How did the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia approach non-heterosexuality? How did young girls and boys come to realize their queer desires and identities within a state known for repressing individuality? What did they do with that self-awareness—and later on, as adults, what strategies did they employ in their everyday dealings with a state that defined homosexuality as a medical diagnosis? Queer Encounters with Communist Power answers these questions as it interweaves groundbreaking queer oral history with meticulous archival research into the discourses on homosexuality and transsexuality in Czechoslovakia from 1948 to 1989.
This book explores the history of Czechoslovak linguistic and social practices towards Roma during the communist era, revealing how contemporary Czech society perceives the Romani population through inherited social, medical, and legal frameworks. It challenges the conventional views of “Gypsiness” and “Czechness” by examining how socialist discourses shaped perceptions of Roma as socially deviant. The author traces the continuity of ethnic discrimination, social deviance, and citizenship from the 1950s to the fall of communism, addressing critical questions about the socialist regime’s understanding of “Gypsiness” and its connections to citizenship, equality, and normality. The study investigates how the terms “Gypsies” and “Roma” became associated with unhealthiness and deviance in popular discourse. It also considers the implications of interpreting Roma cultural traits through non-ethnic lenses for contemporary racism and ethnic attitudes. By highlighting the historical links between modern xenophobia and the communist regime's approaches to the “Gypsy question,” the work reveals the gaps between written laws and their enforcement, exposing the complex interplay of official beliefs, policies, and public consciousness that facilitated discrimination under the guise of social welfare.
Publikace souhrnně představuje hlavní myšlenky z celoživotního díla Hany Havelkové. Obsahuje šestnáct zásadních textů z její rozsáhlé bibliografie od začátku devadesátých let 20. století do současné doby, v nichž Hana Havelková formulovala své stěžejní argumenty, koncepty a teorie. Původní texty Hany Havelkové jsou doplněny o dvacet pět příspěvků jejích kolegyň a kolegů, kteří se nechávají inspirovat tematickým zaměřením jejího díla, rozvíjejí její myšlenky, vzdávají hold její vědecké i pedagogické kariéře a v neposlední řadě její charismatické osobnosti.
