Visions of Community in Nazi Germany : Social Engineering and Private Lives.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Steber, Martina.

Gotto, Bernhard.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

National socialism--History--Congresses.

National socialism.

Social engineering--Germany--History.

Social engineering.

World War, 1939-1945.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--History.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945).

History.

Germany.

Genre:

Conference papers and proceedings.

Physical Description:

xx, 336 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Summary:

When the Nazis seized power in Germany in 1933 they promised to create a new, harmonious society under the leadership of the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler. The concept of Volksgemeinschaft-'the people's community'-enshrined the Nazis' vision of society; a society based on racist, social-Darwinist, anti-democratic, and nationalist thought. The regime used Volksgemeinschaft to define who belonged to the National Socialist 'community' and who did not. Being accordeo the status of belonging granted citizenship rights, access to the benefits of the welfare state, and opportunities for advancement, while these who were denied the privilege of belonging lost their right to live. They were shamed, excluded, imprisoned, murdered. Volksgemeinschaft was the Nazis' project of social engineering, realized by state action, by administrative procedure, by party practice, by propaganda, and by individual initiative. Everyone deemed worthy of belonging was called to participate in its realisation. Indeed, this collective notion was directed at the individual, and unleashed an enormous dynamism, which gave social change a particular direction. Marked by a plurality of meaning and emphasis, it drew people in from many social and political backgrounds. Visions of Community in Nazi Germany scrutinizes Volksgemeinschaft as the Nazis' central vision of community. The contributors engage with individual appropriations, examine projects of social engineering, analyse the social dynamism unleashed, and show how deeply private lives were affected by this murderous vision of society. Book jacket.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Volksgemeinschaft: Writing the Social History of the Nazi Regime / Bernhard Gotto

I. VOLKSGEMEINSCHAFT: CONTROVERSIES

2. Volksgemeinschaft: Potential and Limitations of the Concept / Ian Kershaw

3. Volksgemeinschaft: A Modern Perspective on National Socialist Society / Michael Wildt

4. Echoes of the Volksgemeinschaft / Ulrich Herbert

II. A NEW FRAME OF REFERENCE: IDEOLOGY, ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

5. Pluralities of National Socialist Ideology: New Perspectives on the Production and Diffusion of National Socialist Weltanschauung / Lutz Raphael

6. The Nsdap's Operational Codes after 1933 / Armin Nolzen

7. Mobilizing German Society for War: The National Socialist Gaue / Thomas Schaarschmidt

IV. VOLKSGEMEINSCHAFT: A RATIONALE FOR VIOLENCE

15. The Holocaust: Basis and Objective of the Volksgemeinschaft? / Christopher R. Browning

16. Volksgemeinschaft and Violence: Some Reflections on Interdependencies / Sven Keller

17. Social Control and the Making of the Volksgemeinschaft / Detlef Schmiechen-Ackermann

V. THE LIMITS OF VOLKSGEMEINSCHAFT POLICIES

18. The Military Elite and Volksgemeinschaft / Johannes Hurter

19. National Socialist Blueprints for Rural Communities and their Resonance in Agrarian Society / Willi Oberkrome

20. The End of the Volksgemeinschaft / Richard Bessel.

Notes:

Includes bibliographic references and index.

ISBN:

0199689598

9780199689590

OCLC:

866619919

Publisher Number:

99959324780