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Dr. Christian Dietrich

My historical research is inspired by sociological questions. Since my studies I have been interested in group dynamic processes, the reconstruction of events as an analysis of concrete historical situations and the influence of ideology on the actions of historical actors.
My PhD-thesis, which focused on the Centralverein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens (Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith), discussed the history of the C.V. from its foundation in 1893 to the First World War. The use of methods of empirical social research made it possible to explain the change in the self-image of the largest Jewish defense association against anti-Semitism in the history of Germany.


In my recently completed study on positions on anti-Semitism and Zionism in the German Social Democracy of the Weimar Republic, I used the concept of the constellation as key term in order to present the party positions not only from the perspective of the history of ideas, but also from the context of political struggles and taking into account existing options for action.
My most current research project deals with a science-historical object. A history of the humanities in the GDR is new academic territory. Even though the focus of my work is on historical science, the project requires organizational and knowledge sociological approaches.

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