DEPARTMENT
OF GERMAN
Beyond
‘Normalisation’: Politics, Culture and Society in Germany in the Social
Democratic Era
With
the Support of a "Networks" Grant from The British Academy
Workshop Report
A
workshop was held on the May 4 2002 at the Institute of German Studies at the
University of Birmingham.
A
programme can be found at:
www.german.leeds.ac.uk/normalisation/banner.htm#Workshop
Introductory papers were given by project participants,
followed by questions and discussions.
Subsequently, three groups were formed to discuss
‘external’ and ‘domestic’ pressures on German ‘normalisation’ as well as
theoretical aspects of the study of normalisation.
Finally, a plenary session was used for a discussion of where the project might proceed next. The following ‘Schwerpunkte’ were established:
‘External’
- Israel and Vergangenheitsbewältiguing
- the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and German foreign policy
- Important partners: how
does the FRG interact differently with more or less ‘important’ partners?
- Europeanisation versus
‘normalisation’ – to what extent are changes in German politics and
society driven by a specifically ‘German’ process of ‘normalisation’ as
opposed to a general process of Europeanisation?
- To what extent has Germany
become more ‘self-centered’?
- What are the external
pressures on Germany with regard to dealing with its past (the issue of
forced labour, etc.)
- What latitude does Germany
have to deviate from externally-imposed norm expectations?
For members of this group, see
'External' factors influencing normalisation
to join the discussions, you need to join the mailbase -
‘Domestic’
·
What do German historians currently have
to say about normalisation?
·
What role does economic change
(globalisation, welfare reform, etc.) have to play in normalisation?
·
What is the relationship of ethnic and
other minorities to normalisation?
·
What is the influence of the media in
propagating and institutionalising the term normalisation and shaping the
discourse around it?
·
What criticism of normalisation, if any
remains, and from which quarters? How do critics mobilise opposition?
For
members of this group, see
to join the discussions, you need to join the mailbase -
‘Theoretical’
·
History of the term and its appropriation
by the left
·
Critical appraisal of the term: how
useful is it?
·
Normalisation, modernisation and
globalisation – what is the relationship?
·
Definitions of normality?
For members of this group, see
to join the discussions, you need to join the mailbase -
The Next Steps
It was
agreed that:
a)
three working groups would be constituted to
discuss each of the three sets of problems above
b)
members of the network and other interested parties
would join one or more working group
c)
each group would elect a ‘rapporteur’
d)
discussions would be conducted via the email
mailbase, accessible to all
e)
a short summary of the discussions would be
presented by 1 October by the rapporteur of each group
f)
these summaries would form the basis of
discussions to be held in a ‘chatroom’ conference in early December