East-West couples – united in love?

The reunification of Germany in 1990 marked the beginning of significant internal migration between the old and new federal states (Lois 2015). People who had grown up in two different economic systems, who had had different socialisation experiences and had been shaped by different gender relations, now found themselves in a reunified Germany (Dölling 2005). And so East-West couples also formed. The partners differed on issues such as marriage, childcare and working life.

For over 30 years now, several generations of East-West couples have been observed. The students involved in the teaching research project explored questions such as how East-West couples live today, whether differences emerge between older and younger couples, how the often negative discourse about East Germany affects the realities of these couples’ lives, and many more.

Five small groups conducted research as part of the teaching research project, situated within the field of couple and gender sociology, into the current realities of life for East-West couples. Self-conducted couple interviews were analysed in detail using the documentary method or in-depth hermeneutics. The research findings were recorded in research reports as well as on posters. Below, we present the five resulting posters as well as an overview poster on the objectives of the teaching research.

Quellen:

Lois, Daniel (2015): Ost-West-Paare: Verbreitung, Eigenschaften und Stabilität. In: Comparative population studies - Zeitschrift für Bevölkerungswissenschaft 40, S. 3-32.

Dölling, I (2005): Ostdeutsche Geeschlechterarrangements in Zeiten des neoliberalen Gesellschaftsumbaus. In: Schäfer, E. et al. (Hg.): Irritation Ostdeutschland. Geschlechterverhältnisse seit der Wende. Münster, S. 16-34.