1.
Bartha, Eszter
“This Workers’ Hostel Lost Almost Every Bit of Added Value It Had”: Workers’ Hostels, Social Rights and Legitimization in Hungary and the German Democratic Republic Book Chapter
In: Siefert, Marsha (Ed.): Labor in State-Socialist Europe after 1945: Contributions to a History of Work, pp. 167-194, 2019.
@inbook{nokey,
title = { “This Workers’ Hostel Lost Almost Every Bit of Added Value It Had”: Workers’ Hostels, Social Rights and Legitimization in Hungary and the German Democratic Republic},
author = {Eszter Bartha},
editor = {Marsha Siefert},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
booktitle = {Labor in State-Socialist Europe after 1945: Contributions to a History of Work},
pages = {167-194},
abstract = {Workers’ hostels have been a relatively understudied area of the social history of the 1970s. In this chapter – apart from presenting two case studies, one in the GDR and the other one in Hungary – I argue that the contemporary literature produced in connection with the social rights (or rather, the lack of social rights, as many workers, who had to spend years in these “temporary” accommodation, experienced) can offer an insight into the decline of trust in the so-called “welfare dictatorships” and the crisis of their legitimacy. I call these regimes welfare dictatorships because they were based on the recognition that the dictatorship of the proletariat could not change either human needs or the ways of satisfying these needs. Thus, the decline of state socialism – from the perspective of labor – started well before the actual collapse of these regimes when even low-level functionaries formulated – at least in Hungary – a strong criticism of a socialism, which could not afford to provide workers with minimal levels of housing comfort (Housing was provided, but comfort was not). I argue that this slow erosion of legitimacy went hand in hand with the economic weakening of the state socialist regimes.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
Workers’ hostels have been a relatively understudied area of the social history of the 1970s. In this chapter – apart from presenting two case studies, one in the GDR and the other one in Hungary – I argue that the contemporary literature produced in connection with the social rights (or rather, the lack of social rights, as many workers, who had to spend years in these “temporary” accommodation, experienced) can offer an insight into the decline of trust in the so-called “welfare dictatorships” and the crisis of their legitimacy. I call these regimes welfare dictatorships because they were based on the recognition that the dictatorship of the proletariat could not change either human needs or the ways of satisfying these needs. Thus, the decline of state socialism – from the perspective of labor – started well before the actual collapse of these regimes when even low-level functionaries formulated – at least in Hungary – a strong criticism of a socialism, which could not afford to provide workers with minimal levels of housing comfort (Housing was provided, but comfort was not). I argue that this slow erosion of legitimacy went hand in hand with the economic weakening of the state socialist regimes.
2.
Bartha, Eszter
Alienating Labour: Workers on the Road from Socialism to Capitalism in East Germany and Hungary. Book
2013.
@book{nokey,
title = {Alienating Labour: Workers on the Road from Socialism to Capitalism in East Germany and Hungary.},
author = {Eszter Bartha},
year = {2013},
date = {2013-01-01},
urldate = {2013-01-01},
abstract = {The state socialist regimes in Hungary and East Germany sought to win over the “masses” with promises of providing for ever-increasing levels of consumption. This policy – successful at the outset – in the long-term proved to be detrimental for the regimes because it shifted working class political consciousness to the right while it effectively excluded leftist alternatives from the public sphere. This book argues that this policy can provide the key to understanding of the collapse of the regimes. It examines the case studies of two large factories, Carl Zeiss Jena (East Germany) and Rába in Győr (Hungary), and demonstrates how the study of the formation of the relationship between the workers’ state and the industrial working class can offer illuminating insights into the important issue of the legitimacy (and its eventual loss) of Communist regimes.
},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {book}
}
The state socialist regimes in Hungary and East Germany sought to win over the “masses” with promises of providing for ever-increasing levels of consumption. This policy – successful at the outset – in the long-term proved to be detrimental for the regimes because it shifted working class political consciousness to the right while it effectively excluded leftist alternatives from the public sphere. This book argues that this policy can provide the key to understanding of the collapse of the regimes. It examines the case studies of two large factories, Carl Zeiss Jena (East Germany) and Rába in Győr (Hungary), and demonstrates how the study of the formation of the relationship between the workers’ state and the industrial working class can offer illuminating insights into the important issue of the legitimacy (and its eventual loss) of Communist regimes.
2019
Bartha, Eszter
“This Workers’ Hostel Lost Almost Every Bit of Added Value It Had”: Workers’ Hostels, Social Rights and Legitimization in Hungary and the German Democratic Republic Book Chapter
In: Siefert, Marsha (Ed.): Labor in State-Socialist Europe after 1945: Contributions to a History of Work, pp. 167-194, 2019.
Abstract | Tags: 20th century, german democratic republic, housing, hungary, socialism
@inbook{nokey,
title = { “This Workers’ Hostel Lost Almost Every Bit of Added Value It Had”: Workers’ Hostels, Social Rights and Legitimization in Hungary and the German Democratic Republic},
author = {Eszter Bartha},
editor = {Marsha Siefert},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
booktitle = {Labor in State-Socialist Europe after 1945: Contributions to a History of Work},
pages = {167-194},
abstract = {Workers’ hostels have been a relatively understudied area of the social history of the 1970s. In this chapter – apart from presenting two case studies, one in the GDR and the other one in Hungary – I argue that the contemporary literature produced in connection with the social rights (or rather, the lack of social rights, as many workers, who had to spend years in these “temporary” accommodation, experienced) can offer an insight into the decline of trust in the so-called “welfare dictatorships” and the crisis of their legitimacy. I call these regimes welfare dictatorships because they were based on the recognition that the dictatorship of the proletariat could not change either human needs or the ways of satisfying these needs. Thus, the decline of state socialism – from the perspective of labor – started well before the actual collapse of these regimes when even low-level functionaries formulated – at least in Hungary – a strong criticism of a socialism, which could not afford to provide workers with minimal levels of housing comfort (Housing was provided, but comfort was not). I argue that this slow erosion of legitimacy went hand in hand with the economic weakening of the state socialist regimes.},
keywords = {20th century, german democratic republic, housing, hungary, socialism},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
Workers’ hostels have been a relatively understudied area of the social history of the 1970s. In this chapter – apart from presenting two case studies, one in the GDR and the other one in Hungary – I argue that the contemporary literature produced in connection with the social rights (or rather, the lack of social rights, as many workers, who had to spend years in these “temporary” accommodation, experienced) can offer an insight into the decline of trust in the so-called “welfare dictatorships” and the crisis of their legitimacy. I call these regimes welfare dictatorships because they were based on the recognition that the dictatorship of the proletariat could not change either human needs or the ways of satisfying these needs. Thus, the decline of state socialism – from the perspective of labor – started well before the actual collapse of these regimes when even low-level functionaries formulated – at least in Hungary – a strong criticism of a socialism, which could not afford to provide workers with minimal levels of housing comfort (Housing was provided, but comfort was not). I argue that this slow erosion of legitimacy went hand in hand with the economic weakening of the state socialist regimes.
2013
Bartha, Eszter
Alienating Labour: Workers on the Road from Socialism to Capitalism in East Germany and Hungary. Book
2013.
Abstract | Tags: 20th century, capitalism, economic and social policy, german democratic republic, germany, hungary, post-socialism, socialism, working class
@book{nokey,
title = {Alienating Labour: Workers on the Road from Socialism to Capitalism in East Germany and Hungary.},
author = {Eszter Bartha},
year = {2013},
date = {2013-01-01},
urldate = {2013-01-01},
abstract = {The state socialist regimes in Hungary and East Germany sought to win over the “masses” with promises of providing for ever-increasing levels of consumption. This policy – successful at the outset – in the long-term proved to be detrimental for the regimes because it shifted working class political consciousness to the right while it effectively excluded leftist alternatives from the public sphere. This book argues that this policy can provide the key to understanding of the collapse of the regimes. It examines the case studies of two large factories, Carl Zeiss Jena (East Germany) and Rába in Győr (Hungary), and demonstrates how the study of the formation of the relationship between the workers’ state and the industrial working class can offer illuminating insights into the important issue of the legitimacy (and its eventual loss) of Communist regimes.
},
keywords = {20th century, capitalism, economic and social policy, german democratic republic, germany, hungary, post-socialism, socialism, working class},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {book}
}
The state socialist regimes in Hungary and East Germany sought to win over the “masses” with promises of providing for ever-increasing levels of consumption. This policy – successful at the outset – in the long-term proved to be detrimental for the regimes because it shifted working class political consciousness to the right while it effectively excluded leftist alternatives from the public sphere. This book argues that this policy can provide the key to understanding of the collapse of the regimes. It examines the case studies of two large factories, Carl Zeiss Jena (East Germany) and Rába in Győr (Hungary), and demonstrates how the study of the formation of the relationship between the workers’ state and the industrial working class can offer illuminating insights into the important issue of the legitimacy (and its eventual loss) of Communist regimes.