Eastern European Studies Commons^™

Material Encounters: Making Memory Beyond The Mind, Ariel Wills

Masters Theses

Can acts of making carry the memories of our embeddedness within the world? This thesis explores how making things can nurture a sense of kinship that cuts across the organic and inorganic, erasing the distinction between living and dead, material and spiritual. Through handwork such as art-making, sewing, knitting, cooking, woodworking, and beyond, the burden of remembering and of archiving is shared across human and non-human bodies, cultivated through practices of making, and through the materials themselves. By recounting the stories of my family’s experience as Jewish immigrants in the United States, I aim to reveal how their domestic practices …

Punks In The Church: The Relationship Between The Punk Subculture And Church In East Germany, Ruth A. Aardsma Benton

Masters Theses

A punk subculture emerged in East Germany during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was an expression of their disillusionment with life, their frustrations with the government, and their pessimistic view of a future that seemed pre-planned. The subculture refused to conform, disengaged from the established system, and expressed their views through song lyrics and other acts of defiance. In the eyes of the state, punks were a threat. The subculture turned to the East German Protestant churches for shelter. The churches occupied a unique place within East German society because the government had granted the churches limited free …

Factors That Affect Party Institutionalization: Ethnicity, Electoral Systems, And Economics In East Europe, Joe Robbins

Masters Theses

This thesis examines party institutionalization in East Europe. Ethnicity, electoral systems and economics are variables explored in the substantive chapters. Many political science studies examine the number of parties in East Europe, but only a few studies study party institutionalization. Chapter 1 establishes the foundations for this thesis and provides an overview of each chapter.

In the second chapter, I analyze the relationship between institutionalized parties and ethnicity. Kitschelt (1992) argues that in the absence of institutionalized parties, voters look to other factors, such as ethnicity, when voting. The results from this chapter report that ethnicity plays a limited role …

Democratic Consolidation In Eastern Europe, Michael Rudy

Masters Theses

This thesis examines democratic consolidation in five Eastern European countries. The Baltic States have consolidated their democratic regimes but Romania and Bulgaria have struggled to do so. I attempt to explain why this has happened. In chapter one, I introduce the topic and provide an overview for the next six chapters.

In the second chapter, I examine the literature that pertains to this topic. The literature focuses on several aspects of democratic consolidation. I examine how economic growth, privatization, foreign direct investment, modes of transition, violence, initial post-communist political contest winner, electoral laws, and the citizenship law all play an …

A Structured Analysis Of Ostpolitik: A Paradigm Of A Systems Approach, James E. Getz

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Communism In Unity And Conflict: Poland, Yugoslavia, Ussr, Steven E. Weber

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Poland's Foreign Policy, 1945-1956: A Case Study In Soviet Subordination Of Satellite Diplomacy, Thomas M. Stanley

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

American Governmental Response To The 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Martin Ivan Elzy

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.