Schwarzwohnen

English summary: From the early 1970s, the undermining of the state housing management system in the GDR was a form of individual self-help practised by thousands. Usually young people acquired dilapidated accommodation for themselves so as to be able to lead independent lives. In most cases, this was by no means comparable with western European squatting. In this volume, illicit accommodation or the occupation of living quarters serves to sound out how much scope existed for people to...
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English summary: From the early 1970s, the undermining of the state housing management system in the GDR was a form of individual self-help practised by thousands. Usually young people acquired dilapidated accommodation for themselves so as to be able to lead independent lives. In most cases, this was by no means comparable with western European squatting. In this volume, illicit accommodation or the occupation of living quarters serves to sound out how much scope existed for people to shape their everyday lives themselves under the dictatorship of the East German Socialist Unity Party. The author explores strategies, negotiation processes and permitted latitudes from the perspective of both the state above and the actors below. German text. German description: Die Unterwanderung der staatlichen Wohnraumlenkung der DDR war eine seit Anfang der 1970er Jahre tausendfach praktizierte Form der individuellen Selbsthilfe. Zumeist junge Menschen organisierten sich baufallige Wohnungen, um ein eigenstandiges Leben zu fuhren. Mit Hausbesetzung westeuropaischen Stils hatte das in den meisten Fallen wenig zu tun. Schwarzwohnen bzw. Wohnungsbesetzung dient in diesem Buch als Sonde, um Gestaltungsspielraume im Alltag der SED-Diktatur auszuloten. Das geschieht durch die Erkundung von Strategien, Aushandlungsprozessen und Freiraumen sowohl aus der Perspektive der Staatsmacht von oben als auch aus Sicht der Akteure von unten.