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Peter von Oertzen 1924–2008
A Political and Intellectual Biography
Series: - Historical Materialism Book Series, Volume: 340
Author:
Translator:
This exhaustive study traces Peter von Oertzen’s transformation from a Berlin upbringing marked by Prussian traditions, conservative revolution, and National Socialism to his role as a Marxist and left-wing Social Democrat. It explores his dual impact as a political scientist and activist, detailing his influence in informal networks, journal projects, and trade union education initiatives. Navigating the SPD's delicate internal dynamics, Oertzen faced governmental responsibilities and conservative opposition while engaging in dialogue with various Marxist, council-socialist, and alternative left currents. Awarded the Niedersachsen State History Prize in 2018, this work offers unique insights into twentieth-century left Social Democracy.
Born in 1980,
Philipp Kufferath studied history, sociology, media and communication studies, and philosophy in Berlin and Göttingen. Since 2016, he has been the managing editor of Archiv für Sozialgeschichte and a research associate at the Institute for European Sports Development and Leisure Research in Cologne. He received the Christian-Gottlob-Heyne Prize in 2016 for his outstanding humanities dissertation.
Abbreviations
Introduction: Political Intellectuals and Networks between Science and Politics
1 The state of research
2 The body of source material
3 Intellectual History as the social history of ideas– dimensions and definitions
4 Networks, circles and journals: intellectual groupings and institutions
5 The structure of the present work
1 From National Socialism to Social Democracy: Learning Processes and Defining Influences in Extreme Times
1 Promises of national glory and educated bourgeois-aristocratic obstinacy: A culturally elitist German youth between democracy, Nazism, and war
2 Reorientation and the search for meaning after the loss of a ‘worldview’: From war captivity to the decision to join the SPD
3 The University of Göttingen as a nexus of tension in a society in upheaval: Academic pursuits, university politics, and student activism at the onset of the Cold War
4 Intellectual ambitions between science and politics: New theoretical influences, political mentors, and first steps in the SPD
2 Left-Socialist Identity and Scientific-Political Perspectives: Between Social Democracy, Political Science, Radical Networks and Trade Unions
1 A socialist alternative beyond the existing power blocs? Unity initiatives and programmatic divisions among left socialists in the SPD (1954–60)
2 The arduous path to recognition as a political scientist: The historical council movement and party sociology as academic fields and political and theoretical interventions
3 Farewell to the SPD? Syndicalist trends within the New Left amidst the interplay of political intervention and trade-union operational logic
4 Academic career or party career? Options and decisions
3 Dare to Be More Pragmatic! Power, Compromises and Perspectives of a Socialist Intellectual in Polarised Times
1 Unexpected opportunities in the political arena and internal conflicts: The SPD left, the 1968 movement, and the conquest of key institutional positions
2 Social-Democratic education policy: Balancing aspirations for co-determination, government-imposed restrictions, and conservative counter-mobilisation
3 Acid test of a programmatic party in government: Finding a compromise between ‘traditionless pragmatism’ and ‘revolutionary rigorism’
4 The conservative ‘trend reversal’ and the orientation crisis of the SPD left amidst austerity, competing systems, and alternative movements
4 The (Un)stoppable Departure from Socialism: Conservative Supremacy, Red-Green Hopes, and the Triumph of Market Liberalism
1 Exploring the scope for a new reformism: The Social-Democratic programme in the era of neoliberal confrontation and Green-Alternative competition (1982–9)
2 A missed opportunity for the SPD? The erosion of ‘actually existing socialism’ and resistance against an Anschluss to West Germany (1989–92)
3 What remains of socialism? ‘Tradition-building’, positional struggles and disappointments
Summary: A Socialist Identity Caught Up in Tensions and Contradictions
1 Identity construction and intellectual and political self-conception
2 Relationship with Social Democracy
3 Engagement with Communism and the radical left
4 Scientific priorities and fields of action
5 Networks and reference groups
6 Socialist totality and left reformist strategy
Bibliography
Index
Introduction: Political Intellectuals and Networks between Science and Politics
1 The state of research
2 The body of source material
3 Intellectual History as the social history of ideas– dimensions and definitions
4 Networks, circles and journals: intellectual groupings and institutions
5 The structure of the present work
1 From National Socialism to Social Democracy: Learning Processes and Defining Influences in Extreme Times
1 Promises of national glory and educated bourgeois-aristocratic obstinacy: A culturally elitist German youth between democracy, Nazism, and war
2 Reorientation and the search for meaning after the loss of a ‘worldview’: From war captivity to the decision to join the SPD
3 The University of Göttingen as a nexus of tension in a society in upheaval: Academic pursuits, university politics, and student activism at the onset of the Cold War
4 Intellectual ambitions between science and politics: New theoretical influences, political mentors, and first steps in the SPD
2 Left-Socialist Identity and Scientific-Political Perspectives: Between Social Democracy, Political Science, Radical Networks and Trade Unions
1 A socialist alternative beyond the existing power blocs? Unity initiatives and programmatic divisions among left socialists in the SPD (1954–60)
2 The arduous path to recognition as a political scientist: The historical council movement and party sociology as academic fields and political and theoretical interventions
3 Farewell to the SPD? Syndicalist trends within the New Left amidst the interplay of political intervention and trade-union operational logic
4 Academic career or party career? Options and decisions
3 Dare to Be More Pragmatic! Power, Compromises and Perspectives of a Socialist Intellectual in Polarised Times
1 Unexpected opportunities in the political arena and internal conflicts: The SPD left, the 1968 movement, and the conquest of key institutional positions
2 Social-Democratic education policy: Balancing aspirations for co-determination, government-imposed restrictions, and conservative counter-mobilisation
3 Acid test of a programmatic party in government: Finding a compromise between ‘traditionless pragmatism’ and ‘revolutionary rigorism’
4 The conservative ‘trend reversal’ and the orientation crisis of the SPD left amidst austerity, competing systems, and alternative movements
4 The (Un)stoppable Departure from Socialism: Conservative Supremacy, Red-Green Hopes, and the Triumph of Market Liberalism
1 Exploring the scope for a new reformism: The Social-Democratic programme in the era of neoliberal confrontation and Green-Alternative competition (1982–9)
2 A missed opportunity for the SPD? The erosion of ‘actually existing socialism’ and resistance against an Anschluss to West Germany (1989–92)
3 What remains of socialism? ‘Tradition-building’, positional struggles and disappointments
Summary: A Socialist Identity Caught Up in Tensions and Contradictions
1 Identity construction and intellectual and political self-conception
2 Relationship with Social Democracy
3 Engagement with Communism and the radical left
4 Scientific priorities and fields of action
5 Networks and reference groups
6 Socialist totality and left reformist strategy
Bibliography
Index
This book is especially relevant for labour movement historians and students, academic libraries, trade union activists, and historians of twentieth-century Marxism and Social Democracy.