Transformation of Gender Culture in Czech society 1948–1989












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            The status of women in Czechoslovakia between 1948 and 1989, their organization in a histo

            feminist awareness in socialism and capitalism as well as feminist and critical criminolog
            and justice, feminism in Czech cinema with a focus on the work of director Věra Chytilová 
            were discussed by participants of a one-day conference that took place at the Faculty of H

            Charles University on January 14. The international conference was part of the three-year 
            Transformation of Gender Culture in Czech Society 1948–1989.


            PhDr. Hana Havelková, Ph.D., Department of Gender Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Charles 
            “The project is very ambitious in the sense that it spans a whole long period. It turns ou

            inexhaustible material because every area of society is gendered in some sense and importa
            point of view,” project leader and head of the Department of Gender Studies at the Faculty
            of Charles University PhDr. Hana Havelková comments on the breadth of the material studied

            yet approached the topic the way we did. Using the most up-to-date methods in social scien
            on the analysis of the field of culture of the period, on the way people thought and on th
            issues were written about. I would stress that in our project we also try to dismantle cer

            originated in socialism – the myth of the strong woman, of solidarity between the sexes, t
            state versus women etc. When we look deeper into the material, we can see that it shatters
            huge potential of new findings emerges which remove the clichés in which women’s status ha

            so far. So I believe that our project will produce many new findings, a new perspective, a
            open a whole new chapter in the debate about gender culture in Czech society.”
            The morning part of the conference was dedicated to the presentation of the book “The Insi

            Thought: from Feminist Criminology to Gender Theory” published this year by the Sociologic
            publishing house to mark the birthday of Professor Gerlinda Šmausová, Czech-German crimino
            sociologist, leading gender theorist and founder of the gender studies department at the F

            Studies of Masaryk University in Brno.
            Professor Gerlinda Šmausová’s book was presented by editor Libora Oates-Indruchová
            In the afternoon, the conference featured a panel presentation of individual parts of the 

            project carried out by different research teams and a follow-up a round-table discussion o
            Periodization of the Socialist Era from a Gender Viewpoint.
            The research project supported by the Czech Republic’s Grant Agency was launched in 2009 a

            year. The team of 14 experts from different fields will present the results of their work 
            monograph due to be published next year.
            (Marie Kohoutová)

            Translation: Pavla Horáková