Institute of Contemporary History

The monograph Marxism as a project of a new society. Two studies on social sciences, 1945–69 is devoted to issues of social sciences from the viewpoint of the definition and fulfilment of their ideological objectives. It deals with the constitution of the ideological framework within which social sciences were operating, and mutual influencing of social science policies and practical applications. It is primarily based on archival research. The first study focuses on political sciences in the process of reconciliation of their content with the Marxist-Leninist paradigm, and their re-definition in the framework of social sciences. It also examines their practical application in political education (Marxism-Leninism, scientific Communism) and the reconstitution of social sciences as a framework for socio-political research (sociology, political sciences). It attempts to outline the contribution of social sciences to the social reform of 1968, as well as basic procedures used to liquidate social science reformist projects during the “consolidation” process started after August 1968. The second study deals mainly with principal ideological conflicts in social sciences as manifestations of the actual impact of the fact that the orientation of science was formulated and defined by power structures. It tracks down ideological sources of these conflicts, which their actors perceived as starting points of de-Stalinization efforts, while power structures regarded them as manifestations of intolerable revision of ruling ideological principles, and attempts to capture how the principles applied in dealing with the political cases were affecting the policy and practical application of social sciences.

DEVÁTÁ, Markéta. Marxismus jako projekt nové společnosti: dvě studie ke společenským vědám: 1945–1969. Praha: Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR, v.v.i., 2014. 131 s. Sešity Ústavu pro soudobé dějiny, sv. 46. ISBN 978-80-7285-175-1.