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The Social Death of Things? Minimalism as an alternative lifestyle
Brunerová, Aneta ; Zandlová, Markéta (advisor) ; Abu Ghosh, Yasar (referee)
The popularity of the minimalist lifestyle has been growing rapidly since 2008, especially in the American context. In recent years, this phenomenon has also been noticeable in the Czech Republic, manifesting itself in a critical revision of consumer society, to which it responds and defines itself in new forms of (anti)consumption. This thesis aims to examine minimalist consumption practices and to analyse minimalism mainly through the lens of material culture studies. With the help of ethnographic practices, I focus on selected aspects of the minimalist lifestyle, including its connection to environmental and anti-consumerist attitudes, attitudes towards material objects as such, or the position of minimalist actors in the social field. Keywords: ethnography, minimalism, material culture, consumer practices, consumer society
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Production of knowledge on climate crisis
Nunez, Eva ; Zandlová, Markéta (advisor) ; Novák, Arnošt (referee)
In my thesis I am using ethnographic research methodology to study ways of communication and production of knowledge about the climate crisis in the Czech climate movement. The thesis focuses on four activist groups known for their use of direct action - Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace, Limity jsme my (We are the Limits) and "Stop Dirty Money", an activist coalition group. I examine the process of making of their communication and who their communication is aimed at. Emphasis is placed on their use of direct action and emotional framing of climate crisis. The thesis analyzes how each group's views on social change are reflected in their communication and production of knowledge.
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Home sweet home? Expats and their various ways of creating a home
Holubová, Kateřina ; Ezzeddine, Petra (advisor) ; Zandlová, Markéta (referee)
This study focuses on expats, professionals and specialists from English-speaking countries who were sent by their employers to work abroad in Switzerland. They together with their families, were asked to move to a foreign country and start new lives. Although the relocation does bring a change in career and in most cases, a better personal economic situation, it also brings with it, big life changes. The most obvious changes are associated with separation from their ancestral homes and families, and the need for the establishment of new ones. The central point of this study is the question of what helps to create these new homes and what is involved in this sphere. The fieldwork, which was defined by cohabitation with the families, consisted of observation and analysis to determine the social and material practices through which expatriate families relate to their homes - and how it was narratively reflected. Some major points of observation included the universal need for the families to have with them, objects of a material nature that linked their new home to the original and contemporary home, and a tendency to establish social ties with other expats as a substitution of the family support network. Also observed were the aspects of the adaptation of the family members to their new homes and...
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"I am not a looser that lives only in this bup" Bar Etnography.
Mazáková, Tereza ; Zandlová, Markéta (advisor) ; Halbich, Marek (referee)
Title: 'I'm not a looser that lives only in this pub.' Bar ethnography Keywords: bar, alcohol, meaning, guests, norms, students, ambivalence. Abstract: Goals: to understand the meaning of bar visits and activities that take place in bars. Method: Qualitative research using the methods of participatory observations and semi- structured interviews. Conclusions: A bar is common place in which people choose to spend their free time. It is thought of as a place full of fun, consumption, and social interaction. It forms an important part of free time activities. Alternative free time activities are commonly connected to boredom and loneliness especially by individuals without stable social circles outside of bars. Evenings in bars tend to be stereotypical, especially for frequent visitors. The stereotypical environment is a source of much ambivalence. It carries many positive effects (such as stability, certainty, security, anticipation, and known environment) but can be also perceived negatively (boredom, stagnation). A bar is in the Czech cultural context regarded as an ordinary part of life of people maturing to adulthood. Feelings of inappropriateness can arise in case of a long transition to adulthood. This increases the range of ambivalences towards the bar environment as well as towards the activities...
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New media in school
Trubanová, Natália ; Bittnerová, Dana (advisor) ; Zandlová, Markéta (referee)
The "New Media at School" diploma thesis focuses on the presence of new media at school and on the meanings and practices associated with it. Based on participatory observation in Prague high school, semi-structured interviews and Internet resources analysis, it tries to understand how new media are involved in shaping the space and organization of the school, its teaching and learning organization. It focuses on how the school seeks to cope with the arrival of these expensive facilities for which it is responsible.It alsonotices how the school seeks to cope with the penetration of the different spaces that the new media bring into its hitherto closed environment. At the same time, it points to ways in which the school itself crosses its borders, the time-space of disciplination. Finally, it monitors the impact of new media on relationships within the school, between teachers and pupils, but also within the peer group. Through these meanings and practices, it points to the dilemmas that the emergence of new media has brought to the school environment, and analyzes how new media allows pupils to face this disciplination pressure in the school, and vice versa, in what moments new media themselves take disciplination into their own hands. The new media is not perceived as passive tools, but as actors...
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