Ongoing projects
Nation, Socialism and Women’s Rights. The Political Thought of Milada Horáková in Transnational Perspective (The Czech Science Foundation, Kristina Andělová, 2026–2028)
Milada Horáková represents a key political figure in Czech contemporary history. While her legacy is often reduced to her trial and execution in 1950, this project aims to reconstruct her political thought in its full complexity. It explores her contribution to interwar and postwar Czechoslovak political discourse, focusing on her conceptions of democracy, nation and women’s rights. Furthermore, the project examines her intellectual role in antifascist resistance and the way in which she contributed to the building of the so-called people’s democracy after 1945. One of the main goals of the project is to present Horáková not only as a martyr of the communist political trial, but as a thinker and activist whose political and social view shaped the inter-war and post-war political discourse on the national community, contributed to the form of Czechoslovak social thought and significantly influenced the Czechoslovak feminist discourse. Moving beyond her victimhood, this project seeks to reassess Horáková’s intellectual legacy in both national and transnational contexts.
Negotiating Religious Freedom in Central Europe: Czechoslovakia and Its Successor States (1945–2010s) (The Czech Science Foundation, Martin Pácha, 2026–2028)
This project examines how religious freedom was negotiated in postwar Czechoslovakia (1945–2010s), focusing on transitions through people’s democracy, communism and the post-communist era, culminating in the church-state property settlements in the 2010s. Rather than a straightforward progression toward greater liberty, the research explores how shifting political frameworks and local power dynamics reshaped the accepted form of religious expression. Grounded in Bourdieu’s concept of the religious field, this study analyses archival records, legal texts, media discourse and personal accounts to capture the interplay between state institutions and four religious communities: the Roman Catholic Church, Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, Jewish community and Jehovah’s Witnesses. By investigating how these faiths navigated evolving regulatory frameworks, the project illuminates broader patterns of church-state negotiation. Placing these findings in a European context underscores how historical precedents continue to influence religion-state relations and debates on religious freedom.
Region in the “Great” History: Members of the International Brigades from the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands (The Czech Academy of Sciences, Regional Cooperation Projects Program, Zdenko Maršálek, 2026–2028)
The aim of the project is to conduct basic research, document, and present the history of the involvement of Czechoslovak citizens from the territory of the present-day Region of Vysočina (Bohemian-Moravian Highlands), fighting in the Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 on the side of the Spanish Republican government. The main outputs will include an information database, a traveling exhibition, and a book publication based on the biographies of those involved. The project, aimed specifically at the general public, also aims to contribute to the international research framework. The project is being carried out in collaboration with the Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Muzeum Vysočiny Jihlava (Bohemian-Moravian Highlands Regional Museum in Jihlava).
Science, Expertise, and Society in the Post-COVID Era (IOCB Tech, Přemysl Houda, 2025–2027)
Science, as a body of knowledge, institutions, and practices, has undergone significant transformations throughout history. Since the dawn of modernity, however, it has been characterized by one consistent feature: the prominent status of science, expert knowledge, and their representatives. Scientific knowledge has shaped conceptions of humanity and society, and the language of experts has gradually permeated ever-wider areas of life. In recent years, however, it seems that the shared assumption regarding the authority and universal reach of science is being shaken.
Current crises—the COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflicts, the energy crisis, and the rapid development of AI—have not led to a strengthening of science’s authority, but rather to its questioning. The views of established experts often appear in the media on the same level as alternative or conspiracy theories. In this context, sociology speaks of a “society of distrust” and examines the relationship between belief in conspiracy theories and trust in institutions. Psychology interprets conspiracy thinking as a reaction to accumulated anxiety stemming from events that are difficult to comprehend, while historians point to parallels with the crises of the 20th century.
The goal of the project, which the Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences is carrying out in collaboration with the Institute of Psychology and the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, is to address the question of why science and the expert community are losing authority. It focuses on the social, mental, and cultural sources of distrust in the Czech context, as well as on how the scientific community itself reflects on this decline in authority. More information…
Motivations, values and life strategies of soldiers and members of security forces via qualitative analysis of biographical narratives and quantitative surveys (Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, Pavel Mücke, 2025–2027)
The project proposal reflects one of the priority objectives of the call, which is to ensure the retention of military personnel and, in a broader context, the retention of personnel of the Czech security forces. Therefore, the proposal seeks to help create new procedures and modernizing the personnel policy of the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic.The research therefore focuses on the analysis of life stories with the aim of identifying the motivations of soldiers and using comparisons with members of the security forces. For this, the unique methodology will be used (especially in the form of qualitative methods of oral history and collection of biographical narratives, as well as questionnaire surveys), which will help identify trends and propose new ways of retaining soldiers. More information…
Urbanity: Inequality, Adaptation and Public Space of Cities in Historical Perspective (OP JAK/MŠMT, Petr Roubal, 2025–2028)
The Urbanita project aims to understand key issues in the development of the urban environment in the Czech context from the Middle Ages to the present. Through historical, sociological, anthropological and geoinformatic research, it offers new insights into the complex issues of urban inequality, adaptability to crises and transformation of public space. The concept of ‚history of the present‘ is the fundamental starting point of the project, which allows to explore the historical causes and contexts of contemporary challenges such as climate change, migration, inequalities and conflicts related to public space. The project works on the premise that a deeper understanding of the past can provide practical models for equitable and inclusive urban planning in contemporary democratic societies.
The Urbanity project is based on three key aims that cover the complex issues of urban development, its historical roots and contemporary challenges: 1) Public space – a site of creativity and conflict, 2) The city as a space of inequality, 3) Threats and resilience of cities. In terms of long-term benefits, the project has the potential not only to strengthen the position of Czech science in the international arena, but also to offer concrete models and recommendations for addressing contemporary problems of urban life. Its results can serve as a basis for public policies aimed at inclusiveness, sustainability and democratisation of urban space. The project is implemented in cooperation with the Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Faculty of Arts of Palacký University Olomouc and the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
This result was financially supported by the The Johannes Amos Comenius Programme and is part of the research project „Urbanity: inequality, adaptation and urban public space in historical perspective“, registration number: CZ.02 .01.01/00/23_025/0008735.
HistoryLab II: Internationalization of the educational platform and expanding its reach in the Czech Republic (Czech Academy of Sciences, Programme for Application Development and Commercialization, Martin Štefek, 2025)
The project builds on the previous successful programme „HistoryLab: a workshop for archives and schools“ supported by the Czech Academy of Sciences, which resulted in the validation of the HistoryLab platform as an innovative tool for teaching history. The new project, with a six-month solution period, focuses on the implementation of key recommendations in the form of increased acquisition activities at the domestic level and the creation of prerequisites for the transfer of know-how at the international level. HistoryLab is an innovative educational tool aimed at supporting research-oriented history teaching and working with historical sources. This tool enables effective links between school teaching and the practice of memory institutions such as archives and museums, and supports the development of historical thinking and digital competences of pupils. The result of the project „HistoryLab II: Internationalization of the educational platform and expansion of its reach in the Czech Republic“ will be a modernized HistoryLab application better prepared for transfer at home and abroad.
Extinct Settlements in the Vicinity of the NPP Dukovany, Their Heritage and Traces in the Cultural Landscape (Czech Academy of Sciences, Regional cooperation project, David Kovařík, 2025-2027)
The aim of the project is to document and present the process of extinction of villages and other settlement units that disappeared in the 1970s to 1990s as a result of the construction and operation of the Dukovany nuclear power plant and the associated construction of the Dalešice and Mohelno reservoirs. The main research themes of the project are: 1) the recollection of the history and significance of the places in the region before their disappearance, 2) the description of the preparation and implementation of the disappearance of the settlements, including the documentation of the process of resettlement of the inhabitants and the process of demolition of the local settlements, 3) the fate of the displaced inhabitants of the disappeared settlements and their activities related to the commemoration of their former homes, 4) the mapping of the surviving relics in the landscape and the documentation of the current state of the sites, including the exploration of the possibilities of their further use. The project is implemented in cooperation with the Institute of Contemporary History of the CAS and the Museum of Vysočina Třebíč.
Privatization of the Housing Stock and Changes in Housing Policy 1990-2006 in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic (The Czech Science Foundation, Marta Edith Holečková, 2025–2027)
The project will examine how the proces of privatisation of the housing stock took place after 1990. The post-revolutionary period sawunprecedent transfers of property from former socialist ownership to newly emerging and codified property relations. The transformation also significantly affected the housing stock. Ate core of the research will bet he search for answers to questions related to this proces, the everyday nature of privatisation, and the reconstruction of expert and public debates about what the roleof state housing policy should be, and whether it should exist at all. The question returns periodically, changing over time, but always carrying with it a wariness of state intervention and an emphasis on privatism as a key value. Thr research will providean analysis of the origins of privatisation and the articulation of new values associated with private ownership in a series of scholary studies and in the original scientific monograph. More information…
Parliament in the Age of Europeanisation: The Czech Republic and Slovenia (ParlAgE), (The Czech Science Foundation – Slovenian-Czech Lead Agency project, Adéla Gjuričová, 2025–2027)
The aim of the project is a methodological in-depth analysis of the under-researched transformations of Czech and Slovenian national parliaments in the age of Europeanisation (1993-2004) and to examine their context in terms of deliberative decision-making and political representation. The transnational historical approach will focus on how the relationship between the EU and nation-states is represented, constructed and performed in politics. This will provide a better understanding of the aspects necessary for interpreting the challenges the EU has faced in recent years, such as the rise of populist movements, the decline of traditional parties or the growth of Euroscepticism. Harnessing the potential of Europeanization as a comparative analytical tool will fill gaps in parliamentary studies, but also offer multidisciplinary approaches combining historical analysis with DH methods and create comparative models for the study of Europeanization. Its precise understanding and distinguishing from other transnational phenomena will improve the debate on the EU as a common project. More information…
Displaced persons after WW II., the problem of post-war Displaced Children (Czech Academy of Sciences, Prospective Human Resources Support Programme, Jana Kasíková, 7/2024–7/2026)
The research focuses on the issue of post-war displaced persons in the international and Czechoslovak context, framed by long-term migration policy. The project aims to analyze the creation of the institutional (both international and Czechoslovak) network and the organization of care for postwar displaced persons, as well as the daily life and activities of the displaced persons in the period between their liberation and their return. The media coverage of the topic of repatriation and return into society is also explored. Special emphasis is placed on the issue of displaced children (and particularly on the so-called unaccompanied children), their repatriation, and the political and social resonance of this problem.
Deindustrialisation and the new economic order. The regional economy and the Zlín shoe industry between central planning and the market economy (The Czech Science Foundation, Vítězslav Sommer, 2024–2026)
The project examines the economic transformation of the Zlín industry and the associated regional economy in the 1980s and 1990s, as the centrally planned economy gradually declined and the market system was established. The core of the research is a multi-level analysis of the deindustrialization of the shoe industry in Zlín, which had long been the backbone of the regional economy and one of the most important export industries. The project examines deindustrialization at three complementary levels (global, national and regional) and in three key contexts: (1) the global development of the footwear industry, (2) the economic transformation of Czechoslovakia, (3) the transformation of the economy of a particular region. The research team focuses on the structural context of the changes, the actors involved and, in particular, the degree of institutional and personal continuity in the economic sphere. The project emphasizes a broader explanatory framework and focuses on the neglected regional and sectoral dimensions. The aim is to present a new perspective on economic transformation and to show how the contemporary Czech economy has been shaped. More information…
The Role of Central Europe in Ending the Cold War and Shaping the Post-Cold War International Order (The Czech Science Foundation, Matěj Bílý, 2024–2026)
The project examines the role of the three countries of Central Europe – Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland – in ending the Cold War and the subsequent first phase of the post-Cold War international order shaping. Based on the most recent accessible primary sources, it analyses the adaptation strategies of these states and their actors during the key changes between 1988 and 1991, particularly those associated with the transformation of international political, security, and economic structures at the time. The main questions are to what extent the post-Cold War international order – whose echoes still influence the contemporary world – had begun to form before 1989 due to deep structural causes and how much of a role Central Europe as a region played in the expansion of Western, notably American, political, economic, security and cultural influence after the Cold War’s end. The aim is to bring a new empirically based perspective to the current debate on the causes of the emergence of a unipolar world, reflecting mostly the policy of two former Cold War superpowers so far. More information…
Serving the homeland as a source of national identity. Identification, documentation and presentation of historical sources for the institute of compulsory military service in the Czech lands (1868–2004) (NAKI III DH23P03OVV054, Jiří Hlaváček, 3/2023–12/2027)
The aim of the project, which combines basic and applied research in the social sciences and humanities, is to identify, document and present various types of historical sources on the history of the institute of compulsory military service in the Czech lands in the years 1868–2004. The main objective is to create a specialized professional and publicly accessible electronic information database that offers a detailed chronology of compulsory military service in the context of contemporary political, social and cultural frameworks, a unique glossary (including army language), bibliographies and links to other existing resources, and based on a specialized thesaurus and metadata across thematic categories and sources of an interdisciplinary nature (including audiovisual) with the possibility of comparing the results on the interactive timeline of 1868–2004, using permanent references to digitized document collections stored in Czech and foreign memory institutions. It will also include a general typology of historical sources on the issue, including an overview of their identifying features, access options and recommended critical procedures for working with them. More information…
The Research Group for Historical Transformation Studies (Lumina quaeruntur, Veronika Pehe, 2022–2027)
As part of the project „Postsocialist Transformation as Historical Process and Social Experience“, The Research Group for Historical Transformation Studies will develop a research agenda for the study of the history of postsocialist transformations in the Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia in a broader transnational context. Its innovation lies in approaching economic and political phenomena from a cultural and social historical perspective. The group’s research will focus on three interconnected areas of transformation: 1) mental worlds; 2) worlds of work; 3) urban/rural environments. It will ask how the ideological aims of the transformation project were articulated, lived, and squared with everyday experience by different social groups. Analysing transformation processes at the nexus of the categories of gender, class, and space, the project will take a bottom-up approach that has so far only partially been applied to the history of the post-1989. transformations. More information…
Towards Illiberal Constitutionalism in East Central Europe: Historical Analysis in Comparative and Transnational Perspectives (VW Stiftung, Michal Kopeček, 2021–2025)
In recent years, the rise of authoritarian governments in East Central Europe and far right and populist movements across Europe has sparked concern that the liberal democratic order established after 1989 is falling apart. The project team will attempt to answer the question why illiberal constitutional architects of today were also in the front lines of the democratization movement in the 1980s and of the liberal transformation of the 1990s. They aim to introduce a historical, interdisciplinary, practice-oriented and comparative perspective to academic engagement with illiberal and authoritarian challenges to constitutional democracy. The project stretches from the post-war era with emphasis on the period since 1968, comprising the era of late state socialism, post-communist liberal transformation, into the present day. The project team consists of historians, scholars of law and sociology of law as well as political scientists. While all of the case studies share the same general approach, the theory and methodology employed by each will vary in order to adapt to the specificity of the local conditions. The following case studies are planned: – an investigation of references to the interwar regimes and their institutional setup in the political discourse of Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary. – a study on the intellectual sources of the rejection of liberal constitutionalism in Poland. – an examination of post-1989 conflicts over the far-right and the policing of the boundaries of democracy by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Eastern Ger-many. – a study of the normalization of illiberal constitutionalism – a tracing down of the various critiques of „juristocracy“ and „judicialization“ of politics. The project team supports junior researchers to focus on research on this challenge, to form a transnational network and to prepare the ground for their long-term academic engagement in the field. More information…