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Childfreeness as a response to the current climate crisis
Stříbrská, Šárka ; Novák, Arnošt (advisor) ; Nyklová, Blanka (referee)
This qualitative research focuses on the decision to stay childfree as a specific individual strategy for coping with the effects of climate crisis. The purpose of this study is to show ways in which the climate crisis is internalized and stressed within the decision to stay childfree. Data for this research were created through semi-structured interviews with 12 informants coming from all around the world. These informants were divided into two different categories. First of them, the kinnovators, perceive their decision to stay childfree as a way to erase the boundary between human and non-human worlds and therefore, similarly to Donna J. Haraway (2016), they perceive their childfreeness as an alternative to the popularly held belief of genalogical view on human kinship. These informants experience a great amount of environmental grief (Kevorkian, 2004) based on the values of antispeciesism and they see the main causes of climate crisis in the epoch of Anthropocene and therefore in the problems connected to human society - such as overpopulation (e.g. Ehrlich, 1986, compared to Haraway, 2016) or consumerism (Bell, 2004). Kinnovators perceive their decision to stay childfree as their individual responsibility and as a way to mitigate climate crisis, as well as a means to maintain their integrity....
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Brand product as a symbol of young participants
Haicl, Matouš ; Novotná, Eliška (advisor) ; Kincl, Tomáš (referee)
This theses Brand product as a symbol of young participants is focused on the phenomenon of brands, which is interpreted through its relation to social status. In the theoretical part of the theses there are two contradictory views discussed (T. Veblen's and G. Lipovetsky's), which provide two different points of view concerning contemporary society and the relation between luxurious goods and social status. Through this discussion the thesis provides the characteritics of youth in the context of its developement during the 20th century. Another discussed topic are marketing techniques focusing on today's young generation. In the research part the author aims to find a connection between luxurious brands consumption and the concept of status among young adults studying Czech high schools. Results did not prove this connection to be very strong, and it seems therefore that Lipovetsky's point of view was the one closer to our analysis.
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The Concept of Individualization in Social Theory
Märzová, Hana ; Balon, Jan (advisor) ; Šanderová, Jadwiga (referee)
In this thesis theoretical meaning of the concept of individualization is examined. Compilation and comparison of the concepts of individualization as they are understood by Ulrich Beck, Zygmunt Bauman and Anthony Giddens are put forward. Critiques of the concept of individualization are analyzed with focus on controversial issues of the concept of individualization. The analysis shows four types of objections: 1. Concepts of theorists of individualization are not based on empirical research, therefore they do not match the reality correctly. 2. In the conceptions of theorists of individualization, the individuals seem to be independent on the culture and on other people. 3. Social classes and gender status to some extent still affect the life of the individuals. 4. Individualization does not have the same effect on everybody. The analysis also shows that the controversial issues are the result of different meaning which give to the individualization creators of the concept and its critics. Theorists of individualization understand the individualization as macro-social phenomenon, whereas critics of individualization understand the individualization as the change of life and behaviour of the individuals due to the effect of various ambivalent processes. The question, how to connect those meanings...
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