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Dear readers,

This issue of Socioweb is the third English language edition, and I would very much like to take this opportunity as editor to welcome you to the Czech Republic’s leading web based sociological magazine. Socioweb provides a window for presenting current research into topics that span the range of questions examined with the social sciences and public policy making. It is the earnest hope of both this month’s contributors, and the editorial board of Socioweb that you will find something of interest in the articles contained in this issue.

In previous years I have argued that an English language version of a Czech sociological magazine such as Socioweb is important for three reasons. First, it represents a “coming of age” and demonstrates the growing power and confidence of Czech social science. Second, as contemporary social science is international in scope and nature, there is much to be said for bringing Czech social research onto the global stage and ensuring that this country plays a full and equal role in shaping opinion among citizens and decision makers. Third, many of the key themes and debates in the social sciences are by definition international, one need only think of hot topics such as ‘globalisation’, ‘global climate change’, and the ‘international financial crisis’ to see that discussion and debate of these issues should be undertaken on an international stage.

These general principles have underpinned the articles presented in the last two years English language editions; and this year’s edition will continue this work. In the first English language edition of Socioweb the leitmotif was human decision-making. Last year the focus shifted to demonstrating how social science research tackles problems within the real world. This year the general theme spanning all of the articles in this issue is the topic of trust. Trust has always been a central concern of the social sciences because it is seen as the “glue” that holds society together.

In the final months of 2008 the importance of institutional trust became headline news across the globe. This occurred because the international financial system stopped functioning because banks lost trust in their competitors and refused to extend credit to one another. Unsurprisingly, within this context it came as no shock to learn from economic commentators in the media that the word “credit” is intricately linked with trust as this key financial term comes from the Latin verb credere: to trust. The international financial crisis of 2008 demonstrated that while trust is often an invisible and pervasive feature of economic life: the existence of trust between individuals and across institutions cannot be taken for granted. Moreover, trust is brittle and can be withdrawn at any time leading to catastrophic consequences where there can be enormous collective losses.

One of the general lessons of the so-called “credit crunch” of 2008 is that if trust is absent institutions cannot operate. Just as trust or more specifically credit is the glue that holds economic systems together, a similar logic applies to political institutions. One may plausibly argue that one of the key events of late twentieth century – the collapse of communist regimes in 1989

90 – demonstrates a similar logic in the political sphere. Citizens living in socialist systems in Central and Eastern Europe lost trust in their communist political institutions and this ultimately sealed the fate of Soviet bloc regimes.

Almost a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the central question that vexed the minds of economic and political leaders in late 2008 in their efforts to avoid the worst features of a global economic depression was how to recover trust among banks? This important practical question is a concrete example of a more general consideration: Why do people trust others that they know, and more curiously individuals and institutions that they do not know personally? It comes as no surprise to learn that this has been a central theme of social theory from the beginning.

Without getting into the long history of the concept of trust, this edition of Socioweb will explore a small number of themes where trust plays an important role. Here is an overview of each contribution to give the reader a flavour of what is contained in following pages.

In our first article Jana Chaloupková examines when people decide to “settle down”, that is become involved in a long-term relationship and possibly get married and have their first child. Here the importance of inter-personal trust is obvious. This article focuses on the timing of such decisions during the life course and identifies three different patterns of behaviour which shows that decisions regarding starting families are not all the same with regard to structure and timing. In the following contribution Marta Vohlídalová explores why cohabiting or married couples decide to break-up. Just as cohabitation, marriage and having children may be interpreted as expressions of trust; one may reasonably say that for most people break-ups are primary examples of loss of trust. This research reveals that the reported reasons for break-ups vary systematically on the basis of type of relationship (marriage vs. cohabitation) age, education and socio-economic status implying that inter-personal trust within households is not the same in all homes.

Moving away from the household, trust is also one of the key characteristics of the neighbourhood in which people live. Here Ondřej Špaček in our third article presents his research on why some areas within Prague are seen by residents as being “nicer” to live in than others. This piece reveals that sense of community, an indicator of trust in neighbours, is strongest in areas that are rich and in poorer districts where apartment buildings are not large and allow residents to get to know each other.

The following contribution by Pat Lyons continues the theme of trust, but focuses instead on who to trust when interpreting the past. In a discussion of Milan Kundera’s command to “tell the truth” there is an examination of 2 how different generations in Czech society perceive the events of 1968 and 1989. This is important as there has been debate over whether a younger generation of historians who did not experience the communist regime direct have the skills to make judgements on events that occurred during this era. In essence, this is a debate on who do Czech’s trust to tell the truth about the past.

In a following article, Marta Kolářová looks at one salient feature of globalisation – the alter-globalisation movement. This social movement is a very interesting one as it manages to cooperate and coordinate at the transnational level largely on the basis of trust as there is no institutional framework directing efforts. Examining the demonstrations at the IMF

World Bank summit in Prague in September 2000, this contribution reveals some of the internal workings of the Czech and international alter-globalisation movements and how they manage inter-group distrust.

In the final contribution, there is a brief exploration of which Czech citizens trust political institutions most and how this has changed over time. Here Pat Lyons reveals in his article that there are important differences in the trust elicited by national and sub-national institutions. Curiously, the political institutions with the greatest power attract the lowest levels of trust. Moreover, the level of trust in institutions varies over time. This evidence suggests that Czech citizens’ sense of trust is partly determined by the perceived performance of institutions.

I would like to conclude this introduction with an expression of gratitude and thanks to all of the contributors to this issue. It has been a pleasure for me as editor to facilitate in the presentation of the ideas and research contained in this third English language issue of Socioweb.

Všem mnohokrát děkuji.

Příjemné čtení Vám přeje

Pat Lyons

pat.lyons@soc.cas.cz

SOCIOweb_07_08_2009

SOCIOweb_10-12.2004.pdf

SOCIOweb_9_2004.pdf

SOCIOweb_1-6_2004.pdf

SOCIOweb_19-20_2003.pdf

SOCIOweb_17-18_2003.pdf

SOCIOweb_15-16_2003.pdf

SOCIOweb_13-14_2003.pdf

SOCIOweb_11-12_2003.pdf

Vydává Sociologický ústav
AV ČR, v.v.i.

Šéfredaktorka:
Marta Kolářová

Redakční rada:
Daniel Čermák
Radka Dudová
Jana Chaloupková
Yana Leontiyeva
Pat Lyons
Petra Guasti
Natalie Simonová
Petr Sunega
Iva Štohanzlová

Technická redaktorka:
Michaela Vojtková

Adresa:
SOCIOweb
Sociologický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i.
Jilská 1, 110 00 Praha 1
tel./fax: +420 286 840 129, 222 221 662
e-mail: socioweb@soc.cas.cz

ISSN 1214-1720
© Sociologický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Praha