Sandra Matthäus (M.A.), geb. 1983, ist wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Lehrstuhl für Soziologie mit Schwerpunkt soziologische Theorien der Technischen Universität Chemnitz und Promotionsstudentin bei Andreas Reckwitz. Zuvor studierte sie Sozialwissenschaften u.a. an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin und der New School for Social Research in New York. Ihre Forschungsschwerpunkte sind Sozial- und Gesellschaftstheorie, Bewertung, Subjektivierung und Selbstverhältnisse, Ost-West-Verhältnisse und Natur-Kultur-Verhältnisse.

In the 30th year of reunification, "the East" continues to be a tense topic in German society. Important causes lie in the perspective of "the East" within the framework of modernisation theory, in which "the East" is always viewed and evaluated against the background of the development of "the West", and interconnections and ambivalences are ignored. The volume therefore argues for a paradigm shift in East German studies. Following relational approaches, a change in the view on "the East" is thus carried out. This change focuses above all on the relationship between "East", "West" and "the migrant" and thus, "the West" comes into view as a research object for the first time. This makes a new East German research possible, which in the end is no longer solely East German research.