Experiencing democracy: Women in rural East Germany

This article discusses the experiences of rural women in East German), in light of the transformation front a socialist regime to a market-oriented democracy, Drawing on a study carried out in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania between 1996 and 1999, the article details women's positive recollections of local politics in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and contrasts them with the problems women face with their integration into political structures in the new Germany. The conclusion is that today's lack of participation by women can be related to legacies from their socialist past as well as to narrow definitions of the political that offer few mechanisms and incentives for integrating rural women into local politics today