Reviews for Face To Face With Kaiserism

The average rating for Face To Face With Kaiserism based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-05-10 00:00:00 Matt Blanchard Cooper sets out to understand why the West German peace movements peaked at certain periods of the Cold War, whilst being irrelevant in others. The author concludes that the prevalence of the peace movement was dependent on three things: political opportunities, ideological resources, and organizational networks, for its success. These factors combined to make the 1980s peace movement far more salient than that of the 50s or 60s. Overall, the book contained snippets of interesting information, but mostly re-hashed secondary literature without contributing anything in terms of primary analysis. Interesting Quotes: 1. "My argument is three-pronged. First, the timing, duration and size of peace mobilization cycles reflect the mix of opportunities and constraints provided by the public policy process and other aspects of domestic and international politics. Second, framing of defense issues by institutions and extraparliamentary groups strongly influences the composition of movement activism. Finally, adequate organizational capacities depend on the availability of autonomous extra-parliamentary networks." (3) 2. "The relatively closed German political system has been a constant structural feature of West German peace movements across the decades and explains their largely extraparliamentary and confrontational character." (17) 3. "At its most ambitious, labor envisioned transforming capitalism through socialization of key industries and other measures, overcoming nationalism through European unity (with supranational labor codetermination), and resisting militarism through pacificism. Thus, during the 1950s, it was particularly Social Democrats, communists, and unions who combined the struggle against rearmament, NATO membership, and nuclear weapons with their broader struggle to mold the new republic in their image." (49) 4. "Although the union rank and file was used to internal discipline, in the case of rearmament a substantial portion revolted against the leadership. This split on rearmament corresponded with a larger historic split, reaching back into the nineteenth century, between the labor movement leadership's pragmatic pursuit of reforms within the existing system and the orientation of the rank and file toward fundamental system transformation, with the unions as a "countervailing force" (Gegenmacht) to the status quo." (52) 5. "The 1980s movement represented the crowning glory of postwar peace protest. Most elements of political opportunity favored it, ranging from a salient issue over which it initially enjoyed a monopoly, to an international situation that lent credibility to it message, a high protest potential in the political culture at large, the dominance of its issue as the most compelling concern of the day, and a government already unpopular across a broad range of issues." "The movement's varied ideological resources reflected the broad array of activists committed to its cause In addition to the original frames of redemption and democratization, the movement emphasized détente, arms control, and Ostpolitik. It also used to its advantage the powerful military-strategic analysis offered by peace research. Through issue overlap, the movement was able to draw in activists form the social movements of the 1970s, including, among others, the ecology and feminist movements." "Finally, the movement's organizational structure provided both the centralization and decentralization necessary to provide national leadership while still articulating the movement's diversity." (209-10)

Review # 2 was written on 2009-02-11 00:00:00 Jill Davis Having visited Eastern Europe last year, I was most enchanted by Passau. During that trip I was brought so close to my father and the fact he had been a German POW for 14 months. I was also deeply connected to my child's Jewish family. I picked this book up to read about Passau and found a deeply moving and enlightening understanding of German Nationalism and anti-Semitism. I gathered a new understanding of American racism and the deep connection to it and the election of our President Elect. "Dictators are possible only because of the people who support them and follow their orders." Bravo, sadly, Anna Rosmus.