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Mapping of controversy on the amount of brown coal in Doly Nástup Tušimice
Pecka, Vojtěch ; Balon, Jan (advisor) ; Čada, Karel (referee)
Abstract The research utilizes 'actor-network' theory to analyze debates in the media on the socio-technical controversy on the topic of the amount of coal in the Nástup Tušimice mines. Theoretical part describes its own place in the sociological tradition and theoretical presuppositions of actor-network theory. My conclusion is that, the controversy is being developed alongside several lines, which remain relatively autonomous. Empirical part of this study analyzes dynamics of the conflict and the strategies employed by both sides in the argument over seemingly unequivocal fact. The conclusion focuses on questionable areas of ANT; especially on it's application in research of conflicts in public space which is different from its use in sociology of science where ANT originated. Problematic point seems to be utilization of management of transparency, which is employed by the alliance of companies to sustain their version of reality. Emphasis of ANT on observable aspects of controversies seems to be obstacle for fruitful use of ANT, because it probably misses the crucial areas where the controversies are being developed.
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Social Construction of Species superiority
Klicnar, Filip ; Vandrovcová, Tereza (advisor) ; Balon, Jan (referee)
This thesis charts the social construction of species superiority in the Euro-Atlantic civilizational area. The goal is to describe the process of construction of this superiority and simultaneously to describe the impact of it. The beginning of the species superiority was domestication of the wild animals. Second defining moment was the transition from a traditional into industrial society, in which the animals where materialized and considered to be an object in trading relationships, as well as the belief in legitimate use of animals for economic purposes in the society. This belief is thoroughly irrational. Throughout the process of reality construction the society begun to perceive the given status as natural and right. In order to escape the question of ethical contradiction it has crowded out the negative aspects of that reality from the perception of its members, in which some psychological mechanisms are helping individuals to escape the reality. The final chapter of this thesis charts the conditions that have made the Holocaust possible and on which our modern rational-economic system lays ground. These conditions are being preserved in the "nature" of the economic system itself.
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Hipsters and their Identity: Discursive Manifestations of Hipster Culture in VICE magazine
Horáková, Zuzana ; Balon, Jan (advisor) ; Hájek, Martin (referee)
This research address the topic of hipster phenomenon and its discursive manifestations in the online magazine VICE. The theoretical part of the thesis submits the basic discursive frameworks which serve as a theoretical anchoring for the practical part based on discursive analysis of the articles. The analysis itself is based on 11 articles mainly from the section Remembering the Hipster, which was chosen as the most appropriate for this study. The aim of the thesis is to explore the main discursive manifestations of hipster culture in those articles and to find out, whether those reproduced manifestations overlap with identified categories from the theoretical part, or whether they differ from each other. The main purpose of this analysis is then to find out what does it mean to be hipster according to VICE magazine contributors.
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XXX
Fejfar, Jindřich ; Tuček, Milan (advisor) ; Balon, Jan (referee)
The diploma thesis Public sphere in networked society concerns about the relation of public sphere and cyberspace. Cyberspace is defined as new social institution, which is not embodied Habermasian normative ideal of critical public sphere, but in contrary it constitute new forms of inequalities and new forms of fragmentarization and commercialization. Explored are therefore also theories which critically deal with concept of public sphere and better describe the reality of cyberspace. The expansion of Cyberspace and horizontal communication network also relate with transformation of contentious politics. The thesis provides an overview of historical development of new action repertoire of contention - virtual sit-in. As an embodiment of all these societal shifts, which are seen as an elements of change in power balance, is presented Operation Payback orchestrated by hacktivist group Anonymous. Keywords Cyberspace, public sphere, hacktivism, action repertoires, repertoires of contention, virtual sit-in, electronic civil disobedience, Anonymous, Operation Payback
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The Horse and Its Rider: Enacting the Actors of the Interaction
Ožanová, Sarah ; Grygar, Jakub (advisor) ; Balon, Jan (referee)
This bachelor thesis focuses on the horse-human relationship. It strives for answering the question how horse and human enact within this relationship and mutual interaction as the actors, which means active subjects that can participate in the relationship. The text tries to analyse how this relationship is influenced by other non-humans, such as the objects in the stable or the literature about horses. The text explores this through the lens of chosen theoretical and methodological concepts (the multispecies ethnography, Eduardo Kohn's anthropology of life or anthropology beyond the human, Donna Haraway's research of the non-humans and especially Bruno Latour's symmetrical anthropology and actor-network theory) that reach beyond the human and contain animals, objects and other non-humans. The research is based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews with the stable member. The analysis shows that the conditions of the horse-human relationship are mostly defined by the human. The human sets up the barriers within witch the horse can interfere partly (and probably unintentionally) in the mutual relationship by its reactions. The lifeless non-humans can substitute the human role of restricting the horse in this relationship. They can also reflect or reproduce certain notions or...
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The Coming Crisis of Czech Sociology?
Štrojsa, Miloš ; Balon, Jan (advisor) ; Maršálek, Jan (referee)
The thesis "The coming crisis of czech sociology?" is talking about the current situation of czech sociology. In the last fifteen years there have been evident efects, which have a negative influnce on position of sociology in czech society. The first effect is the academic crisis (mass growth of university education). The second effect is the crisis of humanities (underrating of humanities). Also, there is an existence of specific developmental problem. These efects have desintegrative consequences on czech sociology, which contens with unprecedented growth of university students. Afterwards, these students are not able to find adequate job position in this field of study. This thesis talks about all these fenomens. In the first part, this thesis describes the enviroment of current state of czech sociology and puts emphasis on the above mentioned topics- problem situation of university education, uncertain position of humanities and complicated development of sociology as a science. The second part describes current situation of czech sociology. There is analysed, the masification of university educucation and its impact on sociological fields taught in six public academical departments. Also, there is a part talking about the growing number of sociologists- what will happen with them after their...
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Purpose and rationality in the theory of action: Max Weber, Talcott Parsons and an outline of an alternative
Horák, Vít ; Balon, Jan (advisor) ; Urban, Jan (referee)
Submitted thesis examines the role of the notion of end (purpose) in the theory of action and how reaching an end can be considered as rational. Underlying motive is an intuition of the Frankfurt school that identified modern society as irationally rational. By supplementing the notion of end with a dimension of its latitude - the spectrum of possibilities that are open for an action - I try to diferentiate it and enable a multi-dimensional conception of purposeful action in which creative and reactive aspects of an action can be separated. Inside this conception I try to make the abovementioned oxymóron intelligible without relying on moral maxims to which would be the action subordinated. To the this goal I progress from a discussion of the hermeneutical metatheoretical principles through a critical analysis of Weber's and Parsons' theory of action. I go through Weber's concept of understanding (verstehende) sociology, the question of access into the perspective of others, the notion of meaning (purpose), end, and rationality and Parsons' discussion of the possibilitties of analytical theory in sociology and the concept of "unit act".
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New Capitalism as a Cause and a Result of Effectivization of Society
Hrabánková, Anežka ; Balon, Jan (advisor) ; Maršálek, Jan (referee)
Given the breadth of the concept of new capitalism and possible topics that present themselves here, the main objective of this work is especially presentation of new capitalism as reflected in sociological literature and reference to its highly efficient nature. The work is also a reflection on key topics opened by leading theoreticians of contemporary capitalism. Using Weberian sociology, the work seeks to capture the development of capitalism and to grasp new contemporary capitalism. The development of capitalism is described by the development of three important aspects that appear early in modern capitalism which are important during its whole history up to the present. It is the development of the phenomenon of work, consumption and time. For these three phenomena, the presented work deals in particular with their tendency to become increasingly more efficient. Efficiency is part of the rationalization process; the work uses a more suitable term for contemporary Euro-American society - effectivization (efficiency boost of society), due to its ubiquity and topicality, and also due to the fact that current changes are being legitimized under the designation of efficiency. Where the logic of money takes control (at the market), thinking is being rationalized and resources are being used more...
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The Philanthropy of Culture and Arts: Motivations of Czech Contemporary Patrons
Chalupová, Kristýna ; Balon, Jan (advisor) ; Čada, Karel (referee)
The diploma thesis focuses on growing phenomenon of the "new generation" of the Czech arts and cultural philanthropists and their motivations. The first part exposes the theoretical concept of philanthropy and further describes the patronage of arts and culture in the historical and contemporary contexts of both the foreign and the Czech world. The thesis also provides a brief overview of theoretical concepts analysing altruistic behaviour and the overview of current outputs from international researches that examine who philanthropists are and what are their motivations for giving. The author further focuses on defining the Czech patrons and the obstacles they face in the Czech Republic. A key part of the report consists of the carried out qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews with eleven new representatives of Czech cultural and art patronage. The research objective was to explore attitudes to philanthropy in general, to arts and culture in particular and to reveal motivations of philanthropists leading to their support of arts organizations and entities. Based on a comparison of the research outputs to outputs of selected international studies, the author finds out that in the most cases Czech patrons have more or less the same motivations to support arts and culture (etc.) as...
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Animal Abuse in Sociological Perspective
Obermajerová, Kristýna ; Balon, Jan (advisor) ; Šamánek, Jan (referee)
This bachelor thesis focuses on animal abuse and its possible connections with other phenomena in the society. Additionally it provides an insight into the current situation of animal abuse in the Czech Republic. This situation is then compared with the situation abroad. The first part of the thesis is focused on presenting animal abuse as an issue that is relevant to sociology, and on its inclusion in the interests of contemporary sociology. Another section of the thesis is devoted to the presentation of earlier research conducted with the aim to detect any connection between animal abuse and other violent behavior, both in terms of escalation from cruelty to animals to violence toward humans and of committing animal abuse as a consequence of experiencing domestic violence. The following part of the thesis is based on an analysis of data retrieved from articles discussing animal abuse cases that are available at news server iDnes.cz and furthermore on an analysis of data obtained from American database Pet-Abuse.com which monitors animal abuse cases. The goal of this analysis is to present the current situation of animal cruelty in the Czech Republic and to compare it with the situation abroad. Several aspects that may be associated with abuse of animals were researched: abuser's sex and age, the...
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