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The Black Experience in French Rap
Červený, Jan ; Bauer, Paul (advisor) ; Matějka, Ondřej (referee)
This thesis explores how French black rappers Kery James and Youssoupha relate to their black experience. It utilized the application of critical discursive analysis to selected lyrics from their songs spanning the time period from 2008 to 2023. Themes that emerged in the lyrics based on the findings of the critical discursive analysis were colonization, relating to Africa, racism, the experience of living in France, struggle for human rights, and the legacy of the négritude movement. The research found that racism and the experience of living in France were the most represented themes in their texts. This discourse was characterised by discrimination, a sense of exclusion and defining oneself against the universalism of the French state. Other thematic discourses about colonization, Africa, the struggle for human rights and the négritude movement were less present. Positive discourse, which related to positive aspects of the black experience in France, was less present. Both Kery James and Youssoupha used predominantly negative discourse to express the black experience of life in France. There is also a transnational element to their black experience, in line with theories of the black diaspora as elaborated by Paul Gilroy. The discourse that both Kery James and Youssoupha use most constructs the...
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United cities - different memory: places of memory and their perception in the divided cities of Český Těšín and Cieszyn
Byrtus, Fabian ; Bauer, Paul (advisor) ; Matějka, Ondřej (referee)
The divided cities of Český Těšín and Cieszyn are a place where different nations, ethnicities and religions mingled for centuries. Naturally, different historical narratives also collide here. This thesis focuses on qualitative research of the change in the perception of places of memory, in which the collective memory of individual groups of residents of Český Těšín and Cieszyn crystallizes. The thesis engages with the main hypothesis that the perception of these places changes over time, and one of the crucial impulses to this change was the involvement of the Czech Republic and Poland in the European integration process. The semi-structured interviews with representatives of cultural, social and political life in both cities serve as primary sources. Based on the interviews, the Olza/Olše border river, the Slezanka and the Czechoslovak Border Demarcation monuments commemorating the division of the two cities in 1920, the Jewish necropolises and the German graves in the communal cemeteries, and the Cieszyn tram came to the fore. The influence of the European integration process on the transformation of the perception of the places of memory is most evident in the case of the river Olza/Olše and the Cieszyn tram. Both places of memory became the showcase of building cross-border cooperation...
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The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on meeting the objectives of the EU's Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 in the Czech Republic and Austria
Jančíková, Natálie ; Váška, Jan (advisor) ; Bauer, Paul (referee)
This Master's Thesis investigates the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 in Austria and Czechia, with a focus on the strategy's goals of freedom from violence and stereotypes, thriving in a gender-equal economy, and equal leadership throughout society. The research adopts Sylvia Walby's theory of gender regimes to provide context, which highlights the role of the state in shaping gender equality outcomes. Austria and Czechia are identified as social democratic and neoliberal gender regimes, respectively. This mixed-methods study employs thematic analysis and comparative case study and combines qualitative data gathered through ethnographic methods and quantitative data from open statistics. The thesis finds that Czechia operates as a neoliberal gender regime, with a limited role of the state in supporting women at risk of gender-based violence. In contrast, Austria's social democratic gender regime has provided robust support during the pandemic, with a centralized system of shelters and a state-wide 24/7 women's helpline. The study contributes to the development of gender regime theory and offers a nuanced understanding of the pandemic's impact on gender equality in different gender regimes. The findings have relevance for ongoing academic debate on the...
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Mass protests in Romania and France: a comparison of contemporary anti-establishment movements
Boudová, Kristina ; Bauer, Paul (advisor) ; Matějka, Ondřej (referee)
Mass protests in Romania and France: a comparison of contemporary anti-establishment movements Author: Kristina Boudová Abstract This thesis examines the divergence and convergence of two populist social movements: The Yellow Vests in France and #rezist in Romania, both of which emerged in response to political and economic grievances. The movements converge in their critique of elites, corruption, and social inequality while defining said elites differently. Through a comparative analysis of the movements' origins, goals, strategies, and outcomes, this research identified similarities and differences between the two movements in terms of their populist features. The findings shed light on the complex nature of populism as a political phenomenon that can take different forms in different regions and contexts.
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Problems of migration through the Sahara desert to Europe
Kazda, Daniel ; Lukešová, Anna (advisor) ; Bauer, Paul (referee)
This bachelor thesis analyses the problems of sub-Saharan migrants travelling to Europe through the Sahara Desert. This migration route has been described as one of the most dangerous and deadly, and people from West and East Africa who make the pilgrimage across the Sahara often face brutal conditions. These are caused not only by natural conditions, but also by the political situation in the transit countries, the increasingly securitised borders of the destinations, and the human traffickers and other criminal groups that operate along these routes. The first part of the thesis focuses on these problems that migrants encounter most during their journeys. It first briefly introduces the trans-Saharan migration routes and the reasons why people choose to migrate across the Sahara. Then, the risks faced by migrants during their journey are discussed in detail, supplemented by testimonies of migrants who have been rescued by NGOs during transit or have sought their help themselves. The migration risk analysis looks at the overall issue from several angles. It looks at the natural risks of transport across the Sahara, the dangers caused by human factors in the region, and the problems associated with smugglers and their methods. Last but not least, it discusses the dangers of the securitisation of...
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The Marshal Koněv Monument as a "Site of Memory": Mediating Post-Soviet Collective Memory in Prague
Coleman, Grace Abel ; Asavei, Maria Alina (advisor) ; Bauer, Paul (referee)
This thesis critically examines the interaction between memory construction, representation, contestation, and interpretation within the Czech collective memory context through a detailed qualitative analysis examination of one Czech "site of memory" - the former monument to Marshal Ivan Stěpanovič Koněv in Prague 6. The analysis is informed by the theoretical assumption that collective memory construction and interpretation are continually interacting, and the meaning and function are continuously changing. As such, multiple components of the memory site are incorporated: the changing site in Prague 6, counter-monument responses occurring elsewhere in Prague, discourses surrounding the site in media and social media, and qualitative survey research of individual and local consumption of memory narratives surrounding the monument and media discourses. The results of this analysis demonstrate a clearly articulated struggle for the possession of memory narratives surrounding the monument. These tensions reflect shifts in the Czech collective mnemonic framework and the inherent plurality of memories within that framework. Consequently, there is no clear consensus as to how collective memory regarding Koněv and his historic legacy should or is represented in the present-day Czech political, cultural,...
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The Utilization of LGBT+ Rights in Politics
Abdou, Sebastian ; Bauer, Paul (advisor) ; Mejstřík, Martin (referee)
The Utilization of LGBT+ Rights in Politics: Between the NL & HU. Abstract This work investigates the reasons behind the political support for LGBT+ rights and the reasons which lead to opposition of such rights. The work investigates the history of sexuality, how the modern conception of LGBT+ as categories of identification were created, how heteronormativity as a power discourse connects to nationalism, how different processes of nation building lead to different attitudes on LGBT+ rights, and how the different conceptions of liberty and democracy contribute to different political stances on LGBT+ rights in the two countries compared: the Netherlands and Hungary. The main findings of the work show that ethnically conceived nations, represented by Hungary, tend to be more homophobic, while nations which are conceived in contractual liberalist terms, represented by the Netherlands, appear to have more accepting and more inclusive societies, which is reflected by higher acceptance to LGBT+ people and to members of social groups which may be deemed out-group.
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Political satire in Charlie Hebdo in relation to religion
Kaletová, Anna ; Matějka, Ondřej (advisor) ; Bauer, Paul (referee)
The topic of the bachelor's thesis is the political satire in Charlie Hebdo in relation to religion. In today's France political satire is represented by several newspapers, one of which is the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. The magazine, whose origins date back to 1970, specializes in news and cartoons regarding current world affairs, religion, politics and culture. The cartoons published in Charlie Hebdo soon became a rather controversial topic. For that reason, the authors of the magazine have had a number of conflicts with representatives of the muslim community over the years, with cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad becoming especially problematic. The difficulties manifested themselves both in the form of threatening letters, the burning of the Charlie Hebdo editorial office, and a terrorist assassination in 2015. The bachelor's thesis maps the history of political satire in France, the history of the magazine Charlie Hebdo and its conflicts with Islam. The aim of the paper is to find out whether the Charlie Hebdo cartoons depicting Islam are in any way specific compared to the images mocking the other two major religious groups, Christianity and Judaism. Using ethnographic content analysis, analysis of selected cartoons published in 2014 and their subsequent comparison, research...
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Rap as a form of political protest: the case of Muslim rappers in France
Babková, Markéta ; Bauer, Paul (advisor) ; Šindelář, Jakub (referee)
The thesis deals with the issue of the interconnection between the spheres of politics and religion in contemporary secular France. The case of three Muslim performers of the rap conscient music genre was chosen for research in this area. The thesis first focuses on the more general question of the circumstances under which politics and religion are linked in contemporary secular France. It soon becomes clear that music plays a key role in this interconnection. Furthermore, the thesis seeks to establish whether accusations of proselytism and Islamic fundamentalism against selected rappers by right-wing and radical-right parties are justified. It attempts to achieve this finding by using the method of qualitative content analysis of the motifs that appear in the lyrics of the songs, focusing on the motif of Islam. Following this analysis, and supporting it with research into deeper context, the thesis concludes that although the motif of Islam is present in the song lyrics, it is only in the form of fighting Islamophobia. Rather, the fight against discrimination in general plays a major role in the work of the selected rappers. The controversy was therefore most often caused by a misinterpretation of these lyrics.
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Goal Setting in the Climate Policy of the EU
Vinařská, Lucie ; Young, Mitchell (advisor) ; Bauer, Paul (referee)
Master's Thesis Lucie Vinařská SS 2022 Abstract This master's thesis deals with goal setting in the climate policy of the European Union. It examinates in detail the available literature on goal setting in the context of the general global, but more importantly, European governance. The aim of this thesis is to define factors that contribute to successful goal setting, which ensures that the goals can be used as an efficient governance strategy. These factors are (a) nature of the problem, (b) character of the actors, (c) the principal features of the setting and (d) mobilisation of support in specific cases, (e) funding, (f) scientific knowledge, (g) origin of the goal (h) translation of goals. The cases were chosen due to their ability to cover three distinct decades of EU's climate policy development. In each of these three cases, the goal setting process was described according to the criteria using official documents of the EU institutions such as the European Commission's communications or Council of the European Union's conclusions, official websites of the EU institutions or official reports. Based on the research, the goal setting process became much more comprehensive in terms of its length and the quantity of work necessary for a goal to be set. Though fulfilling all the criteria might not...
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