Yasar Abu Ghosh, Jakub Grygar, Marek Skovajsa (eds).: Monotematické číslo Sociál antropologie v postsocialismu [Thematic issue Social Anthropology in Post-Sociali ****************************************************************************************** * Jakub Grygar - Marek Skovajsa - Yasar Abu Ghosh ****************************************************************************************** Yasar Abu Ghosh, Jakub Grygar, Marek Skovajsa (eds).: Monotematické číslo Sociální antropo postsocialismu [Thematic issue Social Anthropology in Post-Socialism].Sociologický časopis Sociological Review] vol. 43 (2007): 1, Prague: Institute of Sociology, Academy of Science 1214-813X. Social anthropology has not yet had a firmly established position in post-socialist Europe 2007's first issue of the Czech Sociological Review therefore decided to contribute to a d position of this discipline and at the same time to outline which topics concern contempor The original intention was, above all, to present a kind of cross section of the disciplin called for the submission of text abstracts which were to fulfill three conditions: "a per the discipline (social anthropology), empirical research method (ethnography) and time-spa (Czech Republic, Slovakia and other geographically close post-socialistic countries after At the same time they asked Chris Hann, one of the leading representatives of the anthropo socialism if he would provide an overview of the development of anthropological research i East Europe.They then had other anthropologists comment on his essay and thus facilitated debate about the institutional and political level of the rising of social anthropology in Europe. The resulting monothematic issue of Social Anthropology in Post-Socialism was thus de fact two separate - but at the same time closely connected - parts: the study itself chosen fro that were sent in and a debate about the actual position of the discipline. Not less basic the Editorial: Ethnographic Research in Focus, in which the issue's editors Yasar Abu Ghos and Marek Skovajsa not only characterize their motivation for creating a publication with and the approach they used for it, but mainly they justify their emphasis on the anthropol method of ethnography. They make a de facto connection to the debate that is published her character of social anthropology. They resign themselves to the theoretical or paradigmati the discipline (whenever possible) and place emphasis on field research and its reflexive basic characteristic of the discipline. In their own empirical part, they publish five studies whose characteristics for this repo the abstracts published in this issue. Slovak political scientist and anthropologist Juraj text Nationalism, Religion and Multiculturalism in Southeast Poland develops the classical topic of the function of ritual. On the example of the Polish city of Przemyśl, which beca tensions existing between Roman Catholic Poles and Greek Catholic Ukrainians (derived from links between nationalism, religion, and politics in Southeast Poland), he analyses how th up in political rituals. "The first two rites analyzed commemorate the sufferings during t politicizing collective memory, they strengthen the sense of mutual antagonism between rel groups. The author's key argument is that, given the important role religious identificati individual's relationship to the nation, religion is becoming a crucial factor in any form change. The author also presents an example of reconciliation and how it is applied to col on the basis of a multinational tradition in a third political ritual. In this case two re groups share a ‘multicultural' heritage, derived from their understanding of sharing a com from the majority's acceptance of the minority, and from the religious experience of recon Political change in either direction, that is, whether amidst the mobilization of differen promotion of tolerant co-existence, proceeds through rituals, symbolic gestures, and narra religion and religious experts occupy a dominant or at least secondary role, and this has tolerant a society emerges in the region." (p. 31) American cultural anthropologist Ben Pa the research carried out by two relatively successful companies in the South Moravian city the period preceding EU accession. He indicates that Czechs harbor considerable doubt abou their political and economic system. The paper Legitimacy, Engagement and the Creation of in the Late Transition Czech Workplace "accomplish three objectives. It analyzes the inter companies of discourses of honesty with the twin goals of managerial legitimacy and worker It documents the process of negotiation which has resulted in the development of a new mor the work floor and the growth of powerful worker networks within the enterprise. Finally, a theoretical framework to capture the process of social capital creation and expenditure product of these processes." (p. 67) In this compilation Czech anthropology is represented of Masaryk University in Brno, Eleonóra Hamar and Czaba Szaló. In the text Eight Women Mig Shared Transnational World, they "examine a transnational migrant network of eight highly women from the post-socialist region of southern Slovakia and devote special attention to of their diasporic identity and shared life-world. They interpret the migration of these h people not as a rupture but as a coherent continuation of their life course. In order to u recent biographical situation, it is necessary to consider the role that a particular form plays in migration. The authors claim that the experience of living in the culturally hybr of Czechoslovak Hungarians has played an important role in shaping their ability to live i world of migrants."(p. 69) Timothy McCajor Hall of the University of Chicago introduces hi his article Transactional Sex in Prague among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men (1999-2004), author's fieldwork in the gay community in Prague during 1999-2002 with follow-up visits i His article "looks at the experiences of young men (especially gay-identified men) involve sex work in Prague, describes their relationship to the mainstream gay scenes in Prague in since the mid-1990s, and discusses problems they face."(p. 89) American social anthropolog June carried out sixteen months of participant observation research and conducted an inter Czech branch of Transparency International. He argues that "a new generation of civic acti sought to carve a niche in the competitive field by crafting an authoritative professional have accomplished this through the performance of new international codes of neoliberal pr to both a Czech and international/western audience in order to gain social recognition. At time, however, they risk alienating (and being alienated from) their local counterparts an they appear too much the global de-nationalized professional. The discomfort with having t sense of self between globalizing cultures of professionalism and local conditions is a co these actors experience in the context of broader changes in the building of civil society (in the international image), the post-socialist labor market, and the role of the intelli demonstrates the limits to the accumulation of global cultural and symbolic capital." (p. based on field research are complemented by the essay by Jaroslav Skupnik (Charles Univers Reflected Worlds: Marginalisation and Integration from the Perspective of the Socio-psycho of Society, in which the author "takes the specific case of Roma settlements in Slovakia, conducted anthropological research, to illustrate how the mechanism of marginalisation fun on the work of Tzvetan Todorov and Peter L. Berger, he argues that at the heart of human s the ability and necessity to live among others - is the constant human need for attention from others. This basic human need affects the socio-psychological dynamics of society, in marginalisation as well as integration of some of its groups. This need for attention and to the emergence of complex ‘counter-worlds' or ‘counter-societies', with their alternativ The Roma settlements and urban ghettoes represent such counter-worlds that provide their i attention, recognition, positive self-interpretation, and confirmation of their values. If of these counter-worlds are unable to fulfill this need anywhere else, then their integrat society cannot be achieved." (p. 133) From the above, it is clear that the published texts do not represent a cross-section of s anthropological post-socialism. Nevertheless through its thematic diversity it undoubtedly answer to the question which the editors posed in the foreword, that is, if anthropologica Central and East Europe after 1989 always had to present first and foremost an article abo on post-socialism. It is evident that references to post-socialism are gradually disappear anthropological work and are being replaced by other perspectives. The composition of the issue is a sad testimony to Czech social anthropology. The editors deduce that the cause o of native-born authors is the emphasis on ethnographic anchorage of the texts, which is no in the Czech environment. Besides, this is one of the factors to which another part of the issue of the Sociological Review refers, that is, the introductory essay by Chris Hann, An Multiple Temporalities and its Future in East-Central Europe and, based on it, a lively de topic of Social Anthropology and National Ethnography: Partners or Rivals? Participants we born authors as Milena Benovska (Bulgaria), Aleksandra Bošković (Serbia), Michal Buchowski Juraj Podoba (Slovakia) and Zdeněk Uherek (Czech Republic). Two further participants were were experienced with emigration from the Czech Republic: David Z. Scheffel (born in Pragu in Canada) and Petr Skalník (after nearly 15 years in the Netherlands and the Republic of he returned to the Czech Republic in 1992). Last but not least, an external perspective is Kalb (Dutch anthropologist working in Budapest), Michael Stewart (UK; studies Roma in Hung Katherine Verdery (USA, research primarily in Rumania). The wide pléiade of authors also p pléiade of opinions, some even very controversial, concerning the above-mentioned topic wh basic analysis for which there is no room in this paper. Even though the subject of this d relation between social anthropology and ethnography, in sum this discussion primarily sho anthropology in practically every country of former Central and East Europe has been wrest with the establishment of the discipline as such, but primarily with its delimitation both to "Western" (American, British or French) tradition and to the tradition of domestic soci Besides, the home state (in this case, Czech) of anthropology is also evidenced by the sta controversy regarding publication ethics which was reprinted from this issue of the Sociol pages of the Czech press. The monothematic issue of the Sociological Review (in the Czech environment of a prestigio periodical) concentrating on contemporary social anthropology is undoubtedly a competent p It opens a topic that is crucial for the establishment of anthropology in a given environm question remains of the degree to which native-born "anthropologists" are willing at least into open doors in this way. That is, since 1989 there have already been three attempts to of the character of social/cultural anthropology in the Czech environment to public discus beginning of the 1990s a discussion about the study by Ladislav Holý, The Little Czech Man Czech Nation, made an impression on the pages of the magazine Český lid (The Czech People) the young Czech anthropologists Marek Jakoubek and a Zdeněk R. Nešpor tried the same on th same periodical.) Even though many researchers have claimed that the compatibility of Czec with foreign trends is rising, on the basis of the group of authors' empirical research pu is clear that until now reality differs from this claim. Jakub Grygar [ URL "LM-160.html "] Marek Skovajsa [ URL "LM-351.html "] Yasar Abu Ghosh [ URL "LM-91.html "]