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
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.
Pozorování zajímavého a neobvyklého chování vosíka Polistes dominula – schopnost dosednutí na hladině vodní nádrže při sání vody, aniž by došlo ke smočení chodidel. and Watching the remarkable and unusual behavior of the European Paper Wasp (Polistes dominula), i.e. its ability to sit down on the water surface of a water reservoir when sucking up the water without drenching its soles.
he paper quantitatively analyses a sample of 300 Czech prayer books and other popular religious handwritten material (not including songbooks) from the 18th and 19th centuries. The author maintains that most of the material consisted of (partial) transcriptions of popular printed books and their widespread popularity was influenced by the growth of literacy and the individualization of piety. Their use was by no means limited to the milieu of the secret non-Catholics which were proscribed until 1781; indeed the majority of Catholic writings were not fully orthodox. The character and decoration of the writings in question were not directly related to the confessional nature of their originators and/or users; in fact the general rules of early modern popular culture played a much more important role and in many cases it is difficult to determine whether the source is catholic, protestant or sectarian. Prayer books fully reflected official forms of religion relatively late i.e. from the tum of the 18th and 19th centuries as a result of church domination over popular piety. However, even at this time the process did not result in absolutes: religious writings substituted the non-existence of baroque literature the printing of which was prohibited by the enlightened censorship prevalent at the time. Only a change in religious forms and new opportunities for the printing of pre-enlightenment books in the mid-19th century led to a decline in handwritten prayer books.