1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910828033803321

Autore

Krapfl James <1971->

Titolo

Revolution with a human face : politics, culture, and community in Czechoslovakia, 1989-1992 / / James Krapfl

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca : , : Cornell University Press, , 2013

ISBN

0-8014-6941-4

0-8014-6942-2

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xxi, 260 p.)

Disciplina

943.704/3

Soggetti

Political culture - Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia Politics and government 1989-1992

Czechoslovakia History Velvet Revolution, 1989

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 2007.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

The rhetoric of revolution -- The big bang of the signifiers -- The ideals of November -- The boundaries of community -- Power in the streets -- The will of the people.

Sommario/riassunto

In this social and cultural history of Czechoslovakia's "gentle revolution," James Krapfl shifts the focus away from elites to ordinary citizens who endeavored-from the outbreak of revolution in 1989 to the demise of the Czechoslovak federation in 1992-to establish a new, democratic political culture. Unique in its balanced coverage of developments in both Czech and Slovak lands, including the Hungarian minority of southern Slovakia, this book looks beyond Prague and Bratislava to collective action in small towns, provincial factories, and collective farms.Through his broad and deep analysis of workers' declarations, student bulletins, newspapers, film footage, and the proceedings of local administrative bodies, Krapfl contends that Czechoslovaks rejected Communism not because it was socialist, but because it was arbitrarily bureaucratic and inhumane. The restoration of a basic "humanness"-in politics and in daily relations among citizens-was the central goal of the revolution. In the strikes and demonstrations that began in the last weeks of 1989, Krapfl argues, citizens forged new symbols and a new symbolic system to reflect the



humane, democratic, and nonviolent community they sought to create. Tracing the course of the revolution from early, idealistic euphoria through turns to radicalism and ultimately subversive reaction, Revolution with a Human Face finds in Czechoslovakia's experiences lessons of both inspiration and caution for people in other countries striving to democratize their governments.