Institute of Contemporary History

Research interests:

• Politics of Memory after 1989 in the Central European Context
• Memory, Heritage and the Symbolic Landscape
• Critical toponymy
• Hegemonic narratives
• Social conflicts and polarisation
• Post-Cold War Cultural and political identities

Education:

• 2018–2024: Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Media Studies (PhD.)
• 2005–2010: Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Media Studies (PhD.) (Mgr.)

Employment:

• 2025–now: Researcher, Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• 2024–now: Deputy Director of Operations and External Relations (External Relations), Institute of International Relations Prague
• 2021–2024: Researcher, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University

Positions and memberships in Organization:

• European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA)
• Memory Studies Association
• International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR)
• Culture and Communication Research Centre at the Institute of Communcation Studies and Journalism, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University (CULCORC)

Study and Research Stays Abroad:

• 02/2022–04/2022: West University of Timișoara, Erasmus+ Traineeship, Teaching and Editing Assistant
• 09/2019: University of Vienna, Dept. of Applied Linguistics, Methodological Internship

Research projects:

• since 2025: Urbanita: Inequality, Adaptation and Urban Public Space in Historical Perspective, MŠMT – OP JAK, Researcher
• 08/2022–12/2024: Rearticulation of Totalitarian Pasts and Polarization of Society: Local Forms of International Emancipation Movements and Their Reception in the Online Environment; GA ČR, 22-34744S, Researcher
• 06/2021–06/2024: Role of online media in constructing, negotiating and practicing active citizenship for children; GA ČR 21-28556S, Researcher

Articles:

• Kárníková, L., Reifová, I. (in press) Images of Deficiency: Orientalist Self-Scripting in Czech Post-Socialist Cinema. Eastern Europe: Politics, Society, Culture reader. De Gruyter.
• Kárníková, L. (2024) Dismissed or Acclaimed for Breaking Norms: The Discursive Positioning of Young Active Citizens in Czech Online Media. Javnost – the Public, 31(4), 545–562.
• Průchová Hrůzová, A., Kárníková, L. (2024) Imagining the Postcolonial in Central Eastern Europe: Controversies of the Czech Manifesto for Decolonization. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, online first.
• Šimková, K., Kárníková, L. (2024) “ It Is The Best Tool We Have, But That Doesn’t Mean It’s a Good Tool”: Czech Civically Engaged Youth Actors on Tackling the Ambiguity of Using Digital Media. Media & Jornalismo 24 (45).
• Kárníková, L. (2023). Mediální data a kritická analýza diskurzu. In: Hejzlarová, E., Mouralová, M., Štěpánková Štýbrová, M. (eds). Fantastická data ve veřejné politice a jak je využít. Karolinum, s. 352–379.
• Kárníková, L. (2022). Socialistická uliční jména optikou postsocialismu: Případ (ne)přejmenování ostravských ulic a jeho tematizace v českém tisku po roce 1989. Dějiny – Teorie – Kritika, 2/2022, s. 283–310.

Conference and workshops:

• “Dědictví socialismu ve světle války na Ukrajině: Lokální a nadlokální aspekty dehonorifikace maršála Koněva v Praze”. 17–18 October 2024, Dějiny ve veřejném prostoru, Univerzita J. E. Purkyně, Ústí and Labem
• “The controversies of Socialist heritage 2.0: De-commemorating Soviet Marshal Konev in late post-socialist Prague”. 10–12 July 2024, CADAAD 2024, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
• “The power of Westernormativity in decolonisation repertoires in Czech user-generated discourse”. 23–27 September 2024, ECREA 2024, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
• “Young activists‘ perspectives on how society views their civic engagement in the online space”. Children and Youth Perspectives: Thery, Research and Practice in European Context. 14–15 September 2023, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague
• “We had no colonies, we are a colony: The past and the present in popular repertoires on decolonisation in post-socialist Czechia”, 29–30 June 2023, CEECOM 2023, Masaryk University, Brno
• “Youth activists’ perspectives on navigating online spaces”, 9–13 July 2023, International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) annual conference, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, France
• “Discursive hinderances to youth activism”, 7–9 September 2022, Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MECCSA) annual conference, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland
• “Confined to acts of individual responsibility? Cultural specifics of discursive construction of youth activism in Czech online media”, 19–22 October 2022, European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) annual conference, University of Aarhus, Denmark
• “Urban toponymy and memory politics in post-communist cities: Comparative study of Ostrava (CZ) and Bydgoszcz (PL)”, 1–3 September 2021, Linguistic Landscapes Workshop, University of Gothenburg (online)
• “Urban toponymy and memory politics in post-communist cities: Dynamics of debates on street renaming”, 20–22 October 2021, Discourse.net Congress, Budapest (online)
• “Hegemony, consensus, or common-sense? Czech news discourse on the Communist past after 1989”, 30 May – 1 June 2019, Discourse Analysis and Ideology conference, University of Essex, UK