Velvet revolutions
Subtitle: an oral history of Czech society
By: Miroslav Vanek, Pavel Mücke
Contributors: Mücke, Pavel
Series: Oxford oral history series
Publisher: Oxford University Press; Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 2016
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 264
ISBN-13: 9780199342723
Subjects: Communism; HISTORY / Europe / Former Soviet Republics; HISTORY / Revolutionary; HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century; Interviews; Influence; Social change; Post-communism; Social values; Social conditions; Oral history; History
Description: "This book investigates how values such as freedom, work, family, free time, and politics changed in Czech society in the two decades before and after the November 1989 Velvet Revolution"--Provided by publisher.

"The Velvet Revolution in November 1989 brought about the collapse of the authoritarian communist regime in what was then Czechoslovakia, marking the beginning of the country's journey towards democracy. Though members of the elite have spoken about the transition to democracy, the experiences of ordinary people have largely gone untold. In Velvet Revolutions, Miroslav Vanek and Pavel Mücke examine the values of everyday citizens who lived under so-called real socialism, as well as how their values changed after the 1989 collapse. Based on 300 interviews, Vanek and Mücke give voice to everyone from farmers to managers, service workers to marketing personnel, manual laborers to members of the armed forces. Compelling and diverse, the oral histories touch upon the experience--and absence--of freedom, the value of family and friends, the experience of free time, and perceptions of foreign nations. Data from opinion polls conducted between 1970 and 2013 factor into the book's analysis, creating a well-rounded view of the ways in which popular thoughts, trends, and attitudes changed as Czech society transitioned from communism to democracy.  From this rich foundation, Velvet Revolutions builds a multi-layered view of Czech history before 1989 and during the subsequent period of democratic transformation"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Acknowledgements: The Privilege of Listening to the Voices of Memory; title: 1. I Want to be Free! : Freedom as a Fundamental Human Value; title: 2. The Family under Socialism and in the Whirlwind of Transformation; title: 3. Friends and the Others : How Czechs Evaluate Foreigners and Foreign Countries; title: 4. Education : A Gateway to Success in Life?; title: 5. From the Requirement to Work to Looking for Work; title: 6. Perception of Free Time : Work, Family, and Leisure; title: 7. Us and Them : Eternal Predestination?; title: Appendix 1: Photographs by Jindřich Štreit; title: Appendix 2: Our Narrators.