1. Perceptions of
Communism
Romeo Bosna
Elena Rapondzhieva
Mariya Kamarashka
Brian Zulu
Ediomi Iyanam
2. Aims and objectives
• We aimed to find out what has remained from Communism in
Prague today, 22 years after the official fall of the regime. We
would explore that in terms of the way the city looks and in
terms of the way people live and think.
3. Working Definitions:
• 1. a theory or system of social organization based on the
holding of all property in common, actual ownership being
ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.
• 2. a system of social organization in
which all economic and social activity is controlled by a
totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-
perpetuating political party.” (Dictionary.com 2012)
4. Methods and Methodology
• Preliminary Research
- history of Prague and the Czech Republic, their current
situation in terms of politics, media and way of life.
• Field Research
- Flow of tourists
- Graffiti tracking
- Classic derive: dice system
Audio-Visual data
5. Capital of the Czech Republic since 1992
The country sits on 78,864 square metres
Home to almost 10.5 million people
1.2 million people live in the capital of Prague.
9. In 1355 Prague became the capital of the Holy
Roman Empire after King Charles IV was
crowned Emperor.
The construction of the „Stone Bridge‟ began
in 1357 and finished in the beginning of the
15 century. It was later named ‘Charles
Bridge’
10. By the year 1781 the present day historic centre
of Prague was created by the Holy Roman
Emperor Joseph II.
Patent on toleration of religion.
In 1918 the empire was defeated and its fall
lead to the creation of the state of
Czechoslovakia.
In 1939 their industrial growth was cut short
by the Nazi occupation.
11. In 1945 the Prague
Uprising occurred.
On May 9, 1945 the
Soviet Red Army
entered Prague
12. Religion
Huge numbers of historic churches and
religious artefacts
Converted to Christianity in the 9th Century
(Catholic)
15th Century there was significant call for
reform and the Protestant faith started to
gather pace.
During the period of Communist
rule, religion was effectively banned.
14. • Freedom of Speech
• Press Freedom
• Cultural Freedom
Political Reforms
by Dubček
15. THE VELVET
REVOLUTION
17 November – 29 December 1989
(a total of 6 weeks)
Led to Czechoslovakia‟s first
democratic elections won by
Václav Havel.
On January 1, 1993,
Czechoslovakia peacefully split
into two independent countries,
Czech Republic and Slovakia
16. • Tuan Yi-Fu
“What begins as an undifferentiated space becomes place as we get to know it better
and endow it with value… The ideas „space‟ and „place‟ require each other for
definition. From the security and stability of place we are aware of the openness,
freedom, and threat of space, and vice versa.”
Methods of research
approach into a city
18. Our habitus
• Pierre Bourdieu
- “can be understood as the values and dispositions
gained from our cultural history that generally stay
with us across contexts (they are durable and
transportable).”
(Webb, Schirato and Geoff 2002, 36)
19. Habitus
and Hexis
the city‟s architecture is the
physical embodiment of its
habitus, or its “bodily hexis”
(Webb, Schirato and Geoff 2002)
45. QUOTES
What do you remember about
communism?
“When I was a child …I was
- Not to much really….I was too
happy, got a chance to play will
young.
dolls, I had toys, food. I used
to travel with “my parents a lot
around the Czech Republic…
“It`s quite complicated with the parents ….but I can tell you
about my grandparents. And this is more interesting .At the
beginning…it was hard for them to adapt, because they were not
working and everything went up – the prices, cost of living,
everything was high. The first 2-3 years of capitalism were
hard years, but slowly after that….it was ok.”
46. In conclusion, this idea of Prague and the Czech people having
moved on from the experience of communism was evident
throughout the city: the exploitation of the topic as a tourist
attraction (through souvenirs and museums); the renovation and
“westernization” of communist buildings and neighbourhoods
outside the city centre; the light and unburdened attitude of
young people towards the subject – all of this spoke to us that for
Czech people communism is no longer a painful memory.
Conclusion
47. Limitations
• Missing a person with a Western background on our field
research.
• More primary research in the form of interviews.
48. • Enyedi, G. 1998. “Transformation in Central European Postsocialist Cities,” in Social Change and Urban Restructuring in
Central Europe, Enyedi, Ed, Akademiai Kiado, Budapest. Pp.9-34
• Musil, J. 2005.”City development in Central and Eastern Europe since 1990: Historical context and socialist legacies”, in
Hamilton et al. (ed) Transformation of Cities in Central and Eastern Europe: Towards Globalization, United Nations
University Press, Tokyo, pp 22-43.
• Musil, J. 1993. “Changing Urban Systems in Post-communist Societies in Central Europe: Analysis and Prediction,” Urban
Studies, 30:6, 899-905.
• Tuan, Yi-Fu. (1977). Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p6
• http://www.myczechrepublic.com/czech-news/ More Than A Destination Guide ( Last accessed on 21 April 2012.)
• http://www.prague-holiday.cz/prague-today ( Last accessed on 21 April 2012.)
• http://archiv.radio.cz/history/history15.html The Velvet Revolution ( Last accessed on 21 April 2012)
• http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/prague_spring_1968.htm The Prague Spring Of 1968 (Last accessed on 21 April
2012)
References
