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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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Parental behavior and recognition of juveniles in geckos of genus Teratoscincus
Suchomelová, Petra ; Frynta, Daniel (advisor) ; Kubička, Lukáš (referee)
4 ANNOTATION The diploma thesis deals with parental behavior and recognition of youngs by two kinds of desert geckos of genus Teratoscincus, specifically T. scincus and T. keyserlingii. The geckos inhabit a very extreme environment where it is not easy to survive, especially for the small hatchlings. Therefore, it is probable that small hatchlings live together with their parents in their territory for some time. If the parents tolerated them inside their territory, they would provide them with an indirect form of parental care. In the first part of the thesis the hypothesis that adults tolerate to the presence of juvenile conspecifics and heterospecifics (Eublepharis macularius) was tested. The main goal was to determine whether adults tolerate juveniles generally or whether they recognize juveniles conspecifics. To support the hypothesis of the adults' tolerance of juveniles the eggs of the adult geckos living in pair were left in their terrarium until the hatching of the juvenile. Further, the reaction of adult geckos to the presence of a E. macularius juvenile (small), admitted into the terrarium, was tested. The aim was to find out whether the two kinds of geckos, preying other geckoes in the nature, show predatory behavior toward the E. macularius. The standard experiment was carried out in the second...
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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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The Implications of the Estonian E - Residency Project on Statehood and Territoriality.
Peets, Liis ; Riegl, Martin (advisor) ; Doboš, Bohumil (referee)
The Implications of the Estonian E-Residency Project on Statehood and Territoriality Liis Peets Charles University Prague 2017 Faculty of Social Sciences; Political Studies Programme; Geopolitical Studies Curriculum Academic Supervisor Mgr. Martin Riegl, Ph.D. Abstract In 2014 Estonia became the first country in the world to launch an e-residency project. It is advertised as opening the country's digital borders to the world. This allows for anyone anywhere to apply for an e-resident status and thus gain access to certain parts of the Estonian e-governance platform allowing almost complete location independence when it comes to creating and running a limited company. The e-residency card also gives the holder a secure state guaranteed digital identity. The program has sparked a lot of international interest on both governmental levels in various states as well as in the media. One can find an abundance of claims and expectations regarding what the e-residency project is and what it could be. Many authors in the media claim that the program could quite likely change the meaning of concepts such as citizenship, residency, borders, territoriality and sovereignty. There are also claims that the whole meaning of statehood is under threat and the behavioral logic of countries in fundamentally changing. The paper...
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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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The applicability of criminal law statues
Sýkora, Michal ; Jelínek, Jiří (advisor) ; Musil, Jan (referee) ; Fryšták, Marek (referee)
The applicability of criminal law statues (abstract) The submitted thesis is focused on the applicability of criminal law statutes and aims to summarize the current legislation regarding the applicability of criminal law statutes, assess its current state, draw attention to any legislative gaps and propose possible de lege ferenda changes. The usual focus of university textbooks might suggest the applicability of criminal legislation is a matter more or less brief, which does not require a special level of attention. However, the opposite is true. The applicability of criminal legislation is a rather broad and diverse topic, its legal framework can be found both in substantive and procedural law, as well as in regular law, constitutional law and law of international treaties. A detailed theoretical research and the solution of individual cases uncovers a number of subquestions, not only in criminal law, but also in a number of other areas of law. There are four basic aspects of applicability: temporal, territorial, personal and subject matter. Every single one of those has a rich history in theoretical, statutory and case law development. Despite such history, it remains an ongoing issue, both from the perspective of professional and general public alike. The matter is also a part of the regular occupation...
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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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