III. Knowledge, culture, expertise
The first area of investigation is intellectual history and the history of science and expertise. The department’s research encompasses the historical evolution of scientific knowledge and expertise, with particular attention given to the long-term perspective. Particular emphasis is placed on the period spanning from the Second World War to the era of post-socialist transformation in Central and Eastern Europe. The interaction of knowledge and politics in modern dictatorships and after 1989 constitute’s a key research perspective of the department. The department examines the evolution of ideas about the state, politics, economy and society, as well as the transformation and development of scientific and expert cultures in state socialism and post-socialism. The department’s work encompasses the examination of the various stages of Marxist ideology, its philosophical and political revisions as well as post-1989 neoliberal and populist concepts.
The second area of research is concerned with the ideas of governance in state socialism and after 1989. It is focused on technocracy in state socialism, as well as the development of alternative ideas of “counterculture”, dissent and the environmental movement as preconditions for the democratic revolution of 1989. The department also examines the adoption and establishment of neoliberal ideas and practices around 1989 from the perspective of the cultural history of the post-socialist transformation. This research integrates methodologies of intellectual history with approaches from cultural history.
Members
head: Kopeček Michal, Pehe Veronika
Babička Martin, Čížová Júlia, Drápala Milan, Ďurčo Michal, Fikarová Lucie, Hadravová Alena, Hermann Tomáš, Holub Ondřej, Janáč Jiří, Kostlán Antonín, Lenčéšová Michaela, Mazanec Jakub, Olšáková Doubravka, Pehe Veronika, Rameš Václav, Šimůnek Michal, Skořepa Václav, Slavík Matěj, Sommer Vítězslav, Suk Jiří