Alexander Jude Beard

DPhil Research Topic

Marxist Dissidents, Western Intellectuals, and the Struggle for a Socialist Democracy in East-Central Europe, c.1977-1998.

Supervisors: Paul Betts and David Priestland

Co-funded by an Arts and Humanities Research Council studentship and the Magdalen College Scholarship, my DPhil research concerns the democratic and humanist approaches to socialism that were elaborated in opposition to the dictatorships of Central and Eastern Europe.

I examine the dissidents in East Germany and Czechoslovakia who framed their opposition in these terms throughout the 1980s, and the alternative trajectory they hoped to pursue in the revolutionary moment of 1989. I consider these efforts within a broader conversation about the future of left-wing politics in the twilight years of 'real socialism', enabled by a dialogue with intellectuals in the West.

The project builds on work I conducted while completing the MPhil in Modern European History at Cambridge, fully funded by a Benefactors' Scholarship from St John's College, for which I was awarded a Distinction. My thesis, which dealt with political thought during the Peaceful Revolution in East Germany specifically, was chosen to be deposited in the History Faculty's Seeley Library.

As an undergraduate at Oxford, I studied History and German at University College. I was recognised with a national award by the German History Society for my thesis on the migration of Vietnamese 'contract workers' to East Germany, as well as the Gibbs Prize (proxime accessit) and numerous college prizes for my performance in Finals.

An interest in state socialism was first inspired by the year abroad I spent in Berlin, where I studied at the Humboldt University as an exchange student. I have since maintained close connections with the country. I recently visited Chemnitz on the invitation of the Internationale Stefan Heym Gesellschaft to participate in a podium discussion concerning the author; this was part of a series of events celebrating the city’s status as European Capital of Culture in 2025.

I have also written for a non-academic audience in English and German on subjects including socialist thought and East German literature.