Fear and Democracy in West Germany during the Cold War

FAIN: FA-253004-17

Frank Biess
Regents of the University of California, San Diego (La Jolla, CA 92093-0013)

A book-length study on fear and democracy in West Germany.

Drawing on multidisciplinary research on emotions, my project explains how recurrent waves of fear and anxiety shaped the history of West Germany and influenced the process of democratization from the 1940s through the 1980s. It challenges dominant teleological narratives of the Federal Republic's successful postwar stabilization and "arrival in the West" by taking seriously Germans' own apprehensions of their imagined futures. Based on a series of empirically rich case studies, the project analyzes the shifting objects of fear and anxiety, as well as the changing norms governing the experience and expression of these emotions. A synthetic analysis draws these cases together to offer a unique perspective on the development of the Federal Republic—one that underlines the importance of emotions for understanding the process of historical change. An epilogue analyzes the implications of the history of fear and anxiety before 1989 for the political culture of post-unification Germany.

Associated Products

Die Republik der Angst. Eine andere Geschichte der Bundesrepublik (Book)
Title: Die Republik der Angst. Eine andere Geschichte der Bundesrepublik
Author: Frank Biess
Abstract: This book offers a history of fear and anxiety in postwar Germany. By demonstrating how recurring cycles of fear and anxiety shaped the history of West Germany, it counters more teleological narratives of the Federal Republic's progressive democratization and liberalization. The book contains a introduction, eight case studies of cycles of fear from the 1940s to the 1980s, and an epilogue that discusses the significance of the history of fear after 1945 for contemporary society and politics.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://www.rowohlt.de/hardcover/frank-biess-republik-der-angst.html
Primary URL Description: Website of publisher
Secondary URL: https://www.amazon.de/Republik-Angst-andere-Geschichte-Bundesrepublik/dp/3498006789/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541760256&sr=8-1&keywords=Republik+der+Angst
Secondary URL Description: Amazon website
Publisher: Rowohlt
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 978498006785
Copy sent to NEH?: No

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