Fallen Elites: The Military Other in Post-Unification Germany

Military officers are often the first to be considered politically dangerous when a state loses its authority. Overnight, actions once considered courageous are deemed criminal, and men once praised as heroes are redefined as villains. In Fallen Elites, Andrew Bickford examines how states make soldiers and what happens to fallen military elites when they no longer fit into the political spectrum.

Gaining unprecedented entry into the lives of former East German officers in unified Germany, Bickford relates how these men and their families have come to terms with the shock of unification, capitalism, and citizenship since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Often caricatured as unrepentant, hard-line communists, former officers recount how they have struggled with their identities and much-diminished roles. Their disillusionment speaks to global questions about the contentious relationship between the military, citizenship, masculinity, and state formation today. Casting a critical eye on Western triumphalism, they provide a new perspective on our own deep-seated assumptions about soldier making, both at home and abroad.

Author: Andrew Bickford
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 03/09/2011
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.88lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780804773966

Review Citation(s):
Choice 10/01/2011
Reference and Research Bk News 06/01/2011 pg. 321

About the Author
Andrew Bickford is Associate Professor of Anthropology at George Mason University.