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This article considers the position of sociology in a nonsociological context, that is, the Czech Agricultural U in Prague. The substance of the paper is a consideration of the role of sociology in relation to rural issues, including their practical dimension as relates to rural development. The background of the paper is constituted by both discussions in the Czech lands & abroad, which address the role & position of sociology & its relation to the lay public, & the question of how (& also if) it is possible to cope with the skepticism of lay people (a skepticism that the authors have experienced in the exercise of their professional activities) in relation to the findings & information provided by sociology. The authors suggest that the possibility exists of presenting non-trivial findings & information for lay people. Sociologists have at their disposal many instruments for mapping the actions & ideas of specific people when investigating such issues. If the results of sociological research are embedded within specific practical measures addressing rural issues, then the chance for social acceptance increases & the project is more likely to be sustainable. In such a situation, sociology is both related to concrete practices & circumstances (the doubts of lay persons about its meaninglessness disappear), yet it also retains its academic discourse, as a part of sociology, as a science. As a reflection of the latter, the article demonstrates the interconnections between general sociology & rural sociology, because of the centrality of the countryside & agriculture in contemporary society.

Analyzes the historical variation of secondary school tracking in formerly socialist Czechoslovakia, using multinomial logistic regression & focusing on the effects of family background on the odds of making the transition to vocational, technical, or academic secondary schools. I also test various hypotheses regarding trends in educational reproduction, socioeconomic inequality in access to secondary education, & the impact of political status of parents on access to secondary education. Educational expansion, unlike 'communist affirmative action,' dramatically reduced educational reproduction at the secondary level. Positive & negative discrimination on the basis of parental occupation, however, considerably diminished the advantage of higher status children in the transition to vocational & technical schools in the early 1950s & 1970s, but never affected access to academic secondary schools. The consequences of parental political status for their children's education display remarkable variation, which is unmistakably responsive to historical events. The multinomial transition model also reveals the cross-temporal dynamics of tracking in Czechoslovakia. The postwar expansion of the educational system brought about double benefits. While larger numbers of lower-class, rural, & female students enrolled in secondary schools, their higher enrollments were confined to vocational schools. Though a large number of higher status children were enrolled throughout the 1948-1989 period, their enrollments in vocational schools dropped as they began to fill positions in the growing technical & academic schools.

This article deals with a history of the Association of the Romanies in Moravia (SRM), one of the most-known organizations of Romanies. The SRM, having a seat in Brno, is connected with it´s leader Karel Holomek, who is the core of the SRM activities. The SRM activities relate to culture, education of children and young, legal and social services, cooperation with the Museum of Romany Culture, etc. It also publishes semi-monthly periodical Romano hangos that has become quite respectable. The SRM is characteristic by an effort to solve the Romany-Czech coexistence problems in a balanced way. ; This article deals with a history of the Association of the Romanies in Moravia (SRM), one of the most-known organizations of Romanies. The SRM, having a seat in Brno, is connected with it´s leader Karel Holomek, who is the core of the SRM activities. The SRM activities relate to culture, education of children and young, legal and social services, cooperation with the Museum of Romany Culture, etc. It also publishes semi-monthly periodical Romano hangos that has become quite respectable. The SRM is characteristic by an effort to solve the Romany-Czech coexistence problems in a balanced way.

Explores the representation of old age in post-1995 educational literature for the elderly published in the Czech Republic. Educational literature covers handbooks that propose individual strategies & recommend a specific lifestyle for old age. The theoretical framework presents aging as an individual as well as societal experience, which must be understood in a new social & cultural context. The interpretative analysis looks at the themes of general lifestyle, health, & disease, & sexuality on the basis of arguments about the possibility to affect the process of individual aging, emphasizing self-responsibility & health maintenance. Educational literature for elderly people represents a type of social acquisition, which is intended to help people achieve the ideal of a new type of aging.

These reflections on the state & problems of Czech sociology after twelve years of free development include thoughts on its seven weaknesses that either at present or at least potentially pose a threat to Czech sociology, deprive it of the ability to compete, & lower the level of its prestige in society & the value of its scientific results. These weaknesses include: (1) the division of Czech sociology into qualitative & quantitative sociology, including the intolerance that accompanies this state; (2) the uncritical acceptance of only the most basic & superficial results of sociology by the political sphere in the form of percentages & speculations relating to them; (3) the somber state of under-financing in academic sociology; (4) the difficulties affecting post-secondary school teachers on the one hand & researchers at the Academy of Sciences on the other; (5) the need for cooperation with other sociologists in the region; (6) cooperation with Europe & the world; & (7) morals & integrity, without which, in the author's firm opinion, it is impossible to conduct sociological research.

The aim of this article is to analyze the attitudes of the main political parties in the Czech Republic towards the European Union. A special emphasis is put on the presentation of these attitudes in the pre-referendum period & on the levels of support for membership achieved among the parties' supporters. This topic is analysed through the theoretical lens of "europeanization," an approach which examines the impact on domestic (national) policies & political systems of EU policies & processes. This theoretical perspective is usually applied to current member states but has been increasingly extended to candidate countries in the pre-accession period as well. In the period after the first democratic elections of 1990, the "European" debate among Czech political parties has intensified & shifted from the clear initial "yes" to membership to more complex & qualitative questions. By the time of the national EU referendum, (June 2003) the impact of" europeanization" was manifested by the presence of a significant number of EU-related topics in the political parties' agenda. The authors have utilized a range of political geography, sociology, & political science methods to demonstrate a high correlation between the EU referendum results & the levels of the partisan support for the parties favoring membership in the EU. According to the available empirical data from various public opinion surveys, the support for membership among the voters of the Social Democratic Party (CSSD), Civic Democratic Party (ODS), Christian Democratic Party (KDU-CSL) & Freedom Union (US-DEU) ranged from 82 to 92 %. On the contrary, the position of the Communist Party (KSCM) was clearly the opposite. In addition to the political orientation of the voters, other factors which have influenced the voting results were examined. These included such factors as regional unemployment rate, education, wage levels as well as other political-geographical aspects. References. Adapted from the source document.