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Geopolitics of Border Hardening: Protecting Statehood through Re-territorialisation
Mičko, Branislav ; Romancov, Michael (advisor) ; Doboš, Bohumil (referee) ; Lepič, Martin (referee)
The presented dissertation seeks to answer why states construct barriers on their borders. In order to provide an answer, a new theoretical approach is proposed based on re-reading the works of Carl Schmitt. The offered theory builds upon existing scholarship and is centred around the concept of nomos, defined as a political order consisting of a performative way of life and land division that is underlying the political existence of states. The basic argument advanced here is that border barriers are constructed against hard-to-identify strangers to this order. Seven case studies are offered where the process of barrier construction is tracked back- to-back with various developments pertaining to the identified nomos. The results confirm the existence of hard-to-identify strangers challenging the respective nomos in different ways and their role in the process leading to the barrier construction. For the study of border barriers, this implies the importance of the issue of strangeness and identification in predicting barrier construction. The work also demonstrates nomos' potential usefulness as an analytic prism for geopolitical research.
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Territoriality in lizards
Chmelař, Jan ; Rehák, Ivan (advisor) ; Veselý, Milan (referee)
Territoriality in lizads Jan Chmelař Abstract : Territoriality is a widely discussed phenomenon occuring among all groups of vertebrates on intraspecific level. Nevertheless, lizards occupy a prominent position due to a nearly endless variability in forms of territorial behaviour on the levels of higher taxons, species, populations and individuals. Examples could be systems of social dominance hierarchy, female territoriality or interspecific territoriality. Importance of territoriality is obvious as a way of reproduction control and exclusive usage of space and resources and has a positive impact on individuals that are able to defend their territories. On the other hand, there is a higher exposure to predators and a cost in a form of depleted energy. One other thing is that it sometimes complicates efforts of conservational biologists by lowering genetic variability inside populations of endangered species. Key words: territoriality, social dominance, lizards, home range
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Seasonal variation of the territorial behaviour of the European beaver (Castor fiber L.).
Kadlecová, Hana ; Horáček, Ivan (advisor) ; Červený, Jaroslav (referee)
The presented thesis deals with the temporal and spatial changes in activity of the European beaver (Castor fiber L.) during different seasons. Basic dataset was obtained by continuous telemetric monitoring of selected individuals in years 2008 and 2009 in two different geographical areas, namely in the Bohemian forest and in southern Moravia. The scope of the thesis was to record, evaluate and interpret the behavior of European beaver during the year. I focused myself especially on the beginning and end of activity in relation to incidence of sunrise and sunset, duration of stay in the field, changes in the size of actively-used area and time-duration and length of the movement. In cases where there were more active individuals monitored within the studied area, I also watched for their mutual interaction. In statistical analysis of gained data I also took into account the sex and age of the individuals. Beaver's behavior varies during the year. They are most active in spring and autumn, while in winter their activity decreases significantly. This observation is valid not only for the time duration and length of movement trajectories, but also for the size of actively-used area. The beginning of activity is strongly correlated with the sunset, while the end does not show any correlation with...
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Panelstories: Ethnography of Space (Re)production at Černý Most Modernist Housing Estate
Lehečka, Michal ; Bittnerová, Dana (advisor) ; Uherek, Zdeněk (referee) ; Pauknerová, Karolína (referee)
Panelstories: Ethnography of Space (Re)production at Černý Most Modernist Housing Estate. Mgr. Michal Lehečka Abstract: The dissertation focuses on spatial environment of socialist modernist housing estates. Based on data collected during a 10year long fieldwork in multiple modernist housing locations, it explores dominant ways of spatial (re)production of Černý Most housing estate in Prague. Thanks to its ownership and ethnic structure Černý Most represents an ideal fieldwork site where both long term and contemporary phenomena resulting from the post-socialist transformation can be detected, described and analysed. After 1989, former socialist modernist cities have undergone a plethora of political, economical and social changes and disruptions. These changes continuously uncover an ongoing interaction between the initial egalitarian and collectivist heritage of the housing estate as well as its ambiguous and fragmented property structure. Spaces of the estates are continuously (re)produced through various manifestations of actors' territorial claims. The spatial changeability is best described by Henri Lefebvre's notion of socio-material (re)production of space and his widely used concept of spatial triad (Lefebvre 1991). Transformation of housing estates is therefore (re)produced through (in)visible...
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Spatial activity of birds and methods of its continuous monitoring
Havelka, Jan ; Sedláček, Ondřej (advisor) ; Kauzál, Ondřej (referee)
The aim of this work was to collect current knowledge of avian spatial aktivity focusing to its internal structure, using modern telemetry devices which allows continuous monitoring of small animal species. In the light of these new methods, avian home ranges seem to be more dynamic structures, changing during diurnal and nocturnal acitvities, breeding cycle, age, sex and social statut of a bird. Thanks to detailed radiotelemetry we can observe even secretive animal behaviour and its characteristics in three dimensions. Continual monitoring allows us to study migration in a detailed way, its influence to other parts of their annual cycle and to asses migration connectivity. In future these new information should be used for targeted conservation of endangered species.
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Border Barriers in the Modern World: Factors Contributing to Barrier-building Practices in the post-1945 World
Mičko, Branislav ; Riegl, Martin (advisor) ; Bahenský, Vojtěch (referee)
The number of border barriers has increased rapidly in the last decades. These barriers appeared between the wealthy and the poor, between the stable and those ridden by civil wars, between traditional military rivals and even between partners in the integration process. This suggests that a complex theory is necessary to explain the phenomenon of border barrier building. The presented work aims to provide an answer to the question of why states build border barriers by the use of Schmitt's theory of state based on nomos, sovereignty and political unity in interaction with globalization. This theory served as a framework for establishing the independent variables, namely challenges to land-appropriation, challenges to sovereignty from military threat, challenges to sovereignty from cross-border ethnic group, challenges to political unity from irregular mass migration and finally challenges to political unity from terrorism. These were then tested using regression analysis with number of border barriers constructed by a state serving as a dependent variable. The results suggest that states that often face challenges to land-appropriation, to sovereignty coming from politicised cross-border ethnic groups and to political unity from irregular mass migration build more border barriers than those that...
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The impacts of climate change on environmental geopolitics of the Arctic
Pelletier, Mireille ; Landovský, Jakub (advisor) ; Romancov, Michael (referee)
The new fact that the environment is becoming the main factor of geopolitical transformations in the Arctic region has been triggered mainly by climate change. In the North, this recent aspect of geopolitics, in correlation with the environment, leads sometimes to tensions between countries, but also to a need for cooperation. The question brought by such conditions is, to which extent will this climate change provoke cooperation or conflicts between the Arctic states. The purpose of addressing the problem is to understand what kind of challenges would be facing the international relations between circumpolar countries and how the environment is playing a geopolitical role in them. The objective of the main research question is to assess the importance of climate change over the geopolitics of the Arctic through several spheres of geopolitics: environment and bio-diversity, economic activity of the region, sovereignty and territoriality, security of the circumpolar states, and international and diplomatic relations. The trans-border and transnational nature of environmental issues is another important factor, since nature does not respect human-made boundaries and an environmental concern, such as climate change and its aftermaths, cannot be exclusive to a state along the lines of its borders.
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Territoriality in lizards
Chmelař, Jan ; Rehák, Ivan (advisor) ; Veselý, Milan (referee)
Territoriality in lizads Jan Chmelař Abstract : Territoriality is a widely discussed phenomenon occuring among all groups of vertebrates on intraspecific level. Nevertheless, lizards occupy a prominent position due to a nearly endless variability in forms of territorial behaviour on the levels of higher taxons, species, populations and individuals. Examples could be systems of social dominance hierarchy, female territoriality or interspecific territoriality. Importance of territoriality is obvious as a way of reproduction control and exclusive usage of space and resources and has a positive impact on individuals that are able to defend their territories. On the other hand, there is a higher exposure to predators and a cost in a form of depleted energy. One other thing is that it sometimes complicates efforts of conservational biologists by lowering genetic variability inside populations of endangered species. Key words: territoriality, social dominance, lizards, home range
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Territoriality and social relationships in field mice of the genus Apodemus
Cholevová, Kristýna ; Stopka, Pavel (advisor) ; Vohralík, Vladimír (referee)
1 Territoriality is a phenomenon associated with resource use and social system in animals. This phenomenon reached the highest level in birds (Aves) and mammals (Mammalia). Wood mice (Apodemus) can be a good genus for research. Due to that they are abundant and well studied, they can be used for checking existing knowledge of territories, social relationships and reproductive strategies. Differences in ecology between species can help us investigate a lot of phenomena, including the phenomenon sometimes called monogamy-polygyny shift, using comparative studies.
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Seasonal variation of the territorial behaviour of the European beaver (Castor fiber L.).
Kadlecová, Hana ; Horáček, Ivan (advisor) ; Červený, Jaroslav (referee)
The presented thesis deals with the temporal and spatial changes in activity of the European beaver (Castor fiber L.) during different seasons. Basic dataset was obtained by continuous telemetric monitoring of selected individuals in years 2008 and 2009 in two different geographical areas, namely in the Bohemian forest and in southern Moravia. The scope of the thesis was to record, evaluate and interpret the behavior of European beaver during the year. I focused myself especially on the beginning and end of activity in relation to incidence of sunrise and sunset, duration of stay in the field, changes in the size of actively-used area and time-duration and length of the movement. In cases where there were more active individuals monitored within the studied area, I also watched for their mutual interaction. In statistical analysis of gained data I also took into account the sex and age of the individuals. Beaver's behavior varies during the year. They are most active in spring and autumn, while in winter their activity decreases significantly. This observation is valid not only for the time duration and length of movement trajectories, but also for the size of actively-used area. The beginning of activity is strongly correlated with the sunset, while the end does not show any correlation with...
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