Suchergebnisse

This article discusses some aspects of developments in the Czech Republic during the 15 years since the downfall of the Communist regime. At the level of social structures, the dominant trend has been a rapid growth of inequality, which has blocked the development of a middle-class society. At the political level, the most salient tendency is the growth of a 'silent majority', not least due to the murky methods of privatization and the manifest corruption among the new elite. The problems of the ecological movement exemplify the difficulties faced by nascent civil societies in post-Communist conditions. Finally, the author tries to identify likely trends linked to the dynamic of globalization. Here the most serious problem is the stagnation or even decline of the employees and small entrepreneurs who were once expected to become the backbone of civil society.

Ten topics are identified for future sociological research in the Czech Republic, noting that it must shift its focus to adequately cope with the qualitative historical & societal changes of today's world: (1) the history of sociology, (2) the globalization process, (3) the sociology of networks, (4) modernization problems, (5) the postcommunist societal transformation (testing the theory of convergence), (6) the socioprofessional structure, (7) the Czech brand of multiculturalism, (8) the sociology of economics, (9) postmodern criticism of traditional sociological conceptual apparatus, & (10) the sociology of ecology & the ecological issues in the risk society.