Strategy AV21

PROGRAMME COORDINATION

The power of objects: Materiality between past and future (2025–2029; Adéla Gjuričová – Coordinator; Coordinating institute: Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences)

Modern people are surrounded by too many things, while the world is facing shortages of key raw materials, some of which are extracted under ethically unacceptable and environmentally unsustainable conditions. The material dimension of human existence is thus a major challenge and threat to contemporary society. At the same time, materiality can be seen as an important trace that materials and objects leave behind. If we explore it through interdisciplinary collaboration, it can lead us to a new understanding of the historical, cultural and technological roots of the problems facing humanity today. Through these hitherto unknown contexts, we may also be able to suggest new ways of addressing them.

The programme aims to bring together researchers from all three science fields of the CAS and from other academic and public institutions. Together we seek to rethink the potential of materiality to structure our thinking and to organise the world hierarchically. We will reinterpret the mobility of materials, technologies and knowledge in terms of their technical, cultural and power implications. Innovative raw materials, technologies or products are associated with both major modernisation shifts and environmental threats, and shape social relations and political regimes. Conversely, the retreat of the same technologies leads to large-scale processes with uncontrollable effects, such as deindustrialisation or the crisis of democracy. Studying the traces of materiality allows us to analyse these social and technical phenomena in their broader environmental and ethical contexts, and to communicate the conclusions to the public.

For the humanities and social sciences, the material turn is a major challenge. However, it is a logical response to the long predominance of studying discourses, ideas and abstract phenomena; the material and technological aspects of social reality and intellectual creations represent a very welcome broadening of horizons and a new focus of attention. In the case of the technical and natural sciences, asking similar questions in historical context can transcend the usual interpretation and help us find new paths in developing sustainable and technologically advanced materials. Only the synergy of the latest approaches of the humanities, engineering and natural sciences with the environmental perspective makes it possible to formulate technical and ideological solutions to contemporary crises.

 

PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAMME

Identities in the World of Wars and Crises (2024–20208; Coordinating institutes: Masaryk Institute and Archives of the CAS, Institute of Ethnology of the CAS)

The current war in Ukraine, the growing turmoil in the Balkans, as well as the tensions between China, Taiwan and other countries are only the most visible manifestations of the „new Cold War“, of how fragile and unstable the current world order is. Deepening social inequalities, accompanied by new culture wars, are leading to the obscuring of previously constituted patterns of identification and their gradual replacement by new identities. A low level of understanding of these new challenges, often threatening the world as we know it, can have serious consequences. This interdisciplinary and comparative programme responds to the current disbalance in the value and geopolitical ordering of the contemporary world and explores the formation and negotiation of identities within and between diverse communities and states. Particular attention is paid to regions whose development has major implications for life in the Czech Republic and whose research has been underestimated in recent times: China, Russia, Ukraine and the Balkans. At the same time, the global anchoring of the programme will enable a broader contextualisation of activities focused on current social challenges within the Czech Republic, at the level of empirical research on identities in different segments of society, which should provide the basis for the formulation of concrete measures responding to dynamic changes in this area.

In 2025, the following projects are being implemented within the framework of this programme at the Institute of Contemporary History of the CAS:

Programme website

Anatomy of European Society, History, Tradition, Culture, Identit (2022–2026; Coordinating institute: Institute of Archaelogy of the CAS)

As one of the key challenges of our time, we consider the research of constructs and functions of Europe and European society. The present development shows in a constantly changing way that individual states and their political representations understand these entities only on the level of declarative political slogans without real content. Meaningless phrases about the need for European unity easily collapse under the pressure of events, such as a pandemic, immigration and economic crises. The proposed programme is based on the fact that all sciences – whether natural or social – were created for the sake of orienting ourselves in ourselves and in the world, which surrounds us, and thus the research results represent one of the most important areas, from which answers to existential questions can come. The study of the anatomy of European society appears in this perspective as a fundamental subject of our time. We have structured the programme in seven research areas and one discussion platform.

In 2025, the following projects are being implemented within the framework of this programme at the Institute of Contemporary History of the CAS:

Programme website

AI: Artificial Intelligence for Science and Society (2025–2029; Coordinating institute: Institute of Computer Science of the CAS)

AI has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. The program „AI: Artificial Intelligence for Science and Society“ responds to these developments: its goal is to support not only research and development in the area of general AI and machine learning methods but also the application of AI methods in various institutes across all three scientific domains to address problems in a wide range of fields, as well as research into the societal aspects of AI. The program also encompasses a set of cross-cutting AI activities across the institutes, strengthening inter-institutional collaboration both within the Academy and with other research organizations outside of it, including international partnerships. It also creates the necessary infrastructure for collaboration with the commercial sector and public administration, as well as for knowledge transfer in the AI field. The program does not overlook opportunities related to education and training of the younger generation, nor issues of resilience and security within the Czech research space. This is reflected in the project’s structure of five research topics (plus one support topic for program coordination). The program will also contribute to enhancing the perception of the CAS as a key player in the AI field, both within the Czechia and beyond.

In 2025, the following projects are being implemented within the framework of this programme at the Institute of Contemporary History of the CAS:

Programme website

Thematic webs

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