The history of democratic transformation after 1989 section

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This section deals with historical research after 1989. Unlike previous epochs of Czech, Czechoslovak and Central European history, this particular period is not marked by any significant milestones, as, for example May 1945 or November 1989. Rather, researchers are confronted at one and the same time with both the actual living present, and with continuity in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres. Historiographers make productive use of the rich supply of findings from other specialized social sciences, such as sociology, political science and political economy, by re-locating such data to the field of historiography and then examining them afresh by applying the method of historical analysis. The primary focus of research of this section is towards three linked thematic areas:

The common theme running through each of the discrete research projects of the section is the question of both the possibilities and the constraints intrinsic to the growth of Czechoslovak and Czech democracy in the Central European and European context after 1989. Every democratic community that has originated historically has done so as a result of the interplay of universal aspirations and principles with the cultural-historical determinants inherent in its own particular historical development. Indeed, the only satisfactory way to approach an adequate understanding of any form of democracy is to take into account the historical conditions underpinning it, both those of a general nature and those peculiar to the individual community under study.

Michal Kopeček


 


Demokratická revoluce 1989 Československo 1968.cz Němečtí odpůrci nacismu v Československu výzkumný projekt KSČ a bolševismus Disappeared Science Česko-Slovenská komisia historikov Europeana

Current events in picture

Director of the Institute for Contemporary History Oldřich Tůma starts the proceedings on 20 November. The picture further shows the participants of the first panel called “The Struggle for East-Central Europe as a Primary Cause of the Cold War?” From left to right: Michael Hopkins, Benjamin Frommer (Chair), Vít Smetana, László Borhi and Rolf Steininger.
Prime Minister Jan Fischer awarding Prof. Mark Kramer with the Karel Kramář Memorial Medal.
The Prime Minister is congratulating Thomas Blanton, the director of the National Security Archive. Further from left to right are: Prof. Alex Pravda (Oxford University), Prof. Mark Kramer (Harvard University), Prof. Vilém Prečan (Czechoslovak Documentary Centre), Prof. William Taubman (Amherst College) and Michael Dockrill – husband of Prof. Saki Dockrill who was awarded in memoriam.

International conference (19-21 November 2009) about the role played by East-Central Europe in the Cold War.

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