Twenty Years On – A Unified Germany? The Shortcomings of the German Reunification Process.

Sarah Glatte (Bath, UK) p.89-103

2010 Issue 2

Abstract

Much scholarly attention has been paid to the political, economic and social divides that still persist between the former East and West Germany. The process of coming to terms with the state socialist past, however, has been of almost marginal significance. In the field of transitional justice, it is commonly argued that no modern democracy has engaged more thoroughly in the task of coming to terms with the legacy of an authoritarian regime than the united Germany has with that of the GDR. The paper challenges this assumption, arguing that transitional justice in post Cold War Germany has fallen short of the expectations originally placed upon it.