Ideology vs. Reality

Women emancipation in the GDR was mainly sought in the public sphere, with emplyoment and education being the driving vehicles. Gender equality debates did not address the private sphere enough. 

Did East Germany have environmental movements? How did they fit with Socialist ideology?

Both, West and East Germany called themselves “democratic,” but how democratic were they in reality? 

...how West- and East Germany approached democracy and how they both organized the relationship between the state, the law and the people during the Cold War? 

According to GDR propaganda, East Germany was a state for young people. The balance between allowing them some freedoms, while restricting others, proved tricky. Though basic needs like food, shelter and clothing were met, the GDR youth had to negotiate the space for all other extras that make life fun, like music and fashion and often applied coded language and subversive messages to address these.

We asked, Ingrid Miethe, PhD answered: The GDR wasn’t the only country to impart political and societal values through education. Can education be objective?
See answer.

We asked, Ingrid Miethe, PhD answered: In your view, what were the biggest problems with education in the GDR?
See answer.
 

Public spaces and events in the GDR were saturated with propaganda and images of power, but a peek into private spaces suggests little ideological intervention into ordinary life.

Gabriel Fermino, a student at a PASCH school, a global network of schools with stellar German programs, discusses what an ideal society means in the Brazilian context. In German. English subtitles available.

Cecilia Rebollar Ramos studies at a PASCH- school in Mexico. In this video, she discusses the meaning of the Berlin wall for the Mexican society. What does it mean to build a perfect society? In German with English subtitles.