scholarly journals Blind Spots in Post-1989 Czech Historiography of State Socialism: Gender as a Category of Analysis

Author(s):  
Libora Oates-Indruchová

Gender is rarely considered in the works on state socialism in Czech history writing. Given the prominence of the equality of the sexes in communist rhetoric and the heated anti- and pro-feminism media and intellectual debates of the 1990s, the omission stands out as a remarkable loss of opportunity in historical research. It also defies logic. For if “emancipation” and “equality” were so strongly present in pre-1989 discourse and women constituted half the population, does it not follow that the plain demographic fact should drive the interest of researchers to inquire where this population was, what it did, and what it had to say? The question has so far attracted primarily sociologists, but how does it fare in historiography? What are the losses of the absence and the gains of the inclusion of a gender perspective on the history and memory-making of state socialism? This article will first consider the status quo of gender blindness in Czech historiography and its possible reasons in the context of the legacy that state socialism left to social sciences and humanities: the legacy of expertise, disciplinary legitimation and epistemological legacy. A discussion of the consequences of the near absence of gender history and analysis from post-1989 interpretations of state socialism in historiography follows: blind spots and loss of knowledge, lack of precision and a gender bias of historical accounts, and perpetuation of false legacy. Finally, the article discusses the gains to Czech historiography, memory-making and international discussion, if scholars do consider gender.

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 772-790
Author(s):  
Jisu Lee ◽  
Hye-Eun Lee

Abstract The course of reprocessing knowledge and information about social sciences and humanities using digital technology is taking root as a new field of academia called the ‘digital humanities’ (DH). While the social sciences and humanities in South Korea have shown a marked reluctance toward the integration of digital technology, the perception of its necessity as a new methodology for developing these fields in the digital age is growing. Until recently, analytical studies on the status and contents of DH were conducted on data from the western world. Despite their late start, however, Asian countries have begun conducting research on DH with enthusiasm. In order for DH to be properly established in each country, it is essential to set the direction by investigating the pre-requisites for DH studies in that country, as well as the current and future demands. As such, this study discusses the current status and issues regarding DH in South Korea by analyzing the trends of DH research published in South Korea, as well as by examining the status and perception of DH among actual scholars. Based on this study’s findings, we present strategies for improving education programs on DH in South Korea and promulgate the necessity of using DH methodologies in the study of social sciences and humanities to develop global networks and academic communication.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
David K. Wiggins

This essay reflects on the status of kinesiology amidst the current pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement. Utilizing the metaphor coined by mathematician and physicist Freeman Dyson, I contend that the continued success of kinesiology is more plausible if we prepare more visionary birds, those with broader range and a variety of interests, to supplement the more narrowly focused frogs who currently dominate the field. Implicit in the essay is the contention that the field would benefit if it took a more interdisciplinary approach to the study of physical activity, sport, exercise, and other human movement forms as advocated by the American Kinesiology Association and individual scholars in the field. More specifically, I argue that the social sciences and humanities should be provided a more prominent place in kinesiology curriculums and serve as an academic core for all students in the field, irrespective of career aspirations and goals.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 309
Author(s):  
Nina Kulenović

The paper is part of wider research into the status of explanation in the debate on the scientific status of anthropology – wherein one of the key assumptions is that there is a strong correlation between theoretical and methodological structures which would make them inseparable, and that explanation or explanatory potential, is the point of convergence which can be used to test for the possibility of separating theoretical and methodological structures in the first place. To test this idea, a line of debate between methodological holism and methodological individualism – one of the longest running and most complex debates in the social sciences and humanities – was considered. The historical background of the debate has been highlighted, and its relevancy and implications in the controversy about the explanatory capacity and scientific status of sociocultural anthropology.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (25) ◽  
pp. 73-83
Author(s):  
LIVIO SANSONE

 Os conflitos e as contradições na biografia de Mondlane antecipam e dramatizam vários temas de debate de grande atualidade naquela que poderia ser chamada de luta pela e luta de memória em Moçambique, isto é, a releitura, desta vez a partir de vários e conflitivos pontos de vista, da história recente e dos regimes de memória que se estabeleceram. Em Moçambique, como em vários paá­ses africanos, estes regimes de memórias preveem a criação e manutenção do status de imortalidade para algumas figuras centrais na narrativa da nação. Mas estar na Cripta dos Heróis é importante, porém não suficiente. A reconstrução da biografia de Eduardo Mondlane e, sobretudo, da sua biografia intelectual, como na maioria das biografias, apresenta uma questão de agência: até que ponto sua vida determina seu contexto, ou é determinada pelo contexto. Qual é a atualidade de Eduardo Mondlane? Hoje esta pesquisa tem grande impacto não somente em Moçambique e nos outros paá­ses da áfrica onde estão se dando estas lutas de memória, mas também nas próprias ciências sociais, onde há um renovado interesse pela interação entre formação em ciências sociais, luta anticolonial e construção de uma moderna e nova liderança polá­tica, digamos, pós-populista, na áfrica contemporá¢nea.Palavras-chave: Eduardo Mondlane. Biografia. Antirracismo. Ciências Sociais. Memória.THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE BIOGRAPHY OF AN ANTI-RACIST: social sciences, authenticity, internationalism and memory struggle in the rich and complex life of Eduardo Mondlane  Abstract: Conflicts and contradictions in Mondlane's biography anticipate and dramatize several topics of relevant debates in what could be called the struggle for and struggle of memory in Mozambique, that is, the re-reading, this time from various and conflicting points of view, of recent history and memory regimes that have been established. In Mozambique, as in several African countries, these regimes of memories foresee the creation and maintenance of the status of immortality for some central figures in the narrative of the nation. However, being in the Hero's Crypt is important, but not enough. The reconstruction of Eduardo Mondlane's biography and, above all, of his intellectual biography, as in most biographies, presents a question of agency: the extent to which his life determines its context, or is determined by the context. What is the current situation of Eduardo Mondlane? Today, this research has a great impact not only in Mozambique and in other African countries where these struggles are taking place, but also in the social sciences, where there is renewed interest in the interaction between training in the social sciences, anti-colonial struggle and the construction of a modern and new, say, post-populist political leadership in contemporary Africa.Keywords: Eduardo Mondlane. Biography. Anti-racism. Social Sciences. Memory.LA CONSTRUCCIÓN DE LA BIOGRAFáA DE UN ANTIRRACISTA: ciencias sociales, autenticidad, internacionalismo y lucha de memoria en la rica y compleja vida de Eduardo Mondlane  Resumen: Los conflictos y las contradicciones en la biografá­a de Mondlane anticipan y dramatizan varios temas de debate de gran actualidad en la que podrá­a ser llamada de lucha por la y lucha de memoria en Mozambique, es decir, la relectura, esta vez a partir de varios y conflictivos puntos de vista, de la historia reciente y de los regá­menes de memoria que se establecieron. En Mozambique, como en varios paá­ses africanos, estos regá­menes de memorias prevén la creación y mantenimiento del status de inmortalidad para algunas figuras centrales en la narrativa de la nación. Pero estar en la Cripta de los Héroes es importante, mas no suficiente. La reconstrucción de la biografá­a de Eduardo Mondlane y, sobre todo, de su biografá­a intelectual, como en la mayorá­a de las biografá­as, presenta una cuestión de agencia: hasta qué punto su vida determina su contexto, o es determinada por el contexto. ¿Cuál es la actualidad de Eduardo Mondlane? Hoy esta investigación tiene gran impacto no sólo en Mozambique y en los otros paá­ses de áfrica donde se están dando estas luchas de memoria, pero también en las propias ciencias sociales, donde hay un renovado interés por la interacción entre formación en ciencias sociales, lucha anticolonial y construcción de un moderno y nuevo liderazgo polá­tico, digamos, post-populista, en el áfrica contemporánea.Palabras clave: Eduardo Mondlane. Biografá­a. Antirracismo. Ciencias Sociales. Memoria.    


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 20-28
Author(s):  
Jovita Pristovšek

The following paper analyses the status of identity, queer, and labor in relation to re-/production, as shown in the recently published book by Angela Mitropoulos, entitled Contract and Contagion. From Biopolitics to Oikonomia (2012). The aim of this paper is to suggest that oikonomia, as elaborated by Mitropoulos, is a biopolitical heterosexual oikonomia, where we should emphasize its necropolitical intensification that reaches beyond the border of the biopolitical, meaning that it literally breeds death (necro), or in other words, the state reproduces itself by extracting the surplus value from death and war machines. The above transformation will be – in reference to the formulation of Marina Gržinić – called “necropolitical intensification of biopolitics” – while at the same time pointing also to two triads of reproduction of capital/sex/labor and race that are the one of necessity/contingency/value and the other of debt/risk/law of value. My intention is to show how the sexual reproduction is incorporated into the capitalist system through the maximization of the theory of value. Author(s): Jovita Pristovšek Title (English): Re/-Production: Identity, Queer, and Labor in the Work of Angela Mitropoulos Journal Reference: Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture, Vol. 10, No. 1-2 (Summer-Winter 2013) Publisher: Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities – Skopje  Page Range: 20-28 Page Count: 9 Citation (English): Jovita Pristovšek, “Re/-Production: Identity, Queer, and Labor in the Work of Angela Mitropoulos,” Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture, Vol. 10, No. 1-2 (Summer-Winter 2013): 20-28.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3(16)) ◽  
pp. 15-24
Author(s):  
Almir Bašović

This text is an introduction to the thematic block of the journal Social Sciences and Humanities Studies on the literary and theatrical aspects of Bosnian drama and theater. It recalls the presence of theatrical and sub-theatrical phenomena on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina in antiquity, and then lists the specifics of Bosnian culture in the Middle Ages, from which arises a specific relationship to drama and theater. The attitude of Islamic culture towards theater and drama significantly influenced the status that drama has even after the departure of the Ottoman Empire from Bosnia and Herzegovina. With the arrival of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there are significant differences concerning European civic theater. Through the most important conclusions from the individual texts that make up this block, the status that Bosnian drama has in our theatrical culture is pointed out.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 183-208
Author(s):  
TADEUSZ KLEMENTEWICZ

This paper investigates the mechanisms of subordinating the system of science and higher education to the needs of boosting capital in the conditions of a new business model characteristic of neoliberal capitalism. The author uses as a theoretical framework of critical studies of science and higher education systems developed in Poland by Krystian Szadkowski based on political economy (Simon Marginson and Gigi Roggero). The weakness of the recently implemented reform of Polish education, the essence of which is making the status of ‘scientist’ dependent on publication in high-ranking journals belonging to publishing corporations’ oligopoly, is that the natural and technical disciplines have been places on an equal evaluation footing with social sciences and humanities. This practice impoverishes the educational and critical functions of humanities, impoverishes the research questions, impoverishes the research methodology, and consequently, their cognitive values. The assessment of the quality of a social researcher’s work, to be reliable, should include several other components—the presence of an “invisible university” in international networks (e.g. measured by selected citation indicators), but also problematization and interpretative innovation, as well as an original contribution to the achievements of the discipline. Monographs mainly document this. Qualitative expert assessment is required for evaluation. Therefore, the publication of monographs in reputable Polish and foreign publishing houses should become a showcase of the Polish social researcher, rather than contributing journal papers. In the paper, the author synthesizes his various analyses of contemporary capitalism and the role that science and the research and development sector play in accumulating capital.


2018 ◽  
pp. 7-16
Author(s):  
Anna Wolff-Powęska

The paper presents the thesis that the interdisciplinarity of political science as a science, open to the accomplishments in the field of social sciences and humanities enriches this disci- pline. On the one hand, the enormous expansion of knowledge enforces specialization. On the other hand, there is a constant exchange of thought and methodological experience that takes place for fear of becoming isolated. Globalization – the new quality of international life – forces us to continuously exceed the limits of traditional theoretical orientations. Scientific pluralism raises the question of who and when has the right to decide on the superiority of one scientific model over another. The present state of research into the status of political science allows us to observe that the research instruments of politics, the process of permanently changing the world, must be flexible. The history of the social sciences confirms the continu- ous interdependency of particular disciplines and acknowledges political science as an impor- tant link in the chain of evolution of science.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 58-60
Author(s):  
Ivan Jurica

The following contribution is a short summary of an artistic research project on AIDS/HIV, which attempt was/is to reopen and to re-articulate the discourse on the virus and the illness from contemporary feminist and post-colonial perspectives. The idea for this project departed from the constantly imposed and in the meantime unbearable confrontation with the immensely powerful charity machine around AIDS/HIV. We conceive it within the capitalist ideology as the bottom line of processes of normalization. To open this agenda means to open an entire system of capitalist Christian mentality, which concerns contexts of visual representation, popular culture, medical industry, history writing, the “Third” and as well as the “Second” World. In the same instance these processes of normalization resulted in establishing a corrupted homo-normativism that re-produces bourgeois mentality of white supremacy and privatized privileges. Therefore we asked what meaning in such a context bears the terminology of emancipation, solidarity and of a life? These theoretical questions demanded a radicalized curatorial gesture: abandoning the classical gallery-display, and as well asked for a collective ideological positioning. It is necessary to comprehend the virus and the illness as a site of continuing policy of racialization, segregation, homophobia and further capitalist exploitation within the capitalist post-colonial order. Author(s): Ivan Jurica Title (English): AIDS/HIV as (Another) Form of Governmentality Journal Reference: Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture, Vol. 10, No. 1-2 (Summer-Winter 2013) Publisher: Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities – Skopje  Page Range: 58-60 Page Count: 3 Citation (English): Ivan Jurica, “AIDS/HIV as (Another) Form of Governmentality,” Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture, Vol. 10, No. 1-2 (Summer-Winter 2013): 58-60.


Author(s):  
Pedro Enrique García Ruiz

Uno de los aspectos dominantes en los desarrollos de las ciencias sociales y las humanidades en la actualidad es la adaptación de enfoques naturalistas. Los programas naturalistas rechazan el estatuto de lo humano que había defendido tradicionalmente la filosofía al sostener que la conciencia es reducible a un hecho contingente y, por lo tanto, puede comprenderse desde un criterio meramente objetivista. El filósofo francés Jean-Marie Schaeffer llama a esta postura la “tesis de la excepción humana” y sostiene que la fenomenología de Edmund Husserl es el último ejemplo de esta postura. Trataremos de mostrar que el antinaturalismo tan característico de la fenomenología husserliana es sostenible pese a la crítica de Schaeffer. En este sentido, buscamos explorar brevemente la posibilidad y sentido de una fenomenología naturalizada.One of the key aspects in the development of the social sciences and humanities today is the adaptation of naturalistic approaches. Naturalists programs reject the status of the human that had traditionally defended philosophy holding that consciousness is reducible to a contingent fact and, therefore, can be understood from a purely objectivist approach. The French philosopher Jean-Marie Schaeffer calls this approach the “thesis of human exception” and argues that the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl is the latest example of this approach. Try to show that the anti-naturalism so characteristic of Husserlian phenomenology is sustainable despite criticism of Schaeffer. Here, looking briefly to explore the possibility and way of a naturalized phenomenology.


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