The article aims to identify the development phases in the process of the regional differentiation in the Czech Republic after 1989, and examines whether this differentiation trend is currently changing. The assumption the article's hypothesis is based on is that during recent development the basic 'parameters' of the principal features of the country's regional structure have been stabilized amidst the conditions of parliamentary democracy and a market economy. Unlike the first phases of socio-economic transition, when differentiating trends prevailed, a certain degree of stabilisation can now be assumed, alongside the emergence of new trends. The development of regional differences was analysed using indicators of GDP, the unemployment rate, entrepreneurial activity, and tax revenue from self-employed physical persons. The findings show that over the course of the 1990s regional differences intensified at both the mezo-regional (regional) level and the micro-regional level. It was also confirmed that at the turn of the millennium the phase of divergent regional development ended, and since that time regional differences have hovered around the same level.
This article addresses the question of how to be an activist in the dynamic postsocialist field of power by focusing on anti-corruption actors in two policy-mediating knowledge institutions with transnational ties in the Czech Republic. Drawing upon sixteen months of participant observation research and interviews, I argue that a new generation of civic activists has sought to carve a niche in the competitive field by crafting an authoritative professional image. They have accomplished this through the performance of new international codes of neoliberal professionalism to both a Czech and international/ western audience in order to gain social recognition. At the same time, however, they risk alienating (and being alienated from) their local counterparts and public if they appear too much the global de-nationalized professional. The discomfort with having to craft their sense of self between globalizing cultures of professionalism and local conditions is a core tension these actors experience in the context of broader changes in the building of civil society and democracy (in the international image), the postsocialist labor market, and the role of the intelligentsia. It demonstrates the limits to the accumulation of global cultural and symbolic capital.
The article focuses on representatives of the regional (and most recently established) level of government in the Czech Republic. It describes the context behind the emergence of regional governments and how they differ from the local and national political levels. It notes the close personnel connection between local and regional political elites. Experience gained in local politics helps elites to succeed at the regional level. The presence of local politicians in regional government varies with the level of residential fragmentation and the degree of urbanisation in the given region. Unlike local politics, which is consistently comprised of a significant proportion of independents, regional representatives are almost exclusively members of political parties and movements. This situation on the one hand serves to increase the politicisation of local politics and on the other leads to greater competition within political parties, whose programmes and national leadership regional politicians wish to influence.
The article looks at the issue of Roma migration from Slovakia and places it in the context of European post-communist migration in the 1990s and migration from eastern to western Europe in the early 21st century. The article is based mainly on qualitative data that the author and his colleagues collected in the form of migration biographies. The author shows that unlike Roma migration from Bulgaria and Romania to western states, migration from the Czech Republic and Slovakia was a delayed occurrence and culminated eight to ten years after the migration from the Balkan states. However, migration between the Czech Republic and Slovakia was continuous, even after the break up of the Czechoslovak state. This form of migration has been a significant migration flow since 1945. It was initially a form of chain migration, with continuous flows that resulted in the creation of linked networks of relatives in both the source and target countries. The migration bridge that was formed as a result now serves a two-way flow of Roma short-term and long-term migration. The author demonstrates that the formation of migration bridges between Slovakia and western European countries within the European Union is similar in nature to the Roma migration from Slovakia to the Czech Republic after 1945. It is a continuous form of chain migration creating transnational bridges for two-way short-term and long-term migration based on family relationships. The author states that individual settlements in Slovakia choose different migration strategies and there are business activities that make migration from Slovakia easier. He notes that many Roma from Slovakia do not conceive migration from Slovakia as permanent migration. The majority of them continue to see their future in connection with their birthplace in Slovakia. It is only the generation of the children of current migrants who have begun to consider emigrating permanently out of Slovakia.
The proteocephalid tapeworm Proteocephalus torulosus (Batsch, 1786) exhibited a marked seasonality in its occurrence and maturation in barbel (Barbus harhus L.) from the Jihlava River, South Moravia, Czech Republic. Recruitment took place in winter and early spring, growth and maturation in spring and gravid worms left the fish hosts in May; during summer and autumn, the parasite was almost absent from the fish population. Parasite burden was related to fish size, with larger barbel being more heavily infected than smaller ones.
The article focuses on the development of the labour market in the Czech Republic from the perspective of employment and unemployment between 1998 and 2004. Using data from the Czech Statistical Office, and within a reference framework of EU countries, the authors discuss and analyse the factors that determine unemployment and employment in Czech society. The authors use latent logistic regression to verify the assumption that the odds of unemployment are not evenly distributed across the entire Czech population and to identify three segments of the labour market in the Czech Republic. In each of these three segments the employment and unemployment odds differ, and the factors that determine these odds function differently in each segment.
The article deals with the topic of migration from cities to villages in the Czech Republic and Austria and the opportunities for the social integration of newcomers. It relates partly to the problems of suburbanisation but is not limited to just migration to suburban villages. The analysis is based on a qualitative study conducted in 2003-2004 using grounded theory, and it examines the subjective viewpoints of the incomers and their assessments of their situation. The author reveals two different patterns of motivation for migration, presents a typology of relationships between the incomers and the village community, and distinguishes three basic 'orientations' among the incomers: a village orientation, a city orientation, and an orientation towards self-sufficiency. These specific orientations emerge in the process of mutual interaction between the preferences of the incomers and the integration opportunities offered by particular villages; they are not exclusive and can change over time. The author closes with a summary of the differences between the situation in the Czech Republic and Austria, which may be a result of different structural conditions and different historical backgrounds.
The extreme gravity of the funeral ceremonies in the Czech Republic is due to the diffusion of the biblical models in all the sections of the population. A definitive shift between the traditional european way of celebrating death of a relative and the Christian tradition seems to have occured at the end of the nineteenth century. If it is true that the majority of Czech funerals end with the cremation of the body (a process originally refused by the Catholic Church), it is also true that the funeral ceremony at the present day fully accomplishes the principle of severity provided by the Bible. Today most of the Czech funeral ceremonies consist mainly in listening to pieces of music recommended by the management of crematories. A less controlled (and probably more natural) expression of mouming seems to be almost extinct in the culture of the Czech majority.
Presented article analyzes oral narratives usually defined as contemporary (urban) legends with emphasis on their main characteristics as a folklore genre. The article focuses on definition, terminology and presentation of history of International and Czech research of contemporary legends along with examples of local contemporary narratives. Czech contemporary legends can be characterized as showing clear parallels with East European as well as global folklore repertoire. The most popular Czech cautionary legend was legendary “Black Ambulance”, narrative about mysterious black ambulance kidnapping children, current mainly in 1988 and 1989. Widespread is corpus of comical narratives (“Hilarious Accidents”), in Czech oral transmission popular at least from the 1960s. Narratives showing clear parallels with traditional Czech folklore are relatively lacking in the contemporary Czech repertoire - single exception being cycle of legends about undead Nazi soldier Hagen, popular in tramping movement since the 1980s. Czech contemporary xenophobic narratives deals mainly with Romani (Gypsy) people, “Chinese Restaurant Legends” from global repertoire and anti-Turkish legends from repertoire of German-speaking countries. Newer narratives current from the end of the 1990s show more parallels with international contemporary legends.
Soil samples were collected from the whole territory of the Czech Republic, and the presence of entomopathogenic nematodes from the families Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae was evaluated by Galleria traps method. Of the 342 samples studied, 53.8% were positive for entomopathogenic nematodes with only one positive for the heterorhabditid, Heterorhabditis megidis Poinar, Jackson ct Klein. 1987. Of steinernematid species, Steinernema kraussei (Steiner, 1923), Steinernema felliae (Filipjev, 1934), Steinernema affine (Bovicn, 1937), Steinernema intermedium (Poinar, 1985), Steinernema bicornutum Tallosi, Peters et F.hlers, 1995, and Steinernema sp. belonging to “glaseri" group were recovered. With several exceptions the nematodes occurred in all the ecosystems, subecosystcms and habitats studied. They were more frequently found in samples from tree than open habitats, from light than heavy soil, and their incidence was ubiquitous, rather than patchy. Dependence of entomopathogenic nematodes on insect incidence seemed to be elementary for both their incidence and abundance. The sampling sites with moderate to severe insect abundance were 66.5 % positive for nematodes while those with slight or no visible insect abundance only 15 %.