European University Institute Library

Velvet revolutions, an oral history of Czech society, Miroslav Vaněk and Pavel Mücke

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Velvet revolutions

electronic resource

dictionariesbibliography

935643017

Miroslav Vaněk and Pavel Mücke

The Oxford oral history seriesEbsco eBook Collection

an oral history of Czech society

The Velvet Revolution in November 1989 brought about the collapse of the authoritarian communist regime in what was then Czechoslovakia, marking the beginning of the country's journey towards democracy. Though members of the elite have spoken about the transition to democracy, the experiences of ordinary people have largely gone untold. In Velvet Revolutions, Miroslav Vanek and Pavel Mucke examine the values of everyday citizens who lived under so-called real socialism, as well as how their values changed after the 1989 collapse. Based on 300 interviews, Vanek and Mucke give voice to everyone from farmers to managers, service workers to marketing personnel, manual laborers to members of the armed forces. Compelling and diverse, the oral histories touch upon the experience - and absence - of freedom, the value of family and friends, the experience of free time, and perceptions of foreign nations. Data from opinion polls conducted between 1970 and 2013 factor into the book's analysis, creating a well-rounded view of the ways in which popular thoughts, trends, and attitudes changed as Czech society transitioned from communism to democracy. From this rich foundation, Velvet Revolutions builds a multi-layered view of Czech history before 1989 and during the subsequent period of democratic transformation.--, Provided by Publisher

Acknowledgements: The Privilege of Listening to the Voices of Memory -- 1. I Want to be Free! : Freedom as a Fundamental Human Value -- 2. The Family under Socialism and in the Whirlwind of Transformation -- 3. Friends and the Others : How Czechs Evaluate Foreigners and Foreign Countries -- 4. Education : A Gateway to Success in Life? -- 5. From the Requirement to Work to Looking for Work -- 6. Perception of Free Time : Work, Family, and Leisure -- 7. Us and Them : Eternal Predestination? -- Appendix 1: Photographs by Jindřich Štreit -- Appendix 2: Our Narrators