubles' of 1968. The individuals and the events of the LSE's century of existence have been memorable, yet the School has always been more than the sum of its parts. Its base was London, and its home the world.

The paradoxes of success. Dutch social democracy and its historiography

Anniversaries of successful political parties, particularly if the birthdays are 'round' ones like centenaries, tend to call forth a barrage of self-congratulatory literature from political leaders, supplemented by scholarly analyses with varying degrees of sophistication explaining the reasons for the group's success. Remarkably, this scenario has not manifested itself in the case of the recent centennial celebrations of European Social Democracy, including that of the Dutch variant, the 'Partij van de Arbeid' (PvdA). Rather, the political leaders have written pieces full of self-doubt, while historians contributed what were sometimes bitter indictments of present-day European Social Democracy and its leaders 1. This is all the more surprising since, as Sir Ralf Dahrendorf and Klaus von Dohnanyi have recently reminded us, European Social Democracy was an unabashed success story; the Social Democratic parties have dominated much of the political and social agenda in Europe during the twentieth century. The reasons for the unease, as Piet de Rooy has noted, for the PvdA, lies in the ambivalence of the success story. Both the Socialists themselves and the scholarly community see the Social Democratic accomplishments tarnished by a nagging sense that the price for Social Democracy's political success was the loss of Socialism's ideological soul. Paradoxically, this now very pervasive self-doubt is of rather recent origin. Until the last decade or so, most analysts (not to mention Social Democratic political leaders) celebrated the increasing conjunction of the Social Democrats political and social agenda and their electoral success with unabashed enthusiasm. Kurt Klotzbach entitled his history of the 'Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands' (SPD)after 1945 Der Weg zur Staatspartei, and that proud boast would certainly hold even more true for the PvdA. In fact, if there is a Leitmotiv to most of the literature on the ' Sociaal-democratische Arbeiders Partij' (SDAP) and the PvdA, it is a certain historicist tendency to read into the history of Dutch Democratic Socialism a straight-forward evolution toward fullscale acceptance of the pragmatic reformism that was to characterize all of West European Social Democracy after World War II. Indeed, and not without some reason, the Dutch party is usually assigned a pioneering role in this story.

Britain and the European Union Revisited: Some Unanswered Questions

The relationship between Britain and the European Union has attracted a great deal of academic analysis of a mainly historical narrative character. This has often been written in terms reminiscent of the Sonderweg (unique path) tendency in German historical writings of the 1960s and 1970s. These writings stressed Germany's historical uniqueness and sought for historically determined explanations of its departure from the path of democratic virtue. They have been much criticised for being excessively ideological. A classic early example of this genre, albeit by a sociologist, is Ralf Dahrendorf s Society and Democracy in Germany (1968). It is typical of later work with history simply being used to illumine the path to the Third Reich. Britain, the sometimes explicit but often implicit comparator, is presented in very idealized terms. Turning now to writings on Britain and Europe, we see an analogous process at work (from Camps (1964) to George (1991)). Preliminary assumptions, often unstated, about the virtue and normality of the path taken by the six original members is contrasted with what is seen as a negative and unique reaction by Britain. The task of the historian thereafter becomes that of pathologist concerned with identifying the key factor or syndrome which determined Britain's dysfunctional behaviour.

Book Reviews : The Unresolved Past. A Debate in German History. A Conference sponsored by the Wheatland Foundation. Chaired and Introduced by Ralf Dahrendorf. Edited by Gina Thomas. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 1990. xiv + 138 pp

Book Reviews : The Unresolved Past. A Debate in German History. A Conference sponsored by the Wheatland Foundation. Chaired and Introduced by Ralf Dahrendorf. Edited by Gina Thomas. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 1990. xiv + 138 pp

Problems of conflict management in Russian politics

For attempting to identify the conditions for the institutionalized regulation of conflicts among group interests, and to assess the degree of fulfilment of those conditions in post‐Soviet Russia, the criteria for successful conflict management offered by Ralf Dahrendorf are useful. Marxist‐Leninist ideology traditionally blocked the recognition of the legitimacy of conflicts among the interests of groups in Soviet society. In the decades after Stalin's death there was a gradual tendency within the official ideology towards the acknowledgement of legitimate conflicts, and that tendency reached its culmination under Gorbachev with the acceptance of the ideal of ‘socialist pluralism’. However, political changes stimulated by Gorbachev encouraged the opening of channels for the expression of competing interests while failing to institutionalize adequate mechanisms for the management of conflicts among those interests. The legacy of Gorbachev's attempt to carry out limited democratization while preserving the...

Ralf Dahrendorf, Reflections on the Revolution in Europe in a Letter Intended to have been Sent to a Gentleman in Warsaw. New York: Random House, Inc., 1990; 163 pp., $17.95

Ralf Dahrendorf, Reflections on the Revolution in Europe in a Letter Intended to have been Sent to a Gentleman in Warsaw. New York: Random House, Inc., 1990; 163 pp., $17.95

Perceptions of Dilemmas of Reform: Remarks and Interpretations concerning a Study by the Vienna Institute for Human Sciences

In 1991, with the support of the Commission of the European Communities, the Institut fir die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (IWM-Institute for Human Sciences) launched an international project aimed at identifying the main problems confronting the reform of higher education and research in the post-communist nations of Central and Eastern Europe and strategies for addressing them. The project, guided by an international Expert Committee with Sir Ralf Dahrendorf as chairman, is meant to develop ideas salient to the reform process, to stimulate debate, and to try to enrich it with perspectives on higher education and research from the West. Beyond this, concrete strategies--'levers of change'-are developed and implemented to assist the process of reform. It is thus an element in the Institute's broader effort, started in 1982, to contribute to the intellectual reintegration of Europe. Some of the recommendations generated by the project have been incorporated into actions of the European Commission, in particular a major programme of cooperation with Central and Eastern European countries in science and technology that was initiated in 1992. Entitled Transformation of the National Higher Education and Research System of Central Europe, the project has several components, among them a series of national studies analysing opinions and perceptions existing in the societies themselves about the problem of reforming higher education and research. These studies, designed and coordinated by Stefan Amsterdamski, were undertaken in 1992. Professor Amsterdamski also prepared the Summary of Remarks on these studies which is given in full below [1], preceded by a preface by Sir Ralf Dahrendorf. Following the Summary is a set of Brief Interpretive Comments on the studies prepared by Professor Amsterdamski and Aaron Rhodes.

Postcommunist Poland: The End of the “Third Way“?

It is widely argued that the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union also marks the end of the third way, as an alternative to both capitalism and communism. S.M. Lipset and Ralf Dahrendorf, among others, have proclaimed that there is no third way, that 1989 marks the victory of liberalism and capitalism.1 Adam Przeworski notes that the third in any case has to be renamed the second way with the collapse of communism, and that if it develops in Central and Eastern Europe, it will be mainly by default based on the inherent difficulties of developing a capitalist free market economy in poor countries. He concludes:

The New Germany

Stephen F. Szabo is associate dean for academic affa'irs at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of numerous publications on European and specifically politics, including The Changing Politics of Security (1990). His article is based on a chapter in From Leninism to Freedom, edited by Margaret Latus Nugent, to be published by Westview Press in 1992, and is reprinted here with permission of the publisher. Far from closing the German question, the unification of Germany has opened it yet again. Especially pertinent is the issue raised over 30 years ago by Ralf Dahrendorf in his classic study of West Germany--namely, why has Germany had such difficulty in establishing liberal democracy? ~ Might not the thread of his inquiry be profitably taken up anew as we ponder the prospects for democratization in Eastern Germany? Unlike the western two-thirds of Germany, the eastern third has never sustained a successful democracy. Its only experience with democracy came to an end along with the Weimar Republic in 1933. With its incorporation under Article 23 of the Basic Law into the Federal Republic, the territory of the former Democratic Republic (GDR) is now again part of a democracy. Yet Eastern Germany faces not only many problems common to other postcommunist democracies, but also serious questions about its impact on democracy. Eastern Germany's incorporation into the larger and successful democracy of West Germany gives it an advantage not shared by the other new European democracies; few doubt that this will ensure the viability of democracy in the East. But democracy in Eastern Germany could have a decisive impact on the overall balance of politics. The recent decision to move the capital from Bonn to Berlin is an example of how the presence of the new legislators from the East decided an emotional and hard-fought national issue.

Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: In a Letter Intended to Have been sent to a Gentleman in Warsaw, by Ralf Dahrendorf

Shortly after the events of 1789, Burke wrote a pamphlet, a book that influenced history, Reflections on the Revolution in France. Sir Ralf Dahrendorf has written a pamphlet that performs the same function, and which will provoke argument and debate. He warns of the dangers that proceed from the collapse of socialist systems/theories can no longer govern the world - they have proved to be disastrous. author also wrote Marx in Perspective, and Class Conflict, The New Liberty, On Britain and Law and Order.

The Structure of Social Stratification in the United States

Preface. 1.Sociology and Stratification. Theoretical Perspectives on Stratification. Karl Marx. Max Weber. Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore. Ralf Dahrendorf. Gerhard Lenski. A Strategy for the Study of Stratification. Historical and International Dimensions of Stratification. Levels of Analysis and Stratification. Power and Stratification. 2.Social Class and Stratification: Occupational Prestige and Class Identification. Occupational Prestige. Occupational Prestige in the United States. The Meaning of Occupational Prestige. Racial/Ethnic and Gender Differences in Occupational Prestige. The Stability of Occupational Prestige over Time. The Stability of Occupational Prestige across Societies? Class Identification. Patterns of Class Identification. The Meaning of Class Identification. A Note on Employed Married Women. 3.Social Class and Stratification: Mobility and Status Attainment. Social Mobility. Social Mobility in the United States. Social Mobility in Other Nations. Social Structure and Mobility. The Reproduction of the Class Structure. International Variations in Mobility. Status Attainment. Status Attainment in the United States. Status Attainment in Other Nations. The Individual and Status Attainment. A Vignette. Socialization and Status Attainment. 4.Gender and Stratification. Dimensions of Gender Stratification. Gender Stratification in the United States. Gender Stratification in Other Nations. Some Consequences of Gender Stratification. Authority and Gender. Victimization and Gender. The Individual and Gender Stratification. Women's Choices. Discrimination against Women. Social Structure and Gender Stratification. The Decline of Gender Stratification. The Continuation of Gender Stratification. 5.Race/Ethnicity and Stratification. Dimensions of Racial and Ethnic Stratification. Racial and Ethnic Stratification in the United States. Racial and Ethnic Stratification in Other Nations. Some Consequences of Racial and Ethnic Inequality. The Individual and Racial and Ethnic Stratification. Public Place Discrimination. Discrimination by Organizations. Social Structure and Racial and Ethnic Stratification. Historical Variations in Racial and Ethnic Group Mobility. Racial and Ethnic Stratification Today. 6.Political Participation and Power. Types of Political Participation. Voting. Partisanship. Unruliness. The Rate of Voting. Voting in the United States. Voting in Other Nations. The Role of Money in Elections. The Cost of Winning. Money, Winning, and Reelection. Where Does the Money Come From? Two Examples. Social Structure and Political Participation. The Structure of Voting. The Sources of Partisanship. Money and Anomie. 7.The Rich. The Characteristics of the Rich. Counting the Rich. The Basis of Great Wealth. Top Wealthholders. The Historical Trend in the Distribution of Wealth. The Kuznets Hypothesis. The Colonial Era. The Nineteenth Century. The Twentieth Century. The Trend Since 1980. The Origin and Expansion of Wealth. Power and Wealth Inequality. Social Class and Lifestyle. 8.The Middle Class. Social Class and Job Perquisites. Private Pensions. Medical Insurance. Sick Leave. Disability Insurance. Vacation and Personal Leave Time. Top Level Perquisites. Power and Job Perquisites. Social Class, Income Inequality, and Income Transfers. Social Class and Income. Trends in Income Inequality. Tax Expenditures and Income Inequality. Power and Income Inequality. Social Class and Lifestyle. 9.The Working Class. Social Class and Occupation. Working-Class and Middle-Class Occupations. Social Class and Job Setting. Social Class and Job Security. The Human Consequences of Unemployment. A Note on the Meaning of Work. Economic Deprivation. Psychological Stress. Familial Disruption. Social Class and Lifestyle. On the Working Class. 10.The Poor. Dimensions of Poverty. Poverty in the United States. Poverty in Other Nations. The Measurement of Poverty. Are the Poor Really Poor? Public Assistance and Poverty. Characteristics of Public Assistance Programs. The Paradox of Public Assistance. The Benefits of Poverty. The Individual and Poverty. Age. Race and Ethnicity. Family Characteristics. Low-Wage Job Skills. Work Experience. Social Structure and Poverty. The Long-Term Fall in the Poverty Rate. The U.S. Poverty Rate Today. Concluding Comments. 11.The United States in Global Context. Poverty and Inequality in the United States and Developing Nations. Inequality in the United States and Western Nations. Some Practical Strategies for Reducing Inequality. 12.Reflections on the Study of Stratification. Objectivity in the Study of Stratification. Research Methods in the Study of Stratification. Paradox in the Study of Stratification. Appendix: Hypothesis Discussed in The Structure of Social Stratification in the United States. References. Index.

The German Answer

THE GERMAN ANSWER. Stephen F. Szabo Eiurope in the 1990s is confronted once again with the German question. The process of building a new Germany will take at least a decade to complete as the Eastern portion of the new nation integrates culturally, socially, economically, and politically with the dominant West. But German unification is likely to be an accomplished legal fact by the end of 1990. The reality of German unity reopens fundamental questions regarding the future shape of Europe. The historian Michael Stuermer has likened the German question to a mobile—move one element and everything else moves as well. As the postwar era came crashing down in 1989-1990, the effects have been most dramatic in Germany. The way the Germans shape their country and their role in Europe will be crucial in determining the political and security structure which replaces that formed after World War II. In assessing the impact of the new Germany, it is crucial to separate what from the past remains relevant from what does not. What remains ofthe old German question in the new? The answer must begin with the realization that the German question has really been a series of interrelated questions—the democratic question, the cultural question, and the security question. Stephen F. Szabo is associate dean of faculty and academic programs at the National War College and professorial lecturer in European studies at SAIS. He is also the author of The New Politics ofGerman Security (London: Pinter, 1990). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the United States government. 41 42 SAIS REVIEW The Cultural Question The cultural question has been, simply put: Is Germany a land ofthe East, of the West, or of something in between—often referred to as Mitteleuropa? Is Germany "the land between," with a Sonderweg (a special or separate path from that of the West)?1 The reintegration of Prussia and Saxony and the symbolism of the shifting ofthe capital from Bonn on the Rhine to Berlin in Prussia may reopen this cultural question in the new decade. Certainly the East Germans will bring with them a different and more Eastern perspective to the new union. Yet the firm cultural connections formed over forty years in the Federal Republic and the dominant role of the West Germans in the union are likely to minimize this tendency. Equally important is the reintegration of what was called "Eastern Europe" back into Europe. The former satellites ofthe Soviet Union seem to have more interest in reintegrating into the Western part of Europe than in holding on to an ephemeral Central Europe, which has often been a euphemism for either Austrian, German, or other imperial domination. These Central Europeans want to be part ofthe European Community as quickly as possible. This is likely to further diminish the prospect for a Sonderweg. The Democratic Question The second German question, discussed by David Calleo and others, is: Why did Germany, prior to 1949, fail to develop into a liberal democracy?2 While many theories have been proffered to explain Germany's behavior before 1945, the democratic question has been clearly answered by the Federal Republic. Democracy has found deep roots in the West German political culture, and there seems little prospect for any reversion to authoritarianism in a future Germany.3 1.According to Renate Fritisch-Bournazel, "The German question has always been the question of where in Europe the Germans belong: looking Westward or wandering between East and West." ["The Changing Nature of the German Question," in F. Stephen Larrabee, ed., The Two German States and European Security (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989), 49.] See also the discussion of Mitteleuropa and Germany by Timothy Garton Ash and Jacques Rupnik in Daedulus vol. 119, no. 1 (Winter 1990). 2.David Calleo, The German Question Reconsidered: Germany and the World Order, 1870 to the Present (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978), 1-7. See also Ralf Dahrendorf, Society and Democracy in Germany (New York: Doubleday, 1967). 3.The literature on the remaking ofthe West German political culture is extensive THE GERMAN ANSWER 43 The new Germany will look very much like the...

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Europäische Defizite, Europäische Perspektiven ‐ eine Bestandsaufnahme für Morgen: Strategien und Optionen für die Zukunft Europas, Grundlagen I, edited by Werner Weidenfeld The European Community and the Management of International Co‐operation, by Leon Hurwitz Interventions publiques et droit communautaire (sous la direction de Jacqueline Dutheil de la Rochere et Jacques Vandamme) A Widening Atlantic? Domestic Change and Foreign Policy, by Ralf Dahrendorf and Theodore C. Sorensen The United States and Germany: a Vital Partnership, by Arthur F. Burns (Foreword by Helmut Schmidt) L'Europe de la santé: hasard et/ou nécessité? Massart‐Pierard F, Academia, Louvain‐la‐Neuve The European Armaments Market and Procurement Cooperation, edited by Pauline Creasey and Simon May Contemporary France: A Review of Interdisciplinary Studies, Volume Two, edited by Jolyon Howorth and George Ross Growth and Territorial Politics: The Italian Model of Social Capitalism, by R. Y. Nanetti Italian Politics: A Review, Volume 2, Edited by Raffaella Nanetti, Robert Leonardi and Piergiorgio Corbetta The Italian Multinationals, Edited by Fabrizio Onida and Gianfranco Viesti

Political Thinking in a Nuclear Age: Hochhuth's Judith and Durrenmatt's Achterloo

Despite the differences in their aesthetic theoriesone recalling the historical dramas of Schiller, the other the satirical comedies of Aristophanesthe outlooks of Rolf Hochhuth and of Friedrich Diirrenmatt show a number of striking similarities. One could point to their emphasis on the individual as a morally responsible agent, their rejection of the notion of any ultimate meaning in history, and their ongoing concern for justice and freedom.' One of the most important elements that unites them, however, is their vital commitment to what Ralf Dahrendorf has referred to as public virtues,2 to issues of concern to men and women as members of society or the polity. One such issue is the nuclear arms race and the possibility of nuclear warthemes central to both Judith (1984) and Achterloo (1983). The responses of the characters in these plays to the nuclear threat-ranging from political assassination to political accommodation with the superpowers suggest different modes of political thinking. The nature of this political thought, its epistemological foundations, and its consequences for political action in a nuclear age will be the subject of the following investigation.

Law and Order (The Hamlyn Lectures, Thirty Seventh Series). By Ralf Dahrendorf. Westview, 1985. 179 pp. $20.00

Law and Order (The Hamlyn Lectures, Thirty Seventh Series). By Ralf Dahrendorf. Westview, 1985. 179 pp. $20.00

Street Names and Political Identity: The Case of East Berlin

Street names are convenient and popular political symbols, a fact not generally recognized. Street names reflect and manifest a certain political identity they are indicators of political identity while at the same time being part of it. They also help form a desired political consciousness among the population. It is not surprising, therefore, that major political changes are reflected in the renaming of streets, as instanced in Tehran in 1978 and Managua in 1979. The regime of the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED) in East Germany was not the first'in Germany to politicize street names, which, up till 1918, reflected the official political ideology of the Kaiserreich. The nazis, in turn, removed those street names denoting an undesirable democratic political tradition and replaced them with appropriate nazi names. Little attention has been paid to the relationship between street names and official political ideology in East Germany. Ralf Dahrendorf has pointed out the difference between street names in East and West Germany' and P.J. Lapp has investigated new street names in the city of Leipzig.2 This article will examine one set of East German street names as indicators of political identity and communicators of political propaganda, those of East Berlin, the capital of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It will consider the symbolic value of both the names which have disappeared and those which have replaced them. It will also study the political and ideological background against which some particularly notable renamings were made. In short, it will attempt to follow and analyse the political process which brought about changes in the names of hundreds of streets in East Berlin after 1945.