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In this article the authors map the theoretical arguments on the gender dimension of the welfare state. They propose three integral dimensions of conceptualising the exercise of parenthood in Czech society in relation to gender equality in the labour market that co-determine the position of parents in the labour market. The authors analyse these dimensions using data from two representative sociological surveys. 1) The right to be a parent (to care for one's child) and the right to work: the measures provided in the Czech welfare state are based on the myth that there are two separate worlds of work and care in conformity with the gender principle, even though there are no significant differences between Czech men and women in terms of the value of work in their lives. 2) Equality or non-discrimination in parenthood: the right to work of mothers of young children is violated in the context of generally increasing gender inequalities in the labour market. 3) The opportunity to achieve a work/life balance: in Czech society flexible forms of employment are uncommon, working hours tend to have a fi xed start and finish, or there is negative flexibility, which renders a work/life balance impossible. The way in which state policy defi nes and employers apply the conditions of parenthood in relation to the labour market and in the context of the gender structure of Czech society makes parenthood a significant handicap for the social inclusion of women who are mothers of young children in the Czech Republic.

When examining the gender of institutions of parenthood, lone motherhood is a key issue. In this article the author focuses on the economic implications of lone motherhood and on the strategies that women living with children without a partner develop in order to ensure their livelihood. The author begins by presenting the theoretical background and some results from European and North American research on lone motherhood. She then provides an overview of research on lone parenthood done in the Czech Republic since 1959. Finally, the author describes the qualitative study she conducted on divorced mothers. The results show how women deal economically with marital separation and which livelihood strategies they opt for. The research methodology was based on constructivist grounded theory and the technique of interviews. From the research results the author distinguishes fi ve basic strategies that can be combined and that are based on the sources that women have at their disposal. Those strategies may differ in terms of their degree of success, dependence/independence on others, and their efficacy at different points in time. The results also indicate that the success of these working strategies depends mainly on the age of the youngest child in the family and the caring responsibilities required by that age. The author argues that while for some women heading one-parent families paid work is an option that allows them to obtain a certain degree of independence and self-confidence, its efficacy depends on the context and immediate conditions in which the women find themselves. Overstressing the employment of lone mothers as a universal solution may thus lead to new dependencies.

Max Weber, Clifford Geertz, & Rudolf Bultmann are often cited by anthropologists & sociologists who are trying to determine the essence of human sciences through a deep analysis of the subjective meanings that the actor sets to his/her behavior. This article provides an analysis of theoretical & epistemological conceptions of the three thinkers mentioned above, & the author concludes that each of them uses the construction of subjective justification in a different way. Weber distinguishes behavior itself from its meaning, which is constituted by a subjective reference to the values of the actor, & also of the recipient (or researcher). In Weber's point of view, someone else's meaning of behavior is eventually undeterminable, & the researcher can only come close to the subjective meaning through an ideal-typical construction, although Weber eventually does not refuse such ideal-typical constructions behind the cognitive possibilities of the actor. Geertz's attempt at an orientation of a description according to the actor primarily leads to the view of cultural & social facts from a bird's eye perspective, to a presumably deeper understanding than the actor is able to have. In this article the author argues that the differences between Weber's & Geertz's theoretical constructions originate in their contrasting conceptions of the nature of culture. Another such case is Bultmann, owing to the fact that he does not concentrate on the subjective meaning of action in a narrow sense, while he aims at, in his eyes, all human existential experience of reality.

Paper deals with the European Monetary Union from perspective of Post Keynesian school of economic thought. It discusses separately arguments often proposed by mainstream economists. After the brief introduction, which highlights main differences between mainstream & Post Keynesian economic theory, work deals in sequence with trade argument often found in discussion about monetary unification, monetary issues mainly with the role of European Central Bank & lastly, work appraises European Monetary Union from international monetary arrangement perspective proposed by Post Keynesian economists. Based on this evaluation, work concludes stating that Post Keynesian economists are more likely not to be overenthusiastic with European monetary unification. References. Adapted from the source document.

Infertility is a problem that affects around 15% of Czech couples of reproductive age. Using data from the survey 'Marriage, Work, Family' the objective of this analysis is to identify the attitudes that Czech men and women maintain towards various strategies for overcoming infertility (adoption, different forms of assisted reproduction) and the factors that influence and shape these attitudes. The fi rst part of the analysis looks for the determinants behind attitudes towards adoption and assisted reproduction in the respondent's external characteristics. For example, education and religion were found to have a signifi cant influence. More educated respondents are more open to methods of assisted reproduction; religious respondents are more open to adoption. In terms of inner determinants (the respondent's attitude patterns) the authors, building on the preference theory proposed by Catherine Hakim, found a preference effect among women. The fi ndings are seemingly paradoxical: of three groups of women (work-centred, home-centred, and adaptive) it is work-centred women (and the partners of work-centred women) who are most likely to take various infertility strategies into consideration. The third part of the analysis – an analysis of the external determinants of attitudes towards infertility strategies – revealed that in some cases attitudes are influenced by the characteristics of the partner more than by the respondent's own characteristics – in particular, the woman's attitudes are shaped more by the characteristics of her partner than by her own characteristics.

The paper is concerned with the famous study "The Protestant Ethic & the Spirit of Capitalism" (1904/1905) by Max Weber. It analyzes both main content & context of this work. It is shown that the main idea of the "Protestant Ethic" is not originally one of Weber, but it was taken over from Sombart & Troeltsch. Weber was significantly influenced -- similarly as in his other works -- by his environment & contemporaries. The article describes critical reactions of German historians towards "Protestant Ethic" & reserved attitudes of the Catholics. Adapted from the source document.

This paper tests the selected determinants shaping the careers of women. It uses data from an exclusive survey conducted in 2011 in the Czech Republic and confronts the results with Hakim's preference theory. The results suggest arguments both for against the preference theory. We formulated four hypotheses and verified them by binary probit models. In accordance with the Hakim's theory we were able to demonstrate that the preference for work (work-centered preference) has a positive and significant impact on the career choices of women on the Czech labor market. According to the results of the model is the work-centered preference associated with 52% increase in likelihood that a woman will spend most of the energy in employment. The impact of higher education has been shown to be positive and significant - higher education increases the likelihood that a woman will spend most of the energy is employment by more than 14%. The impact of motherhood is according to our data negative and significant. It reduces the likelihood of career choices by more than 19% and this effect is the same for one and more children which is in contrast to Hakim's theory. Adapted from the source document.

During the transition of the central planned economies to the market system unemployment has become one of the most serious problems. The article describes the current state of unemployment in the Czech Republic & Slovakia. Using models of marginal effective tax rates developed by the OECD we discuss the influence of wage taxation, social security contributions & the benefit system on taxpayers' incomes & therefore on the motivation to work. The first part describes alternative indicators for measuring taxation of labor, analyses the methodology of measuring marginal effective tax rates & shows the calculated results. The next part discuses the influence of these effective tax rates & benefit systems on the taxpayers' net incomes & analyses possibilities of poverty traps for households, especially for low-wage taxpayers. The results show that efforts to reduce poverty hardly reduced work incentives in the Czech Republic & Slovakia. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.

The rebirth of Czech sociology after the normalization period required a prolonged period of time. Nowadays, the attained level of scientific work, particularly thanks to the improvements at the universities, is distinctly better than seven years ago when a similar discussion began. However, it is time to pay attention to some principles according to which Czech sociologists could achieve consensus & corresponding progress in their scientific work. The main responsibility lies in both the empirical & theoretical grasp of the historically unique processes of postsocialist societal transformation & modernization; this can be realized only through their active participation in international cooperation. Serious interpretations & generalizations of the postsocialist experience require far closer contacts, serious & systematic discussion & both direct & indirect cooperation among empirical research, its methodology, the history of sociology & sociological theory than it is usual nowadays; all this could create favorable conditions for the natural emergence of significant research projects in both basic & applied science.

The analysis builds on existing empirical and theoretical literature in the field of job polarization, which is primarily focused on advanced economies. Hypotheses of the incidence of "skill-biased" and "routine-biased" technical change in the Visegrad group countries are verified in the analysis. The aim is to find out whether the impact of technical change on the labour market in the V4 countries is similar to or different than that in advanced economies. The analytical part is primarily performed on the EU-LFS. The results suggest that the structure of the labour market has changed in the V4 countries in a heterogeneous way. In Hungary and Slovakia, there was an apparent slight job polarization over the period under review. In addition, the evidence suggests that the technical change in these countries may be of a "routine-biased" nature. On the contrary, the pattern of "upgrading" was evident in the Czech Republic and Poland, where the evidence suggests "skill-biased" technical change.

A comprehensive description of just causes for entering a war within the fundamental sources of early Confucian tradition represents the core of the article. The analysis seeks to underline the significant role of the just war theory in contemporary international politics. The article also highlights the rise of the economic, political and military power of China and emphasizes that the country has the potential to play an increasingly important role in world politics over the next few decades. Thus it is necessary to examine the way China is looking at issues of war and ethics. Since there has been evidence uncovered that Confucianism has started to gain influence in Chinese society again, it seems fully acceptable to analyse just war from a Confucian perspective. The main focus of the research is put on exploring works of the founders of Confucianism, particularly the texts of Confucius and Mencius. The analysis of these works uncovers that the main ethical principles of early Confucian teaching allow for various specific reasons for entering a war. Then in the conclusion there is a list of five different types of conflicts that can be assessed as justifiable under certain conditions in Confucian thought. Adapted from the source document.

The article investigates the practice of female marriages in 19th century Great Britain and United States and argues that female marriages provided model for more progressive forms of the legal marriage between men and women. Unlike homosexuality in the 20th century, the same-sex relationships between women in the 19th century often enjoyed social recognition and some women in female marriages occupied prominent social positions. Because they were considered to rest on contract, female marriages served as inspiration for the contractual view of marriage advocated by many supporters of the Victorian marriage reform. The contribution of women in female couples to the success of the marriage reform was further underlined by their belonging to influential social networks. The author also argues that while the structuralist anthropology of mid-20th century, represented through the work of Claude Lévi-Strauss, had limited understanding of homosexuality as a socially legitimate phenomenon, the Victorian anthropology of the second half of the 19th century was relatively more open regarding the same-sex relationships. It is contended that authors as diverse as Henry Maine, Johann Bachofen, or Frederick Engels provided impulses in their work both for a positive evaluation of the same-sex relationships and for a more egalitarian understanding of marriage.