National Repository of Grey Literature 235 records found  beginprevious147 - 156nextend  jump to record: Search took 0.01 seconds. 
Not so "Traditional" Healing: Constructions of Illness Reality and Spirit Possession in a Rapidly Changing Society in Venda, South Africa
Řezáčová, Vendula ; Kandert, Josef (advisor) ; Kotalova, Jitka (referee) ; Uherek, Zdeněk (referee)
The present thesis "Not so 'Traditional' Healing: Constructions of Illness Reality and Spirit Possession in a Rapidly Changing Society in Venda, South Africa" aims to analyze socio-cultural and political aspects of 'traditional' healing which had been the focus of fieldwork of the author in 'Venda', South Africa (in the period between 2004-6). In the first section of the thesis the author has shown that the medical concepts and symbols marked as 'traditional' have not formed a closed, time-less system. On the contrary, they have reflected and shaped far-reaching socio-cultural changes in the post-apartheid dispensation characterised by the neo-liberal market reforms, congealing of socio-economic inequalities, transformations of gender identities and the politics of 'tradition' and identity. 'Traditional healing' has thus been constituted through a constant process of (re)invention of symbols and practices which have referred to the 'Venda past' while aiming to delineate boundaries of 'tradition' in relation to biomedicine. The second section of the thesis has focussed on the phenomenon of ancestor spirit possession which has also constituted the means through which 'traditional' healers have been recruited and their claims to knowledge and healing power have been legitimized. In contrast to the...
Temple architecture as a cultural core in Southeast Asia
Steinbachová, Eva ; Soukup, Václav (advisor) ; Uherek, Zdeněk (referee) ; Soukup, Martin (referee)
Dissertation thesis "Temple architecture as a cultural core in Southeast Asia" presents the temple architecture of Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesian islands of Java and Bali as a cultural phenomenon which opens possibility to observe Hindu and Buddhists cultural continuity in Southeast Asia. The main focus of the work is in the culturological analysis of the temple architecture as a semiotic system - associated symbols and meanings in close relations, reflecting the ideological foundations of Hindu and Buddhist culture. This study follows the works of orientalists and anthropologists and it extends the Czech bibliography, which traditionally lacks of topics in church architecture of Southeast Asia. This study does not claim to cover the topic in a full universal view. It is guided by an effort to map the issues in culturological terms and help to a deeper understanding of cultural heritage of East Asian culture as part of the cultural heritage of mankind. Keywords: Architecture, Southeast Asia, Buddhism, Hinduism, Java, Bali, Thailand, Cambodia.
Leading Figures and Local Culture in Czech Regions
Sternová, Marie ; Czumalo, Vladimír (advisor) ; Halada, Jan (referee) ; Uherek, Zdeněk (referee)
Dissertation thesis Leading Figures and Local Culture in Czech Regions presents a comparative analysis of two original Czech regions, Chodsko and the Bohemian Forest, and their spiritual leaders, Jindřich Šimon Baar and Karel Klostermann. Main part of the thesis consists of analysis of life, work and contribution of these local icons in context of the geographical, historical and cultural aspects of regions concerned. Emphasis is placed on the specifics of local folk literature, folklore and material culture. The theoretical part is complemented by deep research in both regions, in the form of a questionnaire completed by hundred students, which answers questions regarding their involvement in folk life and experience of their regional identity. Keywords: local culture, Chodsko, Bohemian Forest, Baar, Klostermann
Language and etnicity in the Balkans and in Britain
Blažek, Jan ; Uherek, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Soukup, Martin (referee) ; Brouček, Stanislav (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of ethnic consciousness in the territories of the Balkans and of Great Britain by focusing on the tendencies towards ethnical inclusion (crossing of ethnical boundaries) and ethnical exclusion (strengthening of the above mentioned). Inspired by B. Anderson's definition of nation (nation = imagined community), the author has chosen the languages of the investigated areas as the actual subject of his research. In three chapters he has studied first the structural and lexicological aspect of the language, then the terminological one (study of ethnonyms) and finally the textual one (study of national myths and the language used to their description). The conclusion of the research described above clearly shows, that whereas English is being perceived as a highly inclusive language (also due to its grammatical straightforwardness and lexicological richness) by speakers of other native languages in Britain (be it the autochthon minorities or migrants), in the Balkans, on the other hand, languages are being perceived as an exclusive propriety of the given ethnic group, which may even lead to artificial differences being introduced in them. The approach prevailing in Great Britain is clearly the one fostering better inter-ethnic cohabitation....
Legitimation and professionalization of a Romani NGO in the Czech Repulic
Synková, Hana ; Vrhel, František (advisor) ; Uherek, Zdeněk (referee) ; Mušinka, Alexander (referee)
Legitimation and professionalization of a Romani NGO in the Czech Republic Hana Synková This PhD. thesis maps strategies of legitimation and survival of non-governmental organizations working with people that use to be categorized as "socially excluded" or "Roma". It attempts to answer the question: "What NGOs do to be able to look successful, gain resources, and create organizational reputation?" This work does not treat organizations as "things", but as processes and social networks influenced by state and European policies, funding mechanisms and internal competition. Despite the organizations being discursively divided into those preferring more ethnic or social definition of their clients, they have to cope with the same pressures in the shape of social services law, standards of quality or control systems that come with projects. Organizations are far from devoting their time to "work with clients"; they are also involved in enlarging social capital of their members and in production of "texts" that serve their legitimation claims towards control bodies, other organizations and public. In order to research these publicly less visible processes, the authoress uses methods of organizational anthropology - fieldwork inside organization and at many places which are contextually linked to the...
Revitalisating the city - interaction of the municipality and the citizens
Czastka, Sven ; Uherek, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Pargač, Jan (referee)
Current development in those European cities affected by its post-industrial history is designated as revitalisation. However, since many years this process has taken place in Western Europe and in the United States of America, in Czech towns has been this phenomenon quite new. Revitalisation or city revival is a complicated action encompassing different stakeholders, oscillating consecutively between construction of buildings and regeneration of citizens and their local identification. In this diploma thesis I focused on an interaction between main participants in the capital city o Usti Region - the City of Ústí nad Labem. I have identified the city administration, the city council and the civic associations and clubs as main city players. The aim of this diploma thesis was to determine the notion of revitalization and possible connotations of its usage related to cities and a concrete application in Ústí nad Labem. Furthermore to describe relations and acting of the city administration, the city council and the associations and clubs as stakeholders in the process of revitalisation. In the conclusion of this thesis I offered a few suggestions for possible more beneficent cooperation of both sides. In the course of participated observation and from the results of the inquiry has come out, that in Ústí nad...
Sociological characteristics and media representation of ethnic minorities in the media discourse as theoretical examination of comparative studies possibilities: (analytical study of minorities representation in mass media in Czech Republic and Kyrgyzstan in the nineties of the 20th century)
Iskanderova, Tatiana ; Šoltys, Otakar (advisor) ; Kandert, Josef (referee) ; Uherek, Zdeněk (referee)
The main issue of the dissertation paper was to provide a comparative analysis of ethnic minorities representation in the Czech and Kyrgzystan media discurses in the 90s of the 20th century. Both of the above mentioned countries have undergone a paradigm change, which in the terminology of the four theories of press changed the so-called soviet paradigm for libertarian one. The aim of the research was to demonstrate that it is possible to use the comparative analysis also in regard to ethnicities (ethnic minorities), cultures and national minority organizations that are geographically distant and typologically different. The research is based on comparison of four researches developed by the following authors: Petra Klvačová, Tomáš Bitrich: Jak se (ne)píše o cizincích, Věra Malkova: Этнические образы в республиканских газетах. Опыт этносоциологического исследования, Stuartem Hall (The spectacle of the "Other"), Bernard Berelson, Patricia J. Salter (Majority and Minority American's: An analysis of magazine fiction). The subject of the study is the collection of texts materials from printed media, supplemented and confronted with a trial research sample of responses provided by representatives of media, politics, science and public etc. (in-depth interviews) on the topic of minorities. By means of...
Social and cultural adaptation of the cuban immigrants on the czech milieu
Kaucká, Tereza ; Halbich, Marek (advisor) ; Uherek, Zdeněk (referee)
This work deals with the immigration of Cubans to the Czech Republic, their life in the Czech Republic and especially their social and cultural adaptation to the Czech milieu. The aim is to find out the reasons why Cuban migrants leave their country of origin and why they come to the Czech Republic. It goes on to describe the way how the individual respondents integrate to the Czech milieu, what helps them to adapt and what is difficult for them. The subject of the research are the Cuban migrants in Prague who came to the Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia) before the 1989 and keep coming up to the present day.
The role of anthropology in the development discourse
Adamčíková, Jitka ; Uherek, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Kysučan, Lubor (referee) ; Nováček, Pavel (referee)
This thesis assesses the role of the subject of anthropology in the international development discourse. The author, herself an anthropologist analysed the positions among anthropologists and distinguished two main positions of anthropologists versus development. Within the first epistemic community of anthropologists the anthropologists consider themselves as active participants and offer their expertise into the services of governmental, nongovernmental or international organizations demonstrating the potential of anthropological knowledge for planning, implementation and evaluation of development policy. Within the second group the position is one as an antagonistic observer, characterised by reservation and criticism of both, the ideas of development and the motives of its promoters. Hence, within the second group the radical critics perceive development as an organised system of power and practices maintaining the neo-colonial dominance of western countries over the poorer countries of the "South". The genealogy of development and progress is traced back to Evolutionism of the 19th century which influenced the key notion of modernization dividing the world population into the developed and developing ones. The differences in life quality in Africa or Western Europe are viewed as consequences of African...
Anthropological conceptualisations of sexual categories
Prokopík, Petr ; Vrhel, František (advisor) ; Uherek, Zdeněk (referee) ; Skupnik, Jaroslav (referee)
The thesis inquires into the possibilities which anthropological study has in attempting to conceptualise the rich manifestations of human sexuality. It discusses the problems of biological determination and normativity in the study of sexuality as well as its problems in cross-cultural applications. In examples of interpretation of well known phenomena such as "hijra", "two-spirit" and "ritual homosexuality" it demonstrates theoretical concepts of "third sex", "third gender", and "sexual lifeways" as possible tools of cross-cultural categorization. It presents an original field research investigating the formation of a specific new alternative sexual category within gay communities in three language contexts - Czech, English and German. Offering a situational analysis which concerns not only a description of cultural meanings and symbols known by actors, and an analyses of historical development, but also offers an interpretation of actors subjectivity displayed in individual motivations, desires and meanings created and used by actors. It endeavours to give a reflection of relations between sexual category and individual motivations during the process of accepting sexual identity and forming an alternative sexual category.

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