SDEb1011 Society, culture and religion after 1945

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2026
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. et Mgr. Václav Kaška, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Denisa Nečasová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Denisa Nečasová, Ph.D.
Department of History – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of History – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 14:00–15:40 P24a
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Abstract
The aim of the course is to bring students to an understanding of the social and cultural development in Czechoslovakia and Europe after 1945 with a connection to global processes. Culture is understood here in the broadest sense as social human behaviour and its mechanisms of functioning. The course will comprehensively complement other courses in the curriculum that focus on political history and traditional approaches to history. Selected aspects of significant social, economic, and cultural phenomena of the second half of the twentieth century will be reflected upon, including feminism and the changing status of women, the symbolic world of Eastern and Western Bloc values and their representation in propaganda, decolonization, globalization, environmental issues, and the transformation of high and mass culture. The issue of religion, or anti-religious ideological trends in Czechoslovakia, will not be left aside either.
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to: - explain the development of social and cultural history in Czechoslovakia and place it in a wider European context; - identify the key phenomena of the subject and their main characteristics; - understand the post-1945 period comprehensively; be able to think critically about the period and draw conclusions
Key topics
1.Basic outline of social and cultural history approaches, specifics of inquiry, relationship to political history 2.Changes in the status of women and the women's movement in the Eastern Bloc 3.Changes in the status of women and the women's movement in the Western Bloc 4.Images of the enemy as cultural patterns and tools of ideological struggle 5.The new socialist man - contemporary utopias, visions and models 6.Marxism and religion 7.Czechoslovakia in the networks of (de)colonization, postcolonialism and neocolonialism 8. Capitalist and socialist economic globalization and the new order after the collapse of the Eastern Bloc 9.Environmental and natural resource issues in the Anthropocene era 10.Transformations of high art and mass culture in the second half of the 20th century 11.Post-communist society, (dis)continuities with the development before 1989
Study resources and literature
    required literature
  • Alternative globalizations : Eastern Europe and the postcolonial world. Edited by James Mark - Artemy M. Kalinovsky - Steffi Marung. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2020, vii, 341. ISBN 9780253046505. info
  • KŘEN, Jan. Čtvrt století střední Evropy : visegrádské země v globálním příběhu let 1992-2017. Vydání první. Praha: Univerzita Karlova, Nakladatelství Karolinum, 2019, 366 stran. ISBN 9788024639772. URL info
  • KERSHAW, Ian. Na horské dráze : Evropa 1950-2017. Translated by Daniela Orlando - Magdaléna Řezáčová - Pavel Vereš. Vydání první. Praha: Argo, 2019, 588 stran. ISBN 9788025729717. info
  • MIRZOEFF, Nicholas. Jak vidět svět. Translated by Andrea Průchová Hrůzová - Jan J. Škrob. Vydání první. Praha: ArtMap, 2018, 372 stran. ISBN 9788090659957. info
  • RÁKOSNÍK, Jakub; Matěj SPURNÝ and Jiří ŠTAIF. Milníky moderních českých dějin : krize konsenzu a legitimity v letech 1848-1989. Vydání první. Praha: Argo, 2018, 395 stran. ISBN 9788025725184. info
  • LANDA, Ivan and Jan MERVART. Proměny marxisticko-křesťanského dialogu v Československu. Vydání první. Praha: Filosofia, 2017, 491 stran. ISBN 9788070074817. info
  • SCHMARC, Vít. Země lyr a ocele : subjekty, ideologie, modely, mýty a rituály v kultuře českého stalinismu. Vydání první. Praha: Academia, 2017, 423 stran. ISBN 9788020027030. info
  • HANÁKOVÁ, Petra; Barbara HAVELKOVÁ; Kateřina KOLÁŘOVÁ and Libora OATES-INDRUCHOVÁ. Vyvlastněný hlas: proměny genderové kultury české společnosti 1948-1989. Praha: SLON, 2015. info
  • BURKE, Peter. Společnost a vědění. Translated by Martin Pokorný. První české vydání. Praha: Karolinum, 2013, 405 stran. ISBN 9788024620466. info
  • KUČERA, Rudolf. Identity v českých zemích 19. a 20. století : hledání a proměny. Praha: Masarykův ústav a Archiv AV ČR, 2012, 263 s. ISBN 9788086495989. info
  • KALINOVÁ, Lenka. Konec nadějím a nová očekávání : k dějinám české společnosti 1969-1993. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 2012, 396 s. ISBN 9788020020437. info
  • HAVELKA, Miloš. Víra, kultura a společnost : náboženské kultury v českých zemích 19. a 20. století. 1. vyd. Červený Kostelec: Pavel Mervart, 2012, 520 s. ISBN 9788074650536. info
  • Šťastný věk (a jiné studie o socialistické kultuře). Edited by Vladimír Macura - Karel Kouba - Vít Schmarc - Petr Šámal. V tomto uspořádání vyd. Praha: Academia, 2008, 351 s. ISBN 9788020016690. info
  • KALINOVÁ, Lenka. Společenské proměny v čase socialistického experimentu : k sociálním dějinám v letech 1945-1969. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 2007, 363 s. ISBN 9788020015365. info
Approaches, practices, and methods used in teaching
lectures, seminars
Method of verifying learning outcomes and course completion requirements
active participation in class, written exam
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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