MARY FULBROOK

Mary Fulbrook, MA (Cantab.), AM, PhD (Harvard), FBA, FRHistS
Professor of German History
University College London

Mary Fulbrook is Professor of German History at UCL. She studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, as an undergraduate, and at Harvard University, where she did her MA and PhD; she has also held a Harvard Center for European Studies Krupp Fellowship at the LSE, and a Lady Margaret Research Fellowship at New Hall, Cambridge. Among other professional commitments, Mary Fulbrook was the (first female) Chair of the German History Society, and was joint founding Editor of its journal, German History. She currently serves on the Editorial Boards of German History, and of Zeithistorische Forschungen; she is a member of the Advisory Board (Beirat) of the German Historical Institute London; a member of the Academic Advisory Board (wissenschaftliches Kuratorium) of the Memorial Foundation for the former concentration camps of Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora; and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Bundeskanzler-Willy-Brandt-Stiftung. Mary Fulbrook's contributions to UCL have included nearly a dozen years as Head of the German Department (January 1995 to September 2006) as well as a stint serving on UCL Council. Her research interests have ranged across a variety of fields, including religion and society in early modern Europe, the German dictatorships of the twentieth century, and historiography and social theory. She has directed an AHRC-sponsored collaborative research project on 'The "Normalisation of Rule'? State and Society in the GDR, 1961-1979' (2002-07). Her current Leverhulme-funded research, 'Living through Dictatorships', focuses on generations in Germany, c. 1900-1990. Mary Fulbrook's teaching normally ranges from introductory courses on German history from medieval times to the present, through to more specialized source-led teaching on twentieth-century Germany and MA courses on historical theory, skills and methods.

Books

The People's State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker (Yale University Press, 2005)

Hitler, I (HarperCollins, 2004) and Hitler, II (HarperCollins, 2005) – short student texts

A Concise History of Germany (Cambridge University Press, 2nd edn., 2004)

Historical Theory (Routledge, 2002)

A History of Germany 1918-2000: The Divided Nation (Blackwell, 2nd edn, 2002)

Interpretations of the Two Germanies, 1945-1990 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2nd edn., 2000)

German National Identity after the Holocaust (Polity Press, 1999); Hungarian translation, A német nemzeti identitás a holokauszt után (Helikon Kiadó, 2001)

Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR, 1949-89 (Oxford University Press, 1995)

The Two Germanies 1945-1990: Problems of Interpretation (Macmillan, 1992)

The Divided Nation: Germany 1918-1990 (Fontana, 1991; OUP, New York, 1992); Italian translation, Storia della Germania 1918-1990: La Nazione Divisa (Mondadori, 1993)

A Concise History of Germany (Cambridge University Press, 1990; 2nd ed., 2004); Hungarian translation, Németország Története (Maecenas, 1993); Spanish translation, Historia de Alemania (CUP Iberia, 1995); Swedish translation, Tysklands Historia (Historiska Media, 1998); Korean Translation, (Kaemagowon, 2000); currently being translated into Japanese (Bushosha), Romanian (Editura Institutul), Chinese (Annual Rings), Polish (Zysk iS-ka).

Piety and Politics: Religion and the Rise of Absolutism in England, Württemberg and Prussia (Cambridge University Press, 1983; reissued, 2003)

Edited Books

Editor, Un-Civilising Processes? Excess and Transgression in German Society and Culture. Perspectives debating with Norbert Elias. (Rodopi, 2007)

Editor, Twentieth-century Germany (Arnold, 2001)

Editor, with Martin Swales, Representing the German Nation (Manchester University Press, 2000)

Editor, The Short Oxford History of Europe, 1945 - 2000 (Oxford University Press, 2000); Spanish translation, Historia de Europa Oxford: Europa desde 1945 (Barcelona: Editorial Crítica, 2002)

Editor, German History since 1800 (Arnold, 1997)

Editor, with David Cesarani, Citizenship, Nationality and Migration in Europe, (London: Routledge, 1996)

Editor, National Histories and European History (UCL Press, 1993)

Articles

‘Changing States, Changing Selves: Generations in the Third Reich and the GDR’ in Mary Fulbrook (ed.), Uncivilizing Processes? Excess and Transgression in German Society and Culture: Perspectives Debating with Norbert Elias (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2007), pp. 255-94.

‘Introduction: The Character and Limits of the Civilizing Process’ in Mary Fulbrook (ed.), Uncivilizing Processes? Excess and Transgression in German Society and Culture: Perspectives Debating with Norbert Elias (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2007), pp. 1-16.

‘Ein “ganz normales Leben”? Neue Forschungen zur Sozialgeschichte der DDR’ in Heiner Timmermann (ed.), Das war die DDR. DDR-Forschung im Fadenkreuz von Herrschaft, Außenbeziehungen, Kultur und Souveränität (Münster: LIT-Verlag, 2004).

‘Generationen und Kohorten in der DDR. Protagonisten und Widersacher des DDR-Systems aus der Perspektive biographischer Daten’ in Annegret Schüle, Thomas Ahbe and Rainer Gries (eds.), Die DDR aus generationengeschichtlicher Perspektive. Eine Inventur (Universitätsverlag Leipzig, 2004).

‘Repenser la RDA sous l’angle de l’histoire sociale’, Allemagne d’Aujourd’hui (Nov. 2004), pp. 84-97.

‘Nationalism in the second German unification’ in John Breuilly and Ron Spiers (eds.), The Two Unifications of Germany (Palgrave, 2004).

‘Approaches to German contemporary history since 1945: Politics and paradigms’, Zeithistorische Forschungen / Studies in Contemporary History, Vol. 1, no. 1 (2004), pp. 31-50.

‘DDR-Forschung bis 1989/90’ in Rainer Eppelmann, Bernd Faulenbach and Ulrich Mählert (eds.), Bilanz und Perspektiven der DDR-Forschung (Ferdinand Schöningh, 2003), pp. 363-370.

‘Why all historical accounts are inevitably theoretical; but some are preferable to others’, Historically Speaking. The Journal of the Historical Society, Vol. V, no. 2, Nov. 2003, pp. 12-15.

‘Retheorising “state” and “society” in the German Democratic Republic’, in P. Major and J. Osmond (eds.), The Workers’ and Peasants’ State: Communism and Society in East Germany under Ulbricht 1945-71 (Manchester University Press, 2002), pp. 280-298.

‘Democratic centralism and regionalism in the GDR’, in Maiken Umbach (ed.), German Federalism: Past, Present and Future (Palgrave, 2002), pp. 146-171.
With Martin Swales, ‘Introduction: Representation in literature and history’ in M. Fulbrook and M. Swales (eds.), Representing the German Nation (Manchester University Press, 2000).

‘Re-presenting the nation: History and identity in East and West Germany’ in M. Fulbrook and M. Swales (eds.), Representing the German Nation (Manchester University Press, 2000).

‘Fact, Fantasy and German History’ (1999 Annual Lecture of the GHI Washington), Bulletin of the German Historical Institute Washington No. 26, Spring 2000, pp. 3-34.

‘Introduction: Europe 1945-2000’ and ‘Conclusion’ in M. Fulbrook (ed.), The Oxford Short History of Europe: Europe since 1945 (Oxford University Press, 2000).

Contribution to ‘Was brachte die Mauer zum Einsturz?’ in Martin Sabrow (ed.), Grenz-Fälle, Helmstedter Colloquien, Heft 2 (Leipzig: Akademischer Verlagsanstalt, 2000).

‘Aufarbeitung der DDR-Vergangenheit und “innere Einheit” - ein Widerspruch?’ in Christoph Kleßmann and Hans Misselwitz (eds.), Deutsche Vergangenheiten - eine gemeinsame Herausforderung (Berlin: Chr. Links Verlag, 1999).

Various entries in J. Sandford (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Contemporary German Culture (Routledge, 1999): longer entries on Historiography, Re-education, Stunde Null, Occupation, Historikerstreit, History Teaching; and shorter entries on Trümmerfrauen, Martin Broszat, Ernst Engelberg, Joachim Fest, Fritz Fischer, Heinz Kamnitzer, Jürgen Kocka, Hans Mommsen, Ernst Nolte, Oder-Neisse Line, Potsdam Agreement, Michael Stürmer, Andreas Hillgruber.

Contributions to ‘Getrennte Vergangenheit - Gemeinsame Geschichte? Protokoll einer Podiumsdiskussion’, Potsdamer Bulletin für Zeithistorische Studien, no. 15 (Aug. 1999), pp. 13-46.

‘Re-reading Recent (East) German History’, German History, Vol. 17, no. 2, 1999, pp. 271-284.

‘DDR-Geschichtswissenschaft und Geschichtspolitik’ in Georg Iggers, Konrad Jarausch, Matthias Middell, Martin Sabrow (eds.), Die DDR-Geschichtswissenschaft als Forschungsproblem (Munich: Oldenbourg, 1998; Historische Zeitschrift, Beiheft 27).

‘Dividing the Past, Defining the Present: Historians and National Identity in the Two Germanies’ in S. Berger et al (eds.), Writing the Nation (Routledge, 1998).

Entry on ‘The Federal Republic of Germany, 1949-90’ in the Encyclopaedic Modern History of Germany (Garland, 1998).

‘Debate: Theoretical Perspectives on the GDR’, Bulletin of the German Historical Institute London (1998).

‘Myth-Making and National Identity: the Case of the GDR’, in G. Hosking and G. Schöpflin (eds.), Myths and Nationhood (Hurst, 1997).

‘Introduction’ and ‘Ossis and Wessis: The Creation of Two German Societies’ in M. Fulbrook (ed.,), German History since 1800 (Arnold, 1997).

‘Reckoning with the Past: Heroes, Victims and Villains in the History of the German Democratic Republic’ in Reinhard Alter and Peter Monteath (eds.), Rewriting the German Past (Humanities Press, 1997).

‘The Limits of Totalitarianism: God, State and Society in the GDR’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th ser., vol. vii, 1997.

‘History in the making’, GHIL Bulletin, May 1997.

‘Aspects of Society and Identity in the New Germany’ in M. Mertes, S. Muller and H. A. Winkler (eds.), In Search of Germany (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1996), pp. 229-52. (Reprinted from Daedalus, 1994).

‘Methodologische Überlegungen zu einer Gesellschaftsgeschichte der DDR’ in R. Bessel and R. Jessen (eds.), Grenzen der Diktatur (Göttingen: Vandenhoek und Ruprecht, 1996), pp. 274-97.

‘Introduction’, ‘Germany for the Germans? Citizenship, Nationality and Migration in a Divided Nation’, and ‘Conclusion’ in D. Cesarani and M. Fulbrook (eds.), Citizenship, Nationality and Migration in Europe (London: Routledge, 1996).

‘GDR Research in Britain’, Deutschland Archiv Vol. 29, No. 4, (July/August 1996), pp. 659-61.

‘The Presence of the Past: National Identity and German History’, Inaugural Lecture, UCL, 1996.

‘Politik, Wissenschaft, und Moral: zur neueren Geschichte der DDR’, Geschichte und Gesellschaft, Vol. 22 (1996), pp. 457-70.

‘Herrschaft, Gehorsam und Verweigerung: Die DDR als Diktatur’ in J. Kocka (ed.), Die DDR als Geschichte (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1994), pp. 77-85.

‘Aspects of society and identity in the new Germany’, Daedalus, Vol. 123, No. 1, special issue on Germany in Transition, winter 1994, pp. 211-234.

‘L'Allemagne avant et après 1989: perspectives britanniques’, Histoire, Économie et Société, 1994, No. 1, pp. 215-228.

‘The threat of the radical right in Germany’, Patterns of Prejudice, Vol. 28, Nos. 3 & 4, 1994, pp. 57-66.

‘New Historikerstreit, missed opportunity or new beginning?’, German History, Vol. 12, No. 2, June 1994, pp. 203-207.

‘Introduction: states, nations and the development of Europe’ in M. Fulbrook (ed.), National Histories and European History (UCL Press, 1993), pp. 1-17.

‘Popular discontent and political activism in the GDR’, Contemporary European History, Vol. 2, Part 3, November 1993, pp. 265-282.
Contributor to ‘German history and German nationalism after unification: seven historians give their views’, Debatte, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1993, pp. 5-29.

‘Nation, state and political culture in divided Germany, 1945-90’ in J. Breuilly (ed.), The State of Germany, (Longman, 1992), pp. 177-200.

‘The rise of Brandenburg-Prussia’, Early Modern History Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, January 1992, pp. 2-6.

‘A German dictatorship: power structures and political culture in the GDR’, German Life and Letters, Vol. 45, no. 4, October 1992, pp. 376-92.

‘Historians and Historiography in the former GDR’, Bulletin of the German Historical Institute London, Nov. 1992, pp. 3-10.

‘“Wir sind ein Volk”? Reflections on German unification’, Parliamentary Affairs, vol. 44, July 1991, pp. 125-40.

‘German historiography after 1945 reconsidered’, Bulletin of the German Historical Institute London, February 1991, pp. 3-9.

‘Absolutism and education in eighteenth-century Germany’, The Historical Journal, Vol. 34, no. 3, Dec. 1991, pp. 759-61.

‘“Ich liebe Euch doch alle!”’, History Workshop Journal, no. 32, autumn 1991, pp. 208-10.

‘Protestantismus und der Staat in der DDR’, in Alf Lüdtke (ed.), Deutschland '90: Ein Staat - zwei Gesellschaften, SOWI (Sozialwissenschaftliche Informationen), vol. 19, no. 3, 1990, pp. 143-52.

‘On Germany's double transformation’, European History Quarterly, Vol. 20, no. 3, July 1990, pp. 401-14.

‘The concept of crisis in German history’, German History, Vol. 8, no. 1, 1990, pp. 69-70.

‘Elites and politics in the GDR’ in J. Trumpbour (ed.), The Dividing Rhine (Berg and St. Martin's Press, 1989), pp. 151-72.

‘From Volksgemeinschaft to divided nation: German national identities and political cultures since the Third Reich’, Historical Research, vol. 62, no. 148, June 1989, pp. 193-213.

‘Introduction’ to Christopher Hill, History and the Present, Conway Memorial Lecture, London, April 1989, pp. 7-9.

‘Can one speak of a bourgeois political culture before the mid-nineteenth century?’, German History, Vol. 7, no. 2, 1989, pp. 234-6.

‘Christopher Hill and historical sociology’ in G. Eley and W. Hunt (eds.), Reviving the English Revolution: Reflections and Elaborations on the Work of Christopher Hill (Verso, 1988), pp. 31-51.

‘Co-option and commitment: aspects of relations between church and state in the GDR’, Social History, Vol. 12, no. 1, January 1987, pp. 73-91.

‘Solutions to German history? East and West Germany compared’, Parliamentary Affairs, Vol. 40, no. 1, January 1987, pp. 113-29.

‘Whatever became of the post-war Germans?’ German History, no. 5, autumn 1987, pp. 90-6.

‘The state and the transformation of political legitimacy in East and West Germany since 1945’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 29, no. 2, April 1987, pp. 211-44.

‘Legitimacy and domination: aspects of Herrschaft in twentieth-century Germany’ in J.P. Stern (ed.), London German Studies III (Institute of Germanic Studies, 1986), pp. 67-89.

‘The emergence of modernity: patterns and people in sociocultural history’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 27, no. 1, January 1985, pp. 130-4.

With Theda Skocpol, ‘Destined pathways: the historical sociology of Perry Anderson’ in T. Skocpol (ed.), Vision and Method in Historical Sociology (Cambridge University Press, 1984), pp. 170-210.

‘Legitimation crises and the early modern state: the politics of religious toleration’ in K. von Greyerz (ed.), Religion and Society in Early Modern Europe (George Allen and Unwin, 1984), pp. 146-58.

‘The English revolution and the revisionist revolt’, Social History, Vol. 7, no. 3, October 1982, pp. 249-64. Reprinted in P. Gaunt (ed), The English Civil War: The Essential Readings (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000).

‘Religion, revolution and absolutist rule in Germany and England’, European Studies Review, Vol. 7, no. 3, July 1982, pp. 301-21.

‘Max Weber's “Interpretive Sociology”: a comparison of conception and practice’, British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 29, no. 1, March 1978, pp. 71-82.

Current Funded Research Projects

1. Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship (2006-09) worth £126,206 to work on a book provisionally entitled Living Through Dictatorships (contract with Oxford University Press).

This book seeks to take a new look at the twentieth-century German dictatorships by exploring the experiences of different social generations from the First World War to German unification in 1990. ‘Living through Dictatorships’ is to be understood in two senses: not merely the ‘chronological’ sense, referring to the experience of surviving ‘through’ a period of dictatorial rule; but also the sense in which people are in part constituted by, and at the same time actively use, the structures of power within and ‘through’ which they seek to make their lives. Both in terms of its theoretical approach – developing a notion of ‘history from within’ – and methodologically, in terms of the presentation of history through a combination of individual and collective biographies and structural analysis, this book seeks to break new ground.

2. AHRC-funded research project (2002-07) worth £281,106 on The ‘Normalisation of Rule’? State and Society in the GDR 1961-1979.

This explores the relative stabilization of the middle decades of East German history in the light of the concept of ‘normalisation’. This is an ‘ideal type’ (in the Weberian sense) referring to processes of stabilization, routinisation, and internalization of new dominant norms, such that people increasingly adapt to and learn to live according to the rules of systems of power that were initially imposed by force, over time increasingly coming to perceive their own lives as ‘perfectly normal’. Through a combination of in-depth local studies and broader analyses of the links between national developments and grass roots attitudes, the project seeks to develop a new, empirically-based theoretical approach to interpreting the contentious history of the GDR.

The project is based at UCL, in liaison with colleagues in the Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung, Potsdam, and with Prof Alf Lüdtke of the Max Planck Institut für Geschichte, Göttingen and the University of Erfurt.

3. AHRC Additional Public Dissemination Award of £10,500 to make a documentary film about GDR history, society and culture, entitled Behind the Wall: ‘Perfectly Normal Lives’ in the GDR?, based on archival material, location footage, and oral history interviews. The first public showing at UCL took place on 22 March 2007.