When the past becomes the future: The challenges of policies in ‘Left Behind’ places in East Germany – A case study from the Gera region

Abstract

The concept of ‘left behind’ places encompasses economic, demographic, infrastructural, social and political aspects. Different studies of the left behind place concept focus on different aspects or combinations of these. The theoretical model by Hertrich and Brenner (2024) assumes an interplay of many aspects that lead to the left behind feeling, but emphasizes the emerging dynamics of opinion. The purpose of this paper is to analyze this interaction of individual factors in detail in a case study and thus gain a deeper understanding of the processes that presumably play a role in many other regions. Contrary to perception, the Labor market region (LMR) Gera is developing dynamically in many parameters. We find that although the reasons for the left behind feeling can be assigned to the pillars of the model, in most cases they relate to the past. We conclude that the political measures and developments in the LMR to date have not had an effect due to the strong formation of opinion based on historical events. In addition, the dynamics of opinion formation play a major role in left behind places, which has so far been neglected in politics.