Geographies of Renewal
Geographies of Renewal
$135.00
USDThe term 'Heimat', referring to a local sense of home and belonging, has been the subject of much scholarly and popular debate following the fall of the Third Reich. Countering the persistent myth that Heimat was a taboo and unusable term immediately after 1945, Geographies of Renewal uncovers overlooked efforts in the aftermath of the Second World War to conceive of Heimat in more democratic, inclusive, and pro-European modes. It revises persistent misconceptions of Heimat as either tainted or as a largely reactionary idea, revealing some surprisingly early identifications between home and democracy. Jeremy DeWaal further traces the history of efforts to eliminate the concept, which first emerged during the Cold War crisis of the early 1960s and reassesses why so many on the political left sought to re-engage with Heimat in the 1970s and 1980s. This revisionist history intervenes in larger contemporary debates, asking compelling questions surrounding the role of the local, the value of community, and the politics of place attachments.
- Considers Heimat as actual places of home, providing a new perspective from works which have focused on Heimat as a literary or cinematic trope
- Situates debates surrounding Heimat within broader scholarly questions about home and place attachment
- Draws on a wide range of sources, and a diverse range of local and regional case studies
Reviews & endorsements
‘Geographies of Renewal is a meticulously researched, empirically rich, wide-ranging and stimulating account of the much-contested idea of Heimat in the Federal Republic of Germany. It draws on a great variety of sources, which are imaginatively combined, and subjected to thorough analysis. Anyone interested in local identities, ‘Heimat’, and democratic reconstruction will find enormous value in this account, which is full of fascinating detail, lucidly presented, and cogently argued throughout.’ Riccardo Bavaj, University of St Andrews
‘DeWaal provides a fascinating reinterpretation of regionalism in West-Germany during the Cold War era, debunking the idea that the Heimat movement went down with the Nazis. Instead it thrived, while reviving traditions of local democracy and international cooperation.’ Eric Storm, Leiden University
Product details
January 2025Hardback
9781009513432
386 pages
235 × 160 × 27 mm
0.687kg
Available
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Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Heimat, renewal and life after death in a Rhenish Metropolis
- 2. 'Democratic' and 'Open to the World': reshaping narratives of local identity in cologne
- 3. Heimat and renewal at the water's edge: Hamburg, Lübeck, and Bremen
- 4. Contesting the spatial foundations of democracy: The Southwest State Debates, 1945–1956
- 5. The Nation as a redemptive geography: Heimat meetings and expellee politics
- 6. Transcending the need for home?: The anti-Heimat movement of the 1960s
- 7. Between Rhetoric and practice: re-reading the Heimat renaissance, 1970-1989
- Epilogue: the immutable Heimat question
- Bibliography
- Index.
