Taught In English

There is no language prerequisite for courses at this language level.

SUBJECT: GENDER RELATIONS IN THE POSTSOCIALIST CZECH REPUBLIC

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course looks at issues such as the meaning of women's citizenship in the Czech Democracy and how state socialism has influenced gender roles and in more general way the impact of social changes.

COURSE OUTLINE:
UNIT 1 – MAKING SENSE OF GENDER STUDIES
The origin of Gender Studies.
Class, race and ethnicity as main elements.
Influences on Gender Studies: Psychoanalytic Theory, Lacanian work and the influence of Julia Kristeva and Bracha Ettinger.
Post-feminism and its influence.

UNIT 2 – SOCIAL EQUALITY DURING COMMUNISM
Collectivism vs. Individualism, Masculinity vs. Feminity, Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance.
Class structure in the communist regime.
Gender division of work.
The case of the minorities.

UNIT 3 – THE FALL OF COMMUNISM AND ITS CONSEQUENCIES IN SOCIAL CHANGE
A comparison of what went right and wrong in the transition from Communism in Czechoslovakia and other Eastern countries from a gender perspective.
Gender and nationalism. Importance in the creation of the Czech Republic.
Changes in everyday life.

UNIT 4 – GENDER RELATIONS AFTER COMMUNISM
Changes in the Market and the State: social relations in the current Czech Republic.
Women's movement and feminism. What It means and prospective.
Economic changes and its reflection on society. (Un)employment.
Gender and domestic violence.
The role of Religion.
The impact of Globalization.
Perspectives for the XXI century.