The study is focused on the phenomenon of collective violence
that took place in the territory of the Czech lands during the spring and summer 1945. Albeit the war operations had been concluded since the 8th May 1945, general living conditions resembled rather a continuation of the war in the time - at least until the end of the July 1945. Despite the traditional interpretation of the May 1945 as a crucial reversal, the study focuses on the collective violence as a phenomenon overlapping traditional turning points. Remaining high amount of violent interactions is an element connecting the
final war operations with the first weeks and months after. Applying concepts of political sociology (Charles Tilly), social psychology (Philip Zimbardo) and sociology (Randall Collins) the study strives to capture interdependent nature of collective violence between its structural preconditions and situational dynamics. Based on the quantitative evaluation of the acts of collective violence, the first part outlines a macro social topography of collective violence with the main focus on the period between April and August 1945. The main point is an identification of key actors of the politics of collective
violence and their correlation to basic configurations of particular political regimes (i.e. occupational regime of the so called Protectorate and limited democratic regime of Czechoslovakia after May 1945). The second part evaluates social and cultural mechanisms facilitating escalation of violent situations into mass atrocities.The study identifies impulsive acts of collective violence as limited to temporary transitive violent rituals and turns attention
to the important role of the state organised specialists in concrete violent situations. and Článek zahrnuje poznámkový aparát pod čarou
The Black Death plague constituted a major disruption of the ordinary pace of life of the society in early modern period. As such it attracted interest and drew attention. The Black Death menace caused panic and fear, and therefore various measures and actions which were supposed to prevent the outbreak of the plague or at least considerably limit its consequences were defined and carried out. Such practices were shaped by contemporary ideologies and mentalities and reflected everyday experience. The study of various means of dealing with the Black Death menace may be like looking in a mirror in which the curves of the quotidian lifestyle of the period are reflected. The present paper which analyses the last Black Death plague of 1713-1714 in the environment of a southBohemian town offers one such view. The mechanisms which the inhabitants of the regional capital Písek formulated and applied in the attempt to confront the iimpending Black Death menace, are specifically examined. The bearing of these mechanisms on contemporary devoutness is also problematized at the level of socalled semifolk discourse., Zdeněk Duda., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
In this interview with documentary filmmaker Apolena Rychlíková, Anna Šabatová, one of the most remarkable figures of modern Czechoslovak history, considers not only the intellectual foundations of Charter 77 and the dissident movement, but also what shaped Šabatová’s personal background. The interview introduces an often-overlooked continuity between dissent and critical approaches to the post-communist era. This continuity is present in the humanistic, left-wing thought of Anna Šabatová, stemming from the tradition of the Czechoslovak democratic left, which permeates her whole life, not only philosophically and intellectually, but above all practically. Anna Šabatová’s lifelong efforts for a more just society have never stopped, connecting the period before 1989 with the period that followed.