1. Introduction: The freedom to conform.- 2. Nazi Germany, 1933-1945:  Nonconformity as “degeneration”.- 3. Democratic Reconstruction under Allied Occupation, 1945-1949: Neither tradition nor “degeneration”.- 4. The Soviet Occupation Zone, 1945-1949: Building new structures of conformity.- 5. The German Democratic Republic, 1949-1990: Conformity as alienation.- 6. West Germany, 1949-1990: Nonconformity as alienation.- 7. Conclusion.

“This book brings fresh light to previously marginalized subject in German history. It is an original approach, up-to-date written without scholarly jargon, easily accessible to students, both at undergraduate and graduate. It is highly focused departing from the usual “histories” of a single country arguing for the “two German states”, and the three political systems.”- Prof. Dr. László Kürti, Institute of Applied Social Sciences, University of Miskolc, Hungary

This books argues that nation-building and identity (re)construction in Germany from the Wilhelmine period until the present day has involved debates about and struggles over religion, education, sexuality and the arts, as well as the country's past. Contrasting three very different incarnations of Germany – the totalitarian Third Reich, the communist German Democratic Republic, and the democratic Federal Republic of Germany up to 1990 – this book examines their experiences with and responses to nonconformity, dissent, opposition, and resistance, and the role played by those factors in each case. It is worth stressing that what qualifies as nonconformity and dissent depends on the social and political context and, thus, changes over time.  Like those in active dissent, opposition, or resistance, nonconformists are rebels (whether they are conscious of it or not), and have repeatedly played a role in pushing for change, whether through reform of legislation, transformation of the public’s attitudes, or even regime change.

“This unusual study compares the struggle over nonconformity across three political regimes, the Third Reich, the GDR and the FRG. The analysis of dimensions like the role of religion, sexuality, politics and culture exposes the dialectic between regime efforts to enforce conformity with its own ideology as well as popular resistance against it. This unconventional approach sheds new light on the similarities and differences between different forms of German politics and society in the mid-twentieth century.” (Konrad Jarausch, Department of History (Emeritus), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)

“By applying the lens of non-conformity to modern German regimes – Nazi, occupation zones, East and West Germany – Ramet goes beyond standard treatments of dissent and opposition. Her elevation of religious, sexual, and cultural non-conformity to share the plane of political dissent in explaining political change is well-documented, convincingly argued, and engagingly written.” (Robert F. Goeckel, Professor of Political Science And International Relations, SUNY-Geneseo, New York, USA)

Examines Germany's experiences with and responses to nonconformity, dissent, opposition, and resistance Contrasts three very different incarnations of Germany – the totalitarian Third Reich, the communist German Democratic Republic, and the democratic Federal Republic of Germany up to 1990 Assesses how nonconformists have repeatedly played a role in pushing for change via legislation, transformation of the public’s attitudes, or even regime change

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