Laufende Forschungsprojekte am Lehrstuhl für Neueste Geschichte
"Fighting for our Rights Ourselves" – Greek Female 'Guest Workers' as Political Actors in the Federal Republic of Germany
PhD Student: Thordis Kokot, Supervisor: Isabel Heinemann
The dissertation project examines the political actions of the female so-called ‘guest workers‘ from Greece who were recruited by the Federal Republic of Germany between 1960 and 1973. Contrary to what social science and historical research suggested for a long time, women were an elementary part of the migration processes of the time: in case of the Greek migrant workers, 43 percent were female. As the dissertation argues, these employed female migrants were active participants of the political discussions in West German democracy. Read more
Antifeminism in the German Federal Republic Germany from the 1950s to the 1990s
PhD Student: Isabel Heinemann, Supervisor: Benedikt Breisacher
This PhD project focuses on the events, actors, themes and practices of antifeminist activism in the German Federal Republic from the 1950s to the 1990s. The focus is on the conflicts surrounding the new democratic order in the tense relationship between formal rights and social inequality between the genders. After 1945, many actors from conservative women's organisations, social sciences, churches and political parties understood themselves as democrats and yet insisted on a traditional gender order. Antifeminist activities became visible in public debates about political and legal equality, reproductive decision-making, women's employment and violence against women. By examining the shifts in anti-feminist argumentation and the changes in the actors who draw on it, the project will offer new insights on the changes in Germany’s public discourses on the conditions of the gender order as the basis of democracy. Read more
© Peter Leßmann
Population, Family, Individual: Towards a History of Human Genetic Knowledge in the Early Federal Republic of Germany, 1949-1965
Principal Investigator: Isabel Heinemann, Research Assistant: Lukas Alex
The project proposes an integrative history of human genetic knowledge and its use (production, circulation, reception) in the Federal Republic of Germany at the crossroads of the Nazi dictatorship and Western democracy. It focusses on actors, orders and the science of human genetics (formerly racial biology and eugenics) while also taking into account representations of human genetic knowledge. While investigating the use of the terms “population”, “family” and “individual” as central categories of human genetic research and counseling after 1945, we look for continuity and change in a period of institutional and research-based reorganization – the transformation from National Socialism to democracy, from race science to human genetics, from phenotypical screening to molecular research. Read more
© Eno Liedtke
Gender, Power Relations, and the State: Interdisciplinary Research Network
Member: Isabel Heinemann
This research network investigates the tensions between the guiding concepts of gender, power relations, and the state. These tensions are visible in the gendered dynamics of formal and informal practices of (state) power and domination. The projects cover interactions between medializations, social practices, and normative framings in the attribution and negotiation of gendered (state) power in the process of historical change from the early modern period to the present. This interdisciplinary network consists of scholars from the disciplines of literary and cultural studies, media studies, history, political science, art history, and psychology. Read more
A Gender History of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) of the GDR
PhD Student: Daniel R. Bonenkamp, Supervisor: Isabel Heinemann
This PhD project analyzes the history of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) of the GDR from a gendered perspective in order to understand how gender differences influenced the power structures within the secret police and its overall function. The research uses the discipline of gender history to examine how gender inequalities were created and maintained in the MfS and what role women played in this male-dominated organization. Read more
The Genesis of German War Crimes against Polish civilians in 1939. A framework analysis
PhD Student: Florian Steinfals, Supervisor: Isabel Heinemann
The project examines the crimes committed by the Wehrmacht against the Polish civilian population in September 1939 and takes a military and mental history approach. Using framework analysis, both the mental and ideological as well as situational interpretation and perception patterns of the soldiers and their mutual interdependence are highlighted. A primary focus lies on the anti-Polish propaganda, which is analyzed through the „Völkischer Beobachter“ and the magazine „Die Wehrmacht“. Read more
Rationality and Ecstasy: Science and Culture under National Socialism (Textbook)
This volume provides compact insights into the two fields of science and culture under National Socialism. Based on current research and selected sources, Isabel Heinemann examined the organization, content and practices of science and culture. The two guiding categories of “rationality” and “ecstasy ” enable a detailed exploration of the agencies and motivations of key players and consumers of science and culture, from rational calculation to ecstatic enthusiasm. The volume shows that both scientists and cultural producers were fascinated by the apparently limitless possibilities that National Socialism offered them, and that they exploited their opportunities and often overstepped the boundaries of the law. The textbook will be published by Kohlhammer Verlag as part of the series on National Socialism edited by Stephan Lehnstaedt and Johannes Tuchel.
© Digitales Deutsches Frauenarchiv
Book: Gender History of Germany after 1945
by: Isabel Heinemann
The monograph argues for a re-examination of German history after 1945 from the perspective of gender - a consistently disputed category. In the Federal Republic of Germany, the constitution's principle of equality was in clear contradiction to the traditional orders of gender and legal, which caused intense conflicts of perception. In contrast, the GDR considered equal rights to be synonymous with female employment, without paying any attention to the distribution of roles within the family or women's opportunities for social mobility and participation. This contributed to massive dissatisfaction among female GDR citizens with the state, which was perceived as “patriarchal”. The reunified Federal Republic initially tried to resolve the imbalance in the organization of women's rights in both states (employment, state childcare, abortion regulations) by emphasizing patriarchal structures, and reforms had to be fought for again. However, all these struggles over “women's issues as fundamental societal questions” (Ina Merkel) hardly found their way into the predominantly gender-blind master narratives of German contemporary history research. Read more