Critical Discourse Analysis and Economy: An Interview with Michał Krzyżanowski

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POLITICKÁ KULTURA V NARATIVECH KULTURNÍ REPERTOÁRY VZTAHOVÁNÍ SE K SOUČASNÉ POLITICE

Political culture as a concept is an interdisciplinaryissue balancing between culturalanthropology, political science and sociology.This article presents conclusions of qualitativeresearch of contemporary czech political culture.Our research is based on 35 narrative interviewsconducted by students with their parents. We caninfer from quantitative studies that the level oftrust in the political system, institutions and actorshas hit the bottom. These studies are not ableto describe all aspects of political culture. Fromour position of interpretative paradigm we aimto analyse cultural repertoires through which isthe political situation narratively reconstructed.We perceive narrative as a performative genre ofrefering to social reality. We have identified thefollowing repertoires: 1. interested, 2. objective,3. evasive and 4. alienated. We have found fourtypes of layman’s theories, which were used bynarrators to explain the drop of trust in politics: 1.communist past 2. the nature of the Czech nation3. fatalistic theories of power 4. theories of “thesedays”

Forest Soil Water in Landscape Context

Forests play an irreplaceable role in linking the water cycle with the functions of soil. Soil water not only enhances the stability of forests, but also its run-off and evaporation affects the growth of plants in different ecosystems. The forest soil water balance is contextualized within the immediate and more global landscapes, in terms of relations of water to the soil environment and bedrock, participation in the local water cycle within a catchment basin and in the global cycle between ecosystems. Modifications by human civilization can have significant impacts, including erosion intensification, eutrophication, salinization, spreading of single-species plantations, and regime shifts. Forests regulate the movement of water in the soil environment by reducing the intensity of run-off. Such moderated run-off prevents the occurrence of flash floods, maintaining continuous availability of water for plant and human use. Participation of soil water in the cycling of elements in forests is modified by soil organic matter balance. The preservation of hydric functions in forest soils depends on prioritization of water balance restoration in every catchment basin enclosing the local element cycle. More fundamentally, the development of a synergistically interlinked system, centered around the soil-forest-water-civilization nexus, must become an urgent priority

Crisis and the construction of home: Narrative accounts of the Financial crisis on the Czech housing market

This text deals with the Financial crises from the perspective of everyday lived experience. It presents the analysis of narrative accounts of lay people who were active on the Czech housing market during or after the Crises. Theoretically rooted in the in the framework of narrative analysis, the text widens the mainstream economical perceptions of Crises bringing the concepts of emotions, ethos and symbolic boundaries into account. On the behalf of the narratives of Crises, the narratives of the process of social construction of home proved to be significant for the narrator's identity construction and presentation. Text presents three main findings a) Crises is trope, which is used as such in the narratives b) moral evaluation, which might be coined as the bourgeois morality ethos prove their significance in the narratives c) housing choices being based both on "rational" and "irrational" factors i. e. emotions, moral evaluations. The main interpretation of the narrative accounts suggests the crucial importance of the narratives of social construction of home for the expression of being independent, capable, responsible and thus successful person. The ability to express the capability of securing what is culturally regarded as "good and ideal housing" to the family, represents ones ability to..

Consumer behaviour difference among young people (city and countryside).

Issues of material, cultural and relationship consuption in context of late modern society are being discussed in the thesis. Differences between the social context of city and rural areas are used to describe social functions of consumption. At first consumption is defined in sociological terms using the literature. Thesis contains basic theoretical approaches dealing with consumption. Major interest is being put on analytical part of thesis, which shows findings of research. Research is divided into two parts. Qualitative part with data from semi-structured interviews, which are used to create concepts and hypothesis in order to test them in quantitative part with questionners. Research is a case study and findings and interpretations can not be generalized to whole population of young people. Data provide solid empirical conclusion and hypothesis though. My findings support idea of consuption as complex and ambivalent social phenomenon related to individualization process. Yet another social functions of consuption are revealed in thesis. Consuption as a device to define and redefine identity of individual. Normative aspect of consumption, which express itself in social groups norms. Significance of structural differences between both social context for individual's action with link to cultural and..

Discursive construction and materiality of debt in context of housing

Housing debts have become fuel for the global economy, having been turned into tradable commodities on the financial markets. However, housing debts also have a profound relevance in the everyday life of those who have become indebted, enabling the dream of homeownership, but also leading to foreclosures and evictions. This thesis aims to take a rather under-researched perspective on formal and informal housing debts (i.e., mortgages and familial loans) by exploring the role of public and domestic discourses in, what is termed, the financialisation of housing. The financialisation of housing refers to the process of real estate being turned into assets and commodities and to the spread of individualised financial products being used to secure housing. The thesis uses the Czech Republic as a case through which to examine how discourse may enable this transition and how contribute to a specific financial governmentality. The thesis raises questions: How is it possible that mortgages come to be perceived as a normal and natural solution to housing issues? How do they become part of the debtors' lives through certain discourses? These questions are explored through an innovative framework of layered performativity, encompassing rhetoric, sociotechnical devices, and references to practices that reveal three main..

Diskurzivní konstrukce a materialita dluhu v kontextu bydlení

Půjčky na bydlení se staly motorem pohánějící růst globální ekonomiky jako jeden z významných produktů, který je obchodován na finančních trzích. Zároveň mají půjčky na bydlení zásadní důležitost i pro každodenní život dlužníků, když pomáhají dosáhnout vysněného vlastnictví nemovitosti nebo naopak mohou vést k předlužení domácnosti. Tato disertační práce se v souvislosti s formálními a neformálními dluhy a půjčkami v kontextu bydlení (hypotéčními úvěry a rodinnými půjčkami) zaměřuje na překvapivě málo probádanou oblast; na roli veřejných a rodinných diskurzů v procesu financializace bydlení. Financializace bydlení jako termín odkazuje k procesům, kdy se z nemovitostí stávají obchodovatelné komodity a kdy se rozšiřují finanční produkty jako způsoby pro zajištění potřeby bydlení. Tato práce na příkladu České republiky, jak je financializace bydlení diskurzivně umožněna a uskutečněna a jak diskurzy přispívají k specifické finanční governmentalitě (vládnutí). V souvislosti s tím si práce klade otázky: jak je možné, že byly hypotéky přijaty jako normální a přirozený způsob řešení otázky bydlení a jak se hypotéky stávají součástí života dlužníků? V této souvislosti je rozvíjen inovativní rámec vrstevnaté performativity zahrnující zkoumání rétoriky, nástrojů a odkazů na praktiky, který umožňuje identifikaci tří...Housing debts have become fuel for the global economy, having been turned into tradable commodities on the financial markets. However, housing debts also have a profound relevance in the everyday life of those who have become indebted, enabling the dream of homeownership, but also leading to foreclosures and evictions. This thesis aims to take a rather under-researched perspective on formal and informal housing debts (i.e., mortgages and familial loans) by exploring the role of public and domestic discourses in, what is termed, the financialisation of housing. The financialisation of housing refers to the process of real estate being turned into assets and commodities and to the spread of individualised financial products being used to secure housing. The thesis uses the Czech Republic as a case through which to examine how discourse may enable this transition and how contribute to a specific financial governmentality. The thesis raises questions: How is it possible that mortgages come to be perceived as a normal and natural solution to housing issues? How do they become part of the debtors' lives through certain discourses? These questions are explored through an innovative framework of layered performativity, encompassing rhetoric, sociotechnical devices, and references to practices that reveal three main...Department of SociologyKatedra sociologieFaculty of Social SciencesFakulta sociálních vě

Krize a vytváření domova: Narativní výpovědi o finanční krizi na českém trhu s bydlením

This text deals with the Financial crises from the perspective of everyday lived experience. It presents the analysis of narrative accounts of lay people who were active on the Czech housing market during or after the Crises. Theoretically rooted in the in the framework of narrative analysis, the text widens the mainstream economical perceptions of Crises bringing the concepts of emotions, ethos and symbolic boundaries into account. On the behalf of the narratives of Crises, the narratives of the process of social construction of home proved to be significant for the narrator's identity construction and presentation. Text presents three main findings a) Crises is trope, which is used as such in the narratives b) moral evaluation, which might be coined as the bourgeois morality ethos prove their significance in the narratives c) housing choices being based both on "rational" and "irrational" factors i. e. emotions, moral evaluations. The main interpretation of the narrative accounts suggests the crucial importance of the narratives of social construction of home for the expression of being independent, capable, responsible and thus successful person. The ability to express the capability of securing what is culturally regarded as "good and ideal housing" to the family, represents ones ability to...Text prezentuje téma finanční krize (2008) z každodenní perspektivy laického aktéra na českém realitním trhu. V textu je obsažena analýza narativních výpovědí těchto aktérů, kteří měli zkušenost s nákupem nemovitostí v průběhu krize. Teoreticky a konceptuálně text vychází přístupů narativní analýzy. Rozšiřuje tak většinově převládající zkoumání finanční krize o novou dimenzi tím, že vnáší do analýzy koncepty emocí, étosu a symbolických hranic. Text ukazuje, jak se v rámci výpovědí o krizi ukázal jako významný narativ vytváření domova. V textu jsou prezentovány tři hlavní zjištění: a) Krize je vypravěči v narativech využívána jako trope a je nejčastěji chápána jako vnější síla pomocí které je možné vysvětlit určité strukturální podmínky (př. nejistotu na pracovním trhu) b) v narativech se často objevují morální hodnocení, které lze označit jako měšťanskou morálku, a jsou významná pro tvorbu symbolických hranic i expresi identity vypravěče c) v rámci rozhodování o bydlení hrají roli faktory "racionální" a "iracionální" - emoce, morální hodnocení. Interpretace těchto zjištění naznačuje význam narativu vytváření domova pro možnost vyjádření určitých vlastností a schopností: nezávislosti, schopnosti, zodpovědnosti, dospělosti a tedy úspěšnosti. Právě kategorie úspěšnosti na základě toho, že je jedinec a...Katedra sociologieDepartment of SociologyFakulta sociálních vědFaculty of Social Science

Consumer behaviour difference among young people (city and countryside).

Issues of material, cultural and relationship consuption in context of late modern society are being discussed in the thesis. Differences between the social context of city and rural areas are used to describe social functions of consumption. At first consumption is defined in sociological terms using the literature. Thesis contains basic theoretical approaches dealing with consumption. Major interest is being put on analytical part of thesis, which shows findings of research. Research is divided into two parts. Qualitative part with data from semi-structured interviews, which are used to create concepts and hypothesis in order to test them in quantitative part with questionners. Research is a case study and findings and interpretations can not be generalized to whole population of young people. Data provide solid empirical conclusion and hypothesis though. My findings support idea of consuption as complex and ambivalent social phenomenon related to individualization process. Yet another social functions of consuption are revealed in thesis. Consuption as a device to define and redefine identity of individual. Normative aspect of consumption, which express itself in social groups norms. Significance of structural differences between both social context for individual's action with link to cultural and..