The “Socialist” Czechoslovakia section 1960-1989
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This section concentrates on political, social and cultural developments from the early 1960s to the fall of the communist regime in 1989. The focus, however, is not simply on occurrences of key significance, such as the Prague Spring of 1969 or the end of communism in 1989, but is also on ascertaining the reasons why certain trends within the social structure came into being. Likewise, consideration is not confined to describing the way particular crises played out on the political arena, but rather the primary objective is to explore the impact these events had on the society at large and the role society itself had in actually shaping what took place.
While research topics in the main reflect such common fields of study as repression, opposition movements, and church-state relations, one will also find among others those that seek to cast light on the phenomenon of the purges, social surveillance, the renewal of civil society in 1968, the women’s question during the communist era, and the composition and function of mass organizations. Within the parameters of their own designated area, researchers compare and contrast their findings with those from other former socialist states. In addition, in what might be termed a process of cross-fertilization, they cooperate with scholars from other disciplines, such as political science and sociology, and collate data obtained from various research centres. A case in point, for instance, would be the Centre of Oral History of the Institute of Contemporary History. Among the tasks undertaken by the “Socialist” Czechoslovakia section (1969-1989) has been the preparation of the series of books entitled “Resources for the history of the Czechoslovak crisis 1967-1970” (“Prameny k dějinám československé krize 1967-1970”), of which so far 18 volumes of edited documents have been published.
Jaroslav Cuhra
