Historická sociologie/Historical Sociology

43–62

Authors: Petr Wohlmuth

This article is an attempt to present further results in the author’s continuing qualitative field work among the historical war re-enactment societies of the fortress towns of Josefstadt and Theresienstadt (from 2010). Michael Foucaults Heterotopic theory of places is used to shed light on a wide range of ritualised social behaviour, centred around key symbols from the monarchical military culture of the Enlightenment. New categories for the analysis of local context have been created which are clearly compatible with Braudel’s theory of longue-duree, that is isophenomenological historic-social objects, maintaining and transferring the original meaning of heterotopic social-disciplination.

79–84

Authors: Robert Kvaček

The featured observations represent selected viewpoints of World War I, highlighting background events that led to the war. They present the situation in Austro-Hungary for whom the war was a tool to solve its political problems and further demonstrate how the war actually made the aforementioned country’s relations with national groups more complicated. The observations also focus on the image of the war, distorted by propaganda, and the situation on both the front line and in the hinterland. Last but not least they deal with the war from the Czech viewpoint, unique for many reasons including the fact that at this time the Czechs were escalating their attempts at creating their own state.

93–113

Authors: Zdeněk Jindra

According to the 1867 constitution the Habsburg Monarchy’s armed forces consisted of the common army, the navy, the Austrian Landwehr and the Landsturm. The armed forces had authority over three ministries and were themselves subject to the rule of three parliamentary institutions. From the beginning the growth of the armed forces had not kept pace with that of the population as a whole. There was a low volume of conscripts and poor training of reservists. This resulted in a relatively small army both in peace time and during war and meant that by the spring of 1918 Austria-Hungary had practically exhausted its available human resources. This was exacerbated by the high number of losses, both through death and capture. On the battlefield the number of deaths is thought to have been between 905,000 and 1,200,000 with 1.8 million injured. At the same time the number of deaths and illness in the hinterland increased while the rate of fertility dropped. In order to resolve this the government applied a number of measures: the upper age limit of conscription increased, the necessary standards for recruitment were lowered, training period was shortened, more use of weapons, factory workers were replaced with women, prisoners of war and workers from the occupied territories. However at this time the importance of the “war economy” was also growing which resulted in an increase in firms requesting the release of their employees from military service. In 1918 the Habsburg Monarchy had not only exhausted its human resources but was also on the brink of economic collapse.

127–143

Authors: Jan Kalenda – Tomáš Karger

The paper focuses on reflection of the First World War in presidential speeches in years 1990–2013. This period delimits mandates of former Czech presidents Václav Havel and Václav Klaus. Ways in which both presidents referred to the historical event and in which they utilized its interpretation for legitimization of their political goals are compared. As its theoretical framework, the study utilizes an approach that has been developed by Jeffrey Alexander and Philip Smith as part of their program in cultural sociology. The study aims to identify the most significant cultural codes and narrative strategies of the analyzed speeches and to relate them to (supra)nationalistic metanarratives that they help to maintain. The study also points to the fact that presidential speeches represent an important case of utilization of past for the purposes of legitimization of state policy while also being a practice with which states are established.

25-45

Authors: Giselinde Kuipers

Why are things different on the other side of national borders; and how can this be explained sociologically? This inaugural lecture tries to answer these questions, starting from the example of the bicycle in the Netherlands. It distinguishes four processes that have contributed to increasing similarity within nations: growing interdependence within nations; increasing density of networks and institutions; vertical diffusion of styles and standards; and the development of national we-feelings. Together, these processes have contributed to the development of national habitus: increasing similarities within nations, and increasing differences between people living in different countries. These processes have reached their apex in the second half of the twentieth century. Since then, they have diminished, leading to increasing variations within countries, and growing similarities between comparable groups in different countries. This analysis poses new questions and challenges for sociologists. First, it leads us to rethink comparative research: what are we comparing when we compare nations, and is this still a viable unit of analysis? Second, it leads us to consider how the transfer of styles and standards occurs in our informalized, globalized, and mediatized age. Third, sociologists should analyse the new forms of inequality resulting from these processes, such as the growing rift between ‘locals’ and (bike-loving) cosmopolitans.

71-80

Authors: Marek Jakoubek, Lenka Budilová

The following text is based on the outcomes of a long-term field research carried out in eastern Slovakia, and it focuses on the character and specifics of religiosity of the Romany settlements inhabitants. One of the characteristic features of this religiosity is the fact that its core is still based on magical practices while Christianity only covers it on the surface. We will attempt to document this feature by examining a particular example of a chosen institution, this institution being the ritual procedure of the oath at the cross. Even though this practice is commonly known and frequently mentioned in literature, we are of the opinion that most references have so far been of the character of a mere record without an attempt to comprehend its inner nature. Thus, our objective is to explore the intrinsic logic of this institution, which may moreover be helpful in terms of illuminating the whole of the religious system of the Romany settlements inhabitants because in many aspects it may be treated as a model example of a magical procedure concealed under the garb of Christianity. Consequently, this concrete consideration may be generally valid on the structural level.

101-117

Authors: Romana Imríšková

The current article introduces the issue of race and racism in the United States of America with focus on two specific contemporary concepts that have a big attention and have formed the discussion in the last years. The first one is laissez-faire racism from Lawrence D. Bobo who stresses the reluctance of government and political parties to engage in racial questions. The second one is concept of white privilege of Peggy McIntosh who points at advantages and privileges of white race. Both concepts attempt to raise awareness about still present racial discrimination in the United States of America, although in the last years this topic has begun to be perceived as clichet and for some the problem is considered to be solved.

127-134

Authors: Marek Německý

Article describes the books of two authors, who try to compare Russian and Iranian revolutions and political development generally. Whereas Ghoncheh Tazmini uses Hegelian structuralist approach, that sees these revolutions as an inevitable result of modernization from above, another Iranian political scientist Zhand Shakibi puts stress on the role of human actor – pre-revolutionary monarch and his (miss)management of the situation in explaining the origins of revolution. Shakibi applies the human agency perspective to the analysis of the character of pre-revolutionary monarch and his modus operandi. According to Shakibi the structural variables did not by themselves cause the revolution, they create only potential for revolution. The revolutions must be explained by describing complex interactions between structural variables and modus operandi of the monarchs.