The Role of Private Entrepreneurship in State Socialism: The GDR in Comparison with Poland and Hungary

Záznam z ústavního semináře v anglickém jazyce, který se uskutečnil 14. 12. 2022 v Ústavu pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR ve spolupráci s GWZO, Collegiem Carolinem a Německým historickým ústavem ve Varšavě. Officially, there was no place for private entrepreneurs in state socialism. As „class enemies“, they were at best tolerated for a short period of transition to socialism. But theory and practice differed from each other and policies in the three countries took a different turn from early on. The most remarkable case among the three is the former GDR. Despite its reputation for being „orthodox“ in its policy-making, the GDR leadership never completely nationalized the private sector up until 1989 and private entrepreneurs in the late GDR belonged to the most privileged social group after high party nomenclature. In the lecture, the attitude of party leadership in the three countries to private entrepreneurship will be compared with a focus on late socialism and an emphasis on the GDR as „maverick“ country in this field among the state-socialist regimes. Hlavní vystupující: Max Trecker (GWZO Leipzig); komentují: Adam Havlík (ÚSTR), Veronika Pehe (ÚSD AV ČR). Pravidelný ústavní seminář se koná vždy poslední středu v měsíci od 16:00 ve studovně Ústavu pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR ve Vlašské ulici v Praze. Program naleznete na našem webu www.usd.cas.cz.