Global Conflicts and Local Interactions: Cultural and Social Challenges

Research programme within Strategy AV21 focuses on global conflicts and their local interactions which present important cultural and social challenges in the 21st century. It analyses cultural and social transformations with regard to interactions of global and local dynamics in the contemporary and historical development of cultures and societies, especially in Europe, but also in the Americas, Africa and Asia, particularly with respect to interactions with the local processes in the Czech Republic.

It examines not only problems connected with armed conflicts but also various important social, cultural, civilizational or economic conflicts, which are also preconditions and causes of diverse violent clashes. The research programme analyses internal and transnational migrations of various groups of populations, territorial integration and secessionism, cultural and social diversities, social tensions and consensus, security and suicides. It examines conflicts with regard to particularism and universalism and with regard to interactions between global, macro-regional (especially European), national and local orders. It analyses cultural contradictions and inter-cultural dialogue, social, gender and economic divisions and disparities, and problems of moral responsibility. It makes research of development and historical roots of selected conflicts (e.g. World War II, Cold War, both enforced and spontaneous mass migrations, etc.), with regard to processes leading to assertion or imperilment of democracy, justice, law order, international law or formation of global constitutionalism. In this context, the research programme also studies reflections of conflict changes from the perspective of the actors, with emphasis on changes of forms of their identity, sociability and world perception, including their material and spiritual production, behaviour and action. In this way, the research programme develops interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary cooperation of scholars from various institutions across the particular disciplines. The research programme provides its findings to the civil society, local and national governance, UNESCO and other organisations, and to contribute to public discussions on these important themes.

Participating institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences:

Institute of Sociology
Institute of Philosophy
Oriental Institute
Institute of State and Law
Institute of Ethnology
Institute for Contemporary History