Číslo 3 (2012)

Permanent URI for this collection

Browse

Recent Submissions

Showing 1 - 15 out of 15 results
  • Item
    Vesnice v zajetí železné opony - možnosti archeologického poznání studené války
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Rak, Michal; Funk, Lukáš; Váňa, Martin
    The past twenty-five years have seen the development of a sub-discipline in archaeology labelled “20th Century Conflict Archaeology” around the world. The sub-discipline is focused on the remains of the military, civil, political and religious conflicts of the last century. Traces of these events are examined using an interdisciplinary approach because many different sources have been left behind to serve the researchers of this field, each of which carries unique information hardly detectable from another point of view. While the First and Second World Wars have attracted the lion’s share of attention, in recent years the efforts of researchers have turned to the Cold War and to the most famous symbol of the era—the so-called Iron Curtain, a fence of barbed wire separating the Eastern and the Western blocs. The most famous part of the curtain is the Berlin Wall. Nevertheless, research of this topic in Czech academia remains marginalized. The aim of this paper is to present how these issues are studied abroad and outline opportunities to study this in the Czech Republic. Our examples are the Iron Curtain itself and the village of Maříž, in whose history the events of the last century left an indelible mark.
  • Item
    Joseph Heath, Andrew Potter – Kup si svou revoltu! (2012)
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Kalinič, Petr
  • Item
    Jan Záhořík – Dějiny Rwandy a Burundi (2012)
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Kydlíček, Jakub
  • Item
    Možnosti identifikace rodiny v pravěku na základě prostorové analýzy pohřebišť
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Krištuf, Petr; Švejcar, Ondřej
    Prehistoric barrow cemeteries are often structured in spatially separated groups. The formation of these groups was probably caused by a membership of the deceased to particular social units that were buried separately. We test the hypothesis that these groups of Early- and Middle Bronze Age graves represent cemeteries of individual families. We used GIS tools, statistical tests, principal component analysis (PCA) and network analysis carried out using Pajek software to test this hypothesis. This study is based on the assumption that the family cemeteries consist of graves of individuals who had different social status. Our assumption is that the family cemeteries are presented as separated groups of graves. Graves belonging to one group should therefore have different formal properties. Comparing formal and spatial characteristics within the studied cemeteries, some groups of graves were identified; these consist of graves with different burial assemblages. Our conclusion is that this finding supports the hypothesis that the spatially separated groups of graves represent cemeteries belonging to different families.
  • Item
    Archeologický průzkum pusté rekreační chaty v Krkonoších
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Funk, Lukáš; Váňa, Martin
    There is a deserted recreational cottage called „Jelení louky“ near the town of Pec pod Sněžkou in the Krkonoše. This cottage is special because it has been left almost untouched and in a well-preserved state. The cottage was built in the first half of the 19th century and was abandoned in 1998. This spring, an archaeologist from the Department of Archaeology at the University of West Bohemia conducted archaeological research on the site. The research focused on the formation processes of archaeological record and on the cottage’s life.
  • Item
    Mayská náboženská bratrstva v antropologické imaginaci
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Kapusta, Jan
    Civil-religious hierarchies (also known as cargo systems or cofradías) in Mesoamerica have received considerable academic attention, namely in connection with the performance of feasts of saints, social organization of community, and prestige. In this paper the institution in Mayan culture is described and the anthropological theories focused on the problem of extensive expenditure during the feasts are discussed. Through an analysis of the dynamic history and contemporary progress of the institution, the paper takes issue with both the approaches of cultural essentialism or functionalism and colonial historicism or Marxism. In contrast to some of the recent anthropological developments, such as post-colonialism and post-structuralism, a phenomenological attitude which appreciates the relevance of expenditure as a psychosocial phenomenon of sacrifice is highlighted. In general terms, the aim of the study is to demonstrate the fruitfulness of diversity; drawing from particular social and individual circumstances and specific motives, anthropologists grasp the complexity of phenomena in a way which enables them to fulfil the age-old need for theoretical plurality and to make sense of nonsense. The conclusion discusses the emphasis of contemporary anthropology on anti-isolationism, anti-passivism, and anti-totalism.
  • Item
    Proměny přístupů studia neandertálců – s příkladem výzkumů v Portugalsku
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Tůma, Petr; Šneberger, Jiří; Hošek, Roman; Haws, Jonathan; Benedetti, Michael; Friedl, Lukáš
    Neandetherthal skeletal remains are the first described and longest-studied modern human ancestors. The history of research on Neanderthals dates back to the discovery of the first specimen in the Feldhoffer cave in 1856. Initially, the debate focused on the taxonomic position of the Neanderthals and their exact anatomical relationship with modern humans. Later research concentrated on many other issues including partial aspects of life, biological and cultural adaptation to glacial conditions in Europe, issues of diet and health, or issues such as paleobiology of Neanderthals (reproductive behavior, ontogeny, mortality). Another important direction is the question of Neanderthal extinction in the period between 30 to 25 thousand years BP. This paper provides an overview of the research directions related to Neanderthals in the context of new discoveries of skeletal remains and the development of new methods of study. The authors use the specific research conducted on the Lapa do Picareiro site in Portugal as an example of a research aimed at the reconstruction of Neanderthal environment and Neanderthal behavior.
  • Item
    Genderovanost porodu jako příklad antropologického zkoumání lidské reprodukce: přehled klíčových konceptů
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Hrešanová, Ema
    In the past few years social scientists have extensively focused on the domain of human reproduction. This focus has provided many incentives for the development of related social theory. Building on these recent scholarly discussions, which emphasize the central role played by human reproduction in our social lives, this paper focuses on childbirth as one of the peak reproductive events and on its gender aspects. Predominantly building on the anthropology of reproduction and gender and related scholarship in the social sciences, the paper‘s aim is to provide a review of key ideas and concepts that make the „genderedness“ of childbirth visible. First, I explain what constitutes the gendered nature of childbirth and in what ways gender relations shape the birthing process. I build on Connell’s distinction of three main theoretical understandings of gender. Subsequently, I focus on the cultural aspects of childbirth and demonstrate its cultural construction with regard to gender. Next I highlight the importance of gender roles which are deeply internalized and work even during the birthing process, thus affecting the whole birthing experience. The interaction between medical personnel and a birthing woman is in itself an important part of this experience in Western societies and is shaped by the the overall medicalization of childbirth, which I then go on to discuss. Sunsequesntly, I focus on the issue of modern obstetrics as the ultimate source of authoritative knowledge. Childbirth however is also a crucial lifecycle event accompanied by rite de passage in non-Western as well as Western societies and the conclusion of this paper is therefore dedicated to presenting key works and ideas related to this important anthropological concept in relation to childbirth.
  • Item
    Meniace sa trendy výskumu minulosti populácie na Slovensku
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Golian, Ján
    Works dealing with the issue of population research in Slovakia, a field which significantly developed during the second half of the 20th century, have often built on the earlier works of the interwar period. The common denominator of these works was most frequently the current issue of ethnicity and the need felt by Slovaks to demarcate their borders (especially the Southern border) in a young Czechoslovakia (A. L. Petrov, J. Husek). Academic grappling with present demographic questions reagrding interwar Slovakia (A. J. Chura, J. Svetoň) resumed after the Second World War, with new questions regarding the demographic developments in Upper Hungary from the 18th century onwards. The School of modern historical demography which has its roots in French academia did not, unfortunately, establish itself in Slovak academia. The few works published (J. Alberty, M. Kohútová, J. Kandert) failed to elicit the necessary inspiration and no increase was noted in graduate dissertations produced on these topics at Slovak universities.Today, in the era of free historical inquiry, P. Tišliar‘s and B. Šprocha‘s accounts of population history research reach new audiences. Similarly, our thesis “ Social and Confessional Determinants of Demographic Development in the Podpol’ania in a “long” 19th Century” aims to contribute to these modern works and open a discussion on historical demography in the specific micro region of Detva.
  • Item
    Antropologův den mezi „klienty represe“: zúčastněné pozorování bezdomovců ve středně velkém městě
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Hejnal, Ondřej
    The aim of this study is to describe some of the advantages of participant observation in the study of the urban homeless. The specific way in which the homeless subsist has led local politicians to call them “the Clients of Repression”, thus the title of the article. Presently, the original concept of long-term stationary participant observation – as seen, for example, in Malinowski’s pioneering fieldwork – is not so common in the study of contemporary complex societies. Urban anthropologists increasingly focus on shorter iterative research visits among analyzed populations. In this article I will try to define participant observation and summarize the methodological procedures applied by Czech and foreign ethnographers of the homelessness. In addition, I will describe a day of my fieldwork spent in active participation in the common activities of “the Clients of Repression”, and I will accentuate some specific findings obtained during this day. Finally, I will emphasize some of the problematic aspects of my fieldwork (i.e. law violation) which constitute an inseparable part of participant observation among the homeless.
  • Item
    Online úskalia folkloristického výskumu
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Šipöczová, Eva
    The problematic aspects of internet research are slowly becoming manifest in all the Humanities. The primary concern of ethnology and folkloristics is contemporary folklore – anecdotes, urban legends, rumours, conspiracy theories, all of which are abundant on the internet. Neverteless, the nature of virtual reality has given rise to new methodological problems and uncertainties. How should we collect folklore material on the internet? A conflict rages between classic face-to-face research, and the physically distanced research of the vitrual space. Virtual space has diffrent rules and principles of communication; it functions in a diffrent way. Who is our informer? who is the proprietor of folklore on the internet? And how can we give relevant context to collected materials? The next ambuscade is the fact that the internet creates a inexhaustible quantity of folklore material which lives in databases, discussion forums, emails, chatrooms, social networks, etc.--How can we use this huge database? This contribution does not profess to provide a correct methodology for conducting qualitative folklore research on the internet. Its purpose is to point out the problems and thus join the discussion already taking place around the world, and increasingly in our region.
  • Item
    „Virtuální etnografická procházka“ jako příklad vedení etnografického výzkumu v době internetu
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Dlouhá, Marie
    Ethnography is usually defined as a method (or set of methods), or as a research paradigm. The existence of multiple definitions is partly the result of ethnography being used by researchers from different fields of study; sociologists and anthropologists, for example. The purpose of this article is to try and determine whether a “new ethnography” really exists. While ethnography originally involved face-to-face contact, technological developments (especially the invention of the internet) have made interacting in virtual spaces possible. The author presents a specific application of ethnographic methods in the age of internet communication which she dubs “a virtual ethnographic tour”. She demonstrates that the main characteristic that ethnography retains from its classical form is the close link between theory and methodology. In contrast, a specific application is always new because social reality is constantly changing.
  • Item
    Science and technology studies (STS): možnosti a meze antropologie v laboratořích
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Zeman, Daniel
    Science and technology studies (STS) have become a relevant partner for other disciplines when it comes to understanding the period we live in. STS’s frequent application of an ethnographical approach may seem inviting to an anthropologist, but what kind of results are obtained by today’s STS? By analyzing two older works concerned with biotechnology by Paul Rabinow and Tereza Stockelova I shall try to demonstrate the existence of a common approach that could be described as preventive distrust. The two works are however based on different theoretical backgrounds-- while Paul Rabinow was inspired by Michel Foucault’s study of power from an ethical point of view, Tereza Stockelova was influenced by Bruno Latour‘s  political Actor-Network Theory. This comparison has led me to believe that this distrust often leads to baseless objections. Future visions of scientific progress often try to cast a shadow over bioscience as potentially dangerous or revolutionary (biosociality) but this view might prove indemonstrable and might therefore be rejected in the future.
  • Item
    Garbologie: zrcadlo konzumní společnosti
    (AntropoWeb, 2012) Brunclíková, Lenka; Sosna, Daniel
    Garbology has shown great potential in its ability to contribute to social sciences since the seventies of the previous century. Nevertheless, it is yet to gain full recognition by Czech academia and most Czech studies of waste remain primarily concerned with environmental or economic issues. The presented research aims to shed light on the consumption patterns of two urban sites in the Pilsen region: Vinice‘s large communal buildings and Sylvan‘s attractive blocks of flats, constructed over the course of the past two decades. Thematically, we focus on households‘ bias towards either Czech or foreign commodities, brands, and the amount of resources watsed, which in turn attests to the extent of planning involved in Czech households´ consumption patterns. The research was conducted at the municipal waste landfill in Chotíkov. During four weeks in the field we analyzed in detail over 3,000 pieces of garbage with a total weight exceeding 130 kg. Records were digitized directly in the field using a tablet. Preliminary results indicate qualitative differences in consumption in the surveyed sites. The differences are reflected in both the preference of certain brands of goods, and in the amount of discarded food. Also, the research identified large amount of potentially recyclable waste in the municipal solid waste. The results of the research indicate the potential of garbology in shedding light on contemporary social practices associated with waste.
OPEN License Selector