TITLE:
The Caucus as an Anthropological Topos
AUTHORS:
Hansjörg Rothe
KEYWORDS:
Peaceful Revolution 1989 East Germany; Ideal Speech Situation; Jürgen Habermas
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Anthropology,
Vol.4 No.1,
February
19,
2014
ABSTRACT: Certain historical
events may be driven by anthropological topoi surfacing from layers
below culture and society, once the structures of society and culture allow for
that to happen. Difficulties in finding a suitable term to describe a
historical event may hint at such a situation. The events in autumn 1989
in the German Democratic Republic, often referred to as “peaceful revolution”,
are analyzed in this regard and it is argued that in essence this was a
spontaneous caucus.