"In this book, the political positions and social situations of four social groups have been analysed to highlight two main characteristics of socialist society in the GDR: conflict and compromise. Without forgetting the political restriction and repression that were a defining part of this society, this book observes the stability of the regime until it dissolved quickly from 1987 onwards. In this context, structures, attitudes, relationships, and tensions within East German society are examined and used to analyse wider political and social tendencies."--Jacket.