ECES

CZECHREPUBLIC:
TWO DECADES OF SOCIAL
CHANGE
ECES – SPRING 2013
JAN SLÁDEK, DEPT. OF SOCIOLOGY
Introduction

Overview
 Introduction, course requirements
 A (really) short walk through syllabus
 Discussion: your points of view/interests
 Four rendez-vous with czech history
ECES, Jan Sládek, jan.sladek@ff.cuni.cz
2

Introduction, course requirements
 Contact: jan.sladek@ff.cuni.cz,
GSM +420 775 999 689
 Put ECES into subject
 Office: Celetna 20, 113 wed
13-14hod
 Jansladek.eu
 Midterm Exam 25 % - 8apr
 Participation 10 %
 Send topic until 11.3. 2013
 Presentation 30 %
 Final Exam 35 % 22may
The seminars consist of discussing
short texts or relevant topics
(covered in lectures), watching
documentaries and presentations of
students. Depending on the
availability, relevant cultural events
(i.e. exhibitions) are included as
well.
3

A (really) short walk through syllabus
 Course overview – basic timeline of the
development in CR (one week)
 Velvet Revolution – the paths of change
 Central European Countries: united in post-
communism? (+ midterm exam)
 Changes after 1989 as viewed by the people of
CR
 Privatisation and restitution: A case of housing
reforms
 Czech higher education after 1989
 Summanry and Final exam (one week)ECES, Jan Sládek, jan.sladek@ff.cuni.cz
4

Your points of view/interests
 Goals in the syllabus:
 Understand basic concepts of social change
 Gain insight into specific topics
 Get information about key changes and available
data describing transformation in CR
 Your own goals
 What would you like to learn here?
 What would you like to present in the class?
5

The stories of famous „eights“ (more or
less)
1918, 1938, 1948, 1968
Four rendez-vous with Czech
history
6

1918-1939: The „First Republic“
 1914-1918
 Negotiations in exile
 Fall of Austro-Hungarian
Empire
 28.10. 1918 – 31.12. 1992
 Czechoslovakia, yet various
changes
 28.9. , 28.10., 1.1. – state
days
 Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk,
the first president („The
Father“), sociologist, book
on suicide
7

ECES, Jan Sládek, jan.sladek@ff.cuni.cz8

1938: The Munich agreement
 Negotiators – Adolf
Hitler, Neville
Chamberlain, Benito
Mussolini and
Édouard Daladier
 29-30.9. 1938 –
resolution
 The fatal dilemma,
March 1939 -
annexion
 The Sudet conflict,
the decrets of pres.
Beneš
9

1948: The Communists take-
over
 In May 1946 Klement
Gottwald, leader of the
communist party, managed to
win the elections with
astonishing success with 38%
of the votes. (KSČ, KSČM)
 Czech coup, „Victorious
February“
 On 25 February 1948, Beneš,
fearful of civil warand Soviet
intervention, capitulated and
appointed a new government
under Gottwald's leadership
 The normalisation years,
stalinism
10

1968: The prague spring /
invasion
 France…May 68,
Czechoslovakian
Socialist Republic
(CSSR) – Spring:
„socialism with human
face“
 21.8. 1968
 Exile, asanation,
temporary stay of
Soviet Army
 Jan Palach, the Torch
no. 1, Jan Zajíc,
Zdeněk Adamec
(2003)
11

Jan Palach (11.8. 1948 –
16/19.1.1969)
12

CZECHREPUBLIC:
TWO DECADES OF SOCIAL
CHANGE
ECES – Spring 2013
JAN SLÁDEK, DEPT. OF SOCIOLOGY

Discussion: What does
totalitarianism mean to you?
 Authoritarian regimes x
totaliratian
 Václav Havel: post-totalitarianism
 Raymond Aron
 grants to a party the monopoly of
the political activity
 The monopolistic party is
animated or armed with one
ideology = Truth
 double monopoly, the monopoly
of the means of force and that of
the means of persuasion
 majority of the economic activities
and professional are subjected to
the State
 politization, an ideological
transfiguration of all the possible
faults of the individuals
 Hannah Arendt: public / state /
private
14

Short case study:
The process with M. Horáková
 25 December 1901 – 27 June
1950
 Strong antinazi
 1945-48: MP
 27 September 1949: Arrested
 The trial was staged to imitate
„Soviet Great Purges“ of 1930s
 Radio (not TV), Societ advisors
 Prosecutors: Ludmila Horáková
Polednová; Josef Urválek
 8. June: Sentenced to death,
hanged
 Movie recordings found in 2005
 The verdict was cancelled in
June 1968
15

Charta 77 / Charter 77
 Civic initiative 1976-1992, Jan Patočka, V. Havel
 Document Charter 77 – January 77
 Motivation: arrest of The Plastic People of the Universe
 The document went worldwide (Le Monde)
 Critisized the failure to implement human rights in CSSR
(despite the legal obligation of the State)
 Legacy: the dissent / underground; „non-political
policy“….and Anti-charta, StB => The Commitee for the
Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted
16

1989: The Velvet Revolution I
 17. Nov: The Day of the
students‘ fight for
freedom (1939…)
 1989: peaceful
demonstration
suppressed („the dead
student rumour“) =>
mass prostests, general
strikes
 Outside CSSR: Collapse
of Warsav Pact =>
28.11. KSČ dismanted
single-party state
17

1989: The Velvet Revolution II
 December 1989 – first
non-communist (largely)
government appointed,
Havel elected for president
 June 1990 – First
democratic elections
(opposed to communist
elections); the Civic Forum
 Theatres, cultural
movement => government,
MPs
 The „grey zone“
 What about communist?
18

The Velvet Divorce: 1.1. 1993
 The entities Czech Republic and Slovakia known from
1969; „two equal nations“
 1939: „The First Slovak Republic“, approved by Hitler,
„clero-fascism“, reunited after 1945
 in a September 1992 poll, only 37% of Slovaks and 36%
of Czechs favored dissolution
 The inevitable argument?...stereotypes, history,
personalities of political leaders
 Czech and Slovak histories only converge in the period
1918–1993
 Most federal assets were divided in a ratio of 2 to 1
19

Main persons: Václav Havel
 5 October 1936, rich family,
„bourgeois history“ =>
apprenticeship
 Playwriter – absurd theatre
 Letters to Olga (from prison)
 More popular abroad than
home
 Very pro-western –
„humanitarian bombing“
(NATO bombing Yugoslavia)
 Revolution of „hearts and
souls“
20

Main persons: Václav Klaus
 19 June 1941
 Economist, Civic Democratic
Party (ex), conservative,
eurosceptic, Thatcher of CEE
 position in the Czechoslovakian
State Bank with permission to
travel abroad, a rare privilege
(1971-1986)
 1987 Klaus joined the
Prognostics Institute of the
Czechoslovak Academy of
Sciences
 Minister of Finance, later Prime
Minister, now President
21

Main persons: Valtr Komárek
 10.8. 1930
 Studied in Moscow,
1964-67 counsellor
to „Che“
 Director of the
Prognostics
Institute
 Social Democrat
22

Main persons: Miloš Zeman
 28 September 1944
 Leader of Czech
Social Democratic
Party, 1998-2002
PM
 Now retired, ex from
Party
 Rival of Klaus
23

Main persons: Václav Bělohradský
 17.1. 1944
 Philosopher, student of
Jan Patočka
 Exiled 1969 to Italy –
„double exile“
 The debate about Truth
(Havel: „Living in Truth“
x „VB: Truth is a product
of systems“
 Supported Klaus until
1998
24

Main persons: Vladimír Železný
 3 March 1945
 Media mogul, politician
(Senate, EP), convicted
(tax evasion)
 TV NOVA – First private
TV, „Call the Director“
 E.g. Commentaries on
2000 IMF riots in Prague
 Now Libertas.cz
25

The election of 1998
26

The Opposition Agreement
 „The agreement on creating a stable political
environment in the Czech Republic“, 1998
 Divison of power positions in czech politics
and economic (boards)
 CDP will cannot vote „no-trust“
 No negotiations with other parties
 „Great coalition“ ? … Prague Magistrate
 Legacy: Impuls 99 and „Thank you, now
leave“
27

The crisis in the Czech TV
 Problem: The Boards regulation Czech public
media being divided according to the current
political power => 12.12. New Director =>
petition
 Riots => „double-vision“ from 24.12. 2000 – 9.1.
2001, strike, occupation of TV
 Jana Bobošíková (now Suverenita), ex-advisor
to Václav Klaus, „Bobovision“
 Vladimír Železný – supported Bobošíková in his
„Call the Director“
28

Transtitology
 Studying a process of regime change, usually meant
from authoritarian to democratic
 Mainly african, Latin American and CEE countries
 Criticism:
 Euro/US centred
 Teleology (things are explained not by „because“, but using „in
order to“)
 Where from…and…where to?
 Unclear border between academical debate and political
campaign
29

Transtitology: The case of CR
 Communism
 Shortage economy
 State driven
 „Nomenklatura“
 State owned
 Totalitarism
 Capitalism
 Consumer society
 Market driven
 Meritocracy
 Private ownership
 Democracy
From? To?
30

Shortage economy
 Janos Kornai (Hungary)
 frequent, intensive and
chronic shortages
 occur in all spheres of the
economy
 shortages are occasionally
replaced by situations of
surplus
 Queueing involves a
considerable cost in terms of
time spent => waiting lists (i.e.
power control)
 planners blame the shortages
on the fact that consumers
demand "wrong things„
 ? The dark side of
consumerism ?
31

Nomenklatura
 Group of people holding key
positions
 Granted only by approval of the
Party
 The list of positions – list of
candidates
=> Patron – client
 Milovan Djilas: The New Class x
Trotskyism (caste)
 Lenin‘s criteria: reliability, political
attitude, qualifications, and
administrative ability
 Party Building and Cadre Work
Department
32

The shock therapy x gradualism
debate
 Faster pace
 People have to sacrifice
for better future
 Clear goal – installing
market economy in as
much areas as possible
 Methodological
individualism
 Slower pace
 Against „there-is-no-
alternative“ (TINA)
argument; path
dependency
 Goal unclear, reforms
rather on institutional
level (inst. economics)
ShockTherapy Gradualism
33

The definiton of CEE
 Varies accross the texts and
conceptions, i.e. more political
than geographical term
 Usually Poland, CR, SR,
Hungary, Bulgaria parts of former
Yugoslavia…and (?) former
Eastern Germany, sometimes the
Baltic republics
 Aka „Eastern bloc“, Iron Curtain
 Warsaw pact
 Former „Mitteleuropa“
 Different in various statistics
 Convergenece / divergence
debate
35

CEE: The case of Poland
 From 1989: Third polish Republic
 Peaceful revolutions, Round table, 1989
 Sejm: 1/3 Comm; 1/3 Coalition; 1/3 election
 Communists failed in elections and lost presidency (Jaruzelski)
 Workers‘ movement: Solidarity, Gdansk Shipyard strike,
1980, 75 killed
 /Lech Walesa, president 1990-95/
 Gdansk agreement: independent trade union, i.e. civil
society
 Solidarity: 10 milion people nationwide (quarter of population)
36

CEE: The case of Hungary I.
 From 1949 – Stalinist Era; Matyas Rakosi; Hungarian
working people party
 Vehement resistance => hard repression
 23.10 – 10.11 1956: Hungarian Uprising
 Student demonstration; against Soviet influence
 20,000 people, soviet tanks in Budapest
 Hundreds arrested in aftermath
 After 1989: „smooth“ transition, Oct. 1989 „democratic
package“, revision of constitution, last congress of
Communist Party
37

CEE: The case of Eastern Germany
 From 1949 – 1990; DDR
 Soviet influence / occupation until 1955; Yalta
conference 1945
 Weakened by reparations, brain drain
 1961: Berlin Wall
 1980s: Two German states in one nation
 1989: exiles (legal/ilegal), leipzig
demonstrations
38

CEE: The case of Romania
 1947-1989: Communism
 1950: „independece“
 1958: withdrawal of Soviet troops
 1965: Nicolas Caucescu
 1968: non-intervention in CSSR
 Harsh persecution, dictatorship
 1987: Brasov Rebellion
 Dec 1989: fights, 25 NC and
and his wife shot
41

Discussion: Causes and…solutions?
Roma and social exclusion42

Comment on the current situation in the CR
 The (un)solidarity of deprived – loss of hope
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfF7zvhlEko
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_H4vlsScI4
 „Inadjustables“
 One of the arrested – herself unemployed
 The PM: You have to work harder
43

The situation of Roma
in the Czech Republic

Contents
 History
 Facts and figures
 Institutions in CZ to integrate Roma
 Problems
 Education
 Unemployment
 Housing

History
 Origin of Roma→ India
 Roma came first to Europe in the Middle Ages
 Persecution, especially during Nationalsocialism
 Concentration camps in CZ for Roma in Lety u Písku
and Hodonín)
 During communism: The regime tried to assimilate
Roma
 After communism: Roma were ignored; first losers of
the process of transformation
 Appearance of Roma-ghettos
 Since the middle of 1990s: Integration of Roma is
strived

Facts and figures I
 Officially 12.000 Roma are living in CZ
(population census 2001)
 Estimation of the Coucil of Europe:
~200.000 Roma
 =2% of total population
 =the largest minority in CZ
 Ranking: 6th place within EU-members
concerning the number of Roma (after
Bulgaria, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and
Greece)

Facts and figures II
 Most cz Roma live in northwestern Bohemia
and eastern Moravia
 Roma in CZ are very unpopular (trend of
racism):
 Only 14% Czechs could imagine to live next to
a Roma without problems
 Every third Czech doesn´t want to have a
Roma as a neighbour
 74% Czechs think that Roma are unfriendly

Institutions in CZ to integrate Roma
Ombudsman
Office of the
government
Office of the
government for national
minorities
Office of the government for
Roma-minority affairs
Agency for social inclusion
In Roma localities
14 County coordinators for
Roma affairs
Roma advisors
Ce ntralle ve l
Lo calle ve l

Problems
 Education
 Unemployment
 Housing

Education
 Segregation of Roma in special/practical schools
 Segregation of Roma in special classes in
mainstream schools
 Segregation of Roma in seperate schools in Roma-
ghettos
 Result: The level of education of Roma is lower
 2007: The ECtHR decided, that the segregation of
Roma in special schools is not conform with human
rights (case D.H. and others)→ until today the
decision has not been implemented by CZ

Unemployment
 Because of their low education, Roma can
get only bad paid jobs
 Risk group:
 Unemployment rate in CZ: 9%
 Unemployment rate of Roma in CZ: 70%
(inofficial estimation)
 Bad paid job→ no motivation
 More social benefits for Roma
(unemployment money)→ more prejustices
within the majority society

Housing
 One third of Roma are living in Roma-ghettos
 400 Roma-ghettos in CZ, this number is increasing
 12 Slums
 Segregation of Roma from majority society
 Bad houses and flats
 Additional charges like energy are very high
 Diskrimination at renting flats
 Resignation→ Unemployment and deliquency

Sources
 Am ne sty Inte rnatio nal(Hg . ), Renamed Injustice (2010)
 Am ne sty Inte rnatio nal(Hg . ), Annual Report 2011 on Czech
Republic (2011)
 Co uncilo f Euro pe (Hg . ), Report by Thomas Hammarberg (2010)
 Co uncilo f Euro pe Ro m a and Trave lle rs Divisio n, Romani
Population in Council of Europe Member States (2010)
 Euro pe an Ro m a Rig hts Ce nte r (Hg . ), Stigmata, Segregated
Schooling in Central and Eastern Europe (2004)
 www.soros.org
 www.romea.cz
 http://romove.radio.cz

Roma and social exclusion
 Definition:
 First mentioned, then defined
 1989, Social Charter: „in the spirit of solidarity it is
important to combat social exclusion“
 Close to „relative deprivation“ / poverty;
predominantly focused on low income as
excluding factor (criticism: it is economic, not
social)
 => social exclusion as a failure of system (sociology:
biographical situation vs. social structure)
55

 Systematical blocation of groups / individuals
from rig hts, o ppo rtunitie s and re so urce s
 multidimensional process of progressive social
rupture, detaching groups and individuals from
social relations and „normality“
 Linked to marginalisation (Myth of marginality),
deprivation from citizenship, some studies
point to „poor decision making“
 Crime related
56

 The „anomy“ concept
 Nomos = law/norm (Greek); a = prefix; absent
 Discrepancy, inconstitency between goals and
means
 Emile Durkheim – „anomic suicide“ (modern
insecurity“
 Merton – positive / negative deviations
(adaptation)
 Innovation, ritualism, revolution, escape strategy
57

Robert King Merton: Individual adaptation
Ways of adaptation Culutral Goals Institutionalized means
Conformity + +
Innnovation + -
Ritualism - +
Escape - -
Rebellion +/- +/-
58
Innovation: depends on will to risk, positive / negative deviance
Ritualism: prefers security („be happy with what you have“), pressure norms
Escape: estrangement, „Chaplin‘s tramp“ (loved in movie, not in reality)
Rebellion: close to resentiment, i.e. combination of hate, powerlessness, sour
grapes;

Soltuions to social exclusion
 Integrated approach
 Social mixing
 Affordability (mainly housing)
 „Housing First“ ?
 Social work, consulting, financial management
59

PRIVATISATION AND
RESTITUTION IN CR
ECES, Jan Sládek, jan.sladek@ff.cuni.cz 60

Restiution in general
 Maily land taken away during the
collectivisation processes in country-side
 Various forms – reparation
 „A promise“: new form of ownership will –
 1) bring back the old pre-communist values
 2) will create new elite
 3) will set justice
61

Brief history of ownership changes I
 not a process connected only to CEE countries
-> Right-to-buy
 1918-1938
 housing shortage and hygienic standards
 the land reforms
 taking the land away mainly from the foreign nobility and the
Church; majority of land remained de facto in the same hands;
„the White Mountain revenge“
 non-profit housing co-operatives
 an attempt to tackle the housing shortage by collective
strategy
62

Brief history of ownership changes II
 post World War II to 1989
 “right to own” a flat or land was replaced by the “right to personal
use”
 From 1948 to 1955 only state and individual ownership existed
 in 1959, pre-war forms of co-operatives and enterprise housing
were re-introduced
 The construction, distribution and maintenance of housing stock
was practically in the hands of the municipalities
 the state was mainly in charge of planning
 Local authorities were responsible for managing the “waiting
lists” of people applying for new flats
63

Brief history of ownership changes III
 Unlike Hungary or Slovenia, the country has
not applied any form of a Right-to-Buy policy
 no clear definition of homeownership until the
introduction of the 1994
 the state has not resolved the problem of rent
regulation to date
 the municipalities were given the responsibility
for residential housing stock, yet without
having the possibility to raise rents
64

Privatisation – the case of housing I: Share of
housing stock (flats) owned by municipalities
1999 2004 2009
Prague 64 45 27
Brno 93 76 63
Ostrava 76 51 26
50 000+ inhabitants 49 24 15
10 000- 49 999 Inhabitants 69 40 30
2 000- 9 999 inhabitants 64 52 33
Source: Institute for spatial development, 2010
65
• Prague, the capital, is made up of 57 independent municipalities
• the transfer to municipalities affected 877,000 dwellings, which
corresponded to 23.5% of the residential housing stock during the reform
period

Privatisation – the case of housing III
 inequalities in the distribution of housing stock are caused by the
following fourfactors:
 the legacy of inequalities in housing tenure existing under socialism
 differences in housing quality under socialism
 unequal market valuations of the privatised housing stock
 partial privatisation, i.e. apartments have been transferred without
the land under buildings and common areas
 the housing stock up for privatisation did not belong to
lower strata
 a classical case of the Matthew effect
66

Privatisation as a policy
Level Position City
State Ex-minister Prague
Ex-minister Prague
High rank civil servant Prague
High rank civil servant Prague
Former high rank civil servant Prague
Academic housing policy consultant Prague

Municipal Political function Teplice
Civil Servant Kolín
Political function Kladno
Political function Brno
Servant
Prague
17

Citizen
groups Member Opava
Leader Prague 2ECES, Jan Sládek, jan.sladek@ff.cuni.cz
67

Privatisation in numbers
: Tenure change in the Czech Republic
1991 2001 2008*
abs. % abs. % %
Living in own family house 1 367 027 36.9 1 371 684 35.8 39
Living in own flat 31 164 0.8 421 654 11 21.6
Rental housing 1 465 231 39.5 1 092 950 28.6 23.2
Cooperative housing 697 829 18.8 548 812 14.3 12.4
Cooperative of tenants - - 103 216 2.7 NA
Others 144 430 3.9 289 362 7.6 3.8
Total 3 705 681 100 3 827 678 100 100
Source: census 1991, census 2001, Czech Statistical Office (cf. Lux 2009a: 109)
* An estimate based on SILC 2008
68

Table 4
Q: "To what extent are you satisfied with the current housing situation in the Czech
Republic?"
Very
satisfied
Rather
satisfied
Rather
dissatisfied
Very
dissatisfied
Do not
know
Overall satisfaction (%) 2.3 41.9 36.7 12.3 6.8
Q: "In your opinion, is the current housing policy socially fair or unfair regarding the
ollowing issues?"
Definitely
fair
Rather
fair
Rather
unfair
Definitely
unfair
Do not
know
Privatisation of housing stock (%) 6.3 41.8 28.0 6.4 17.6
Q: "In your opinion, would the following decisions make housing policy fairer or more
unfair?
Definitely
fair
Rather
fair
Rather
unfair
Definitely
unfair
Do not
know
Finish privatisation (%) 8.2 27.8 27.6 12.8 23.5
Stop privatisation (%) 6.1 20.2 31.9 14.3 27.6
Source: Public Oponion Research
Centre, 2005
N=1037

Table 5
Is the privatisation of public housing stock fair or unfair?
Political scale
TotalLL L Middle R RR
Definitely fair 6.5% 12.9% 16.1% 30.6% 33.9% 100.0%
Adjusted std. res. -1.6 -1.4 -1.0 1.0 2.6
Rather fair 10.3% 18.8% 20.3% 29.6% 21.0% 100.0%
Adjusted std. res. -2.2 -.7 -.5 2.7 .2
Rather unfair 15.8% 23.1% 21.6% 20.1% 19.4% 100.0%
Adjusted std. res. 1.7 1.7 .3 -2.5 -.7
Deinitely unfair 23.4% 18.8% 28.1% 17.2% 12.5% 100.0%
Adjusted std. res. 2.6 -.2 1.4 -1.6 -1.7
Total 12.9% 19.8% 21.0% 25.5% 20.8% 100.0%
Sommers' D = - 0, 125 for "fairness" dependent
Centre, 2005
N=808

Table 6
Is the voucher privatisation fair or unfair?
Political scale
TotalLL L Middle R RR
Definitely fair 5.7% 2.9% 5.7% 31.4% 54.3% 100.0%
Adjusted std. res. -1.4 -2.6 -2.1 .9 4.9
Rather fair 4.6% 10.2% 20.3% 29.4% 35.5% 100.0%
Adjusted std. res. -4.4 -4.0 .2 1.6 5.8
Rather unfair 12.9% 20.5% 20.2% 29.1% 17.2% 100.0%
Adjusted std. res. -.7 .3 .2 2.0 -2.1
Deinitely unfair 23.5% 29.4% 20.8% 16.5% 9.8% 100.0%
Adjusted std. res. 5.4 4.6 .5 -3.9 -5.4
Total 13.9% 20.0% 19.8% 25.2% 21.0% 100.0%
Sommers' D = - 0, 299 for "fairness" dependent
Centre, 2005
N=789

Opinions of the actors I
 “It is not like brand new blood would emerge, definitely
not, it was rather something like learning by doing.”
 “I can say, looking back in time, that I (as well as other
people) realise that the slowness of the reforms was a
good thing, because the environment – and I don’t just
mean the legal framework, I mean people’s perception,
their legal consciousness, all these things, including the
economics, the development of the banking sector – all
these things had to be prepared for the change...It takes
decades in foreign countries.”
72

Opinions of the actors II
 “There was a dominant interpretation saying that now
we (the municipality) will give it (the housing) to you, we
will check it off, which means that it no longer belongs
to us…”
 “Some people said that they have lived here for twenty,
thirty years and have a right to acquire it by
prescription…”
 “there is some kind of delay in people’s thinking, they
cannot understand the price of housing and are waiting
until someone else will help them”.
73

Opinions of the actors III
 One of the respondents stated that there was no
time to seek justice. In the words of one state
level expert:
 “After the revolution (...) it was a big change, suddenly
people were willing to sacrifice themselves (...) people
would say ‘we are doing it for our children’.”
 One of the interviewees reacted:
 “Housing, on the one hand, of course concerns
everyone…but on the other hand, everyone had a
place to live – so why should we change anything?
There was no need, no heavy pressure…”
74

THE ‘LARGE’
PRIVATIZATION – AND
ITS DISCONTENTS

Privatization – current state
 Almost “done” – low number of state-
owned/managed companies
 E.g. – ČEZ (Czech Energetics Industry, 1992 –
National Property Fund; Temelín); ČD (Czech
Railways)
 Public opinion poll (Nov 2011): according to
75% of respondets voucher privatization „went
wrong“
 Controversies, police investigation, state
losses estimated in billions
76

Transitology: concepts
 Transition
 trajectory from A to B
 A and B in most cases represent two opposing social systems -
communism and capitalism, or totalitarian non-market society
versus an advanced liberal democratic capitalism, past and
future
 Transformation
 Non-directional (institutional) social change
 “The most reliable criterion enabling us to distinguish the
‘transition’ and ‘transformation’ processes in its proper sense is,
in our opinion, the acknowledgement of either merely one or
more possible alternatives and variants of future development.”
77

Path-dependence
 Criticism of both conceptions
 In the name of ideological battles, different goals and focus of
arguments on both sides was ignored and transformed into academic
weapons
 PD theory – formerly mathematic/probability
 Key decisions set trajectory, lock-in state
 “…the future development of an economic system is affected by the path
it has traced in the past…Increasing returns from learning effects and
network externalities yield real immediate benefits that can preclude
selection in the long run of the most efficient organizational form…Once
an economy is locked into a particular trajectory, the cost of shifting
strategies outweigh the benefits of alternatives.” (David Stark, 1998)
78

Privatization: The idea and various levels
 Small: shops, housing
 Direct, municipal, new entrepreneurs
 Large: state enterprises
 Some direct (criticism – “by management“), some
remained state (Budvar), voucher
 Idea:
 Socialist „imaginary“ share transformed into
capitalist equal opportunity to own =>
responsibility, restoration of capistalistic middle
class
79

Main conceptions of privatization
 Direct x voucher
 Decision – economy or/vs. institutions and law
 To „individual“ share-holders =>
associations/funds, non-profit,
municipalization
 Almost ¾ of citizens invested through funds
 Factor - education
80

The voucher privatisation
 In Poland, Bulgaria, Russia,
Slovenia
 Not recommended (now) by
World Bank; Joseph Stieglitz –
criticism
 Voucher were to substitute
capital
 Designed in Poland, 1988
 CSFR: 1800 companies, first
wave 1992, second 1994
 Share in companies…or funds
 Losses monitored from 1998
book of vouchers -
potential shares in any
state-owned company
- De facto 1000 CZK
82

The Viktor Kožený controversy
 Born 1963, Prague aka the Prague Pirate
 1989, Harvard degree
 2005-7, Imprisoned, Bahamas, on-going
court in Prague from 2008
 Founder of mutual fund (form of investement
privatization fund) called Harvard
Capital and Consulting
 promised a 1000% rate of return on investment
 bought shares in a number of companies,
stripped assets and transferred the money
abroad - „Tunneling“
83

Privatization: Conclusion
 The clash between theory and political
decisions
 The mixed perception and willingness of
people
 Ended in huge controversies
 Theoretically path dependent, yet prone to
short term horizons
 Analytically different on various levels
90

Education – overview of the first decade
 Lack of university education (=> 1998 – rise in
the number of universities)
 The Bologna process (bc.)
 Discussion about tuition fees, eigh-years
gymnasiums
 Before 1989: preference of high-school edu
and apprenticeships (industrializations)
 „New“ trend of life-long learning
92

Meaning of higher education as a metaphor
Until 1945 „Glorious
thirty“
…from now on?

Z publikace Centra pro studium vysokého školství České vysoké školství, 2010

The structure of Czech Universities
 Law issued in 1998 – under review
 State, public and private higher education institutions
 Boards x Senates – autonomy, deans and chancellors
voted by senates
 Students have up to 50% in academic senates
 Turnout 2012 (FFUK): Academics 54%, students 15%
 National level reps: Czech Chancellors Conference,
Council of HEIs
 Public finance: „normativ“ multiplied by subject field
coeficient
 Tuition fees, registration fee…???

http://strediskovzdelavacipolitiky.info ; „absolventi VŠ“ = podíl z kohorty, dle studie SVP v
bude mít v roce 2017 polovina lidí mezi 25-34 VŠ diplom

OECDReviews of Tertiary Education, 2009

Regional changes I
 New regional structure from 2000
 Regional differences – some historical (Sudets), some
new (deindustrialization)
 Trends – suburbanisation, agroturism
 Regions of prosperity x (inner) peripheries
 Central Bohemia x Northern Moravia
 1991-2001 - - 250,000 in 0-14 category (=> schools)
 Prague and Brno – 19% - 15% of univesity degrees;
overall 9% (2001)
103

Regional changes II
 Work concentrates in bigger cities
(metropolitan regions)
 Uneven growth of unemployment
 People claiming affiliation to Church drop from
44% (1991) to 32% (2001), emergence of new
churches
104

Changes in CR: Demography
 Ageing of population
 Gender aspect: w bween 60-69 – widows in 30 %
 -> 70-79 – widows in 60 % ; men 6%. 15%
 Given lower income -> lower pension
 1950-80s: high marriage rate (above 95 %, low age
 After 1989: 70 % men; 80 % women
 Decline in youth marriages (15-19y): 0,8 (w; 2001) x 6,7% (w;1990)
 Higher divorce rate (38% in 1990); higher number of mothers
breadwinners
 Low birth rate, declining – carrer nad „transaction costs“
108

Perception of economic inequality
 Absolute / relativce numbers and rates
 Factors
 Perceptions – important for legitimity
 Egalitarian x meritocratic regime
 In CR: more or less fatalist view
111

CHANGES IN LIFES-
TYLE
ECES, Jan Sládek, jan.sladek@ff.cuni.cz 114

Changes in household wealth
 i.e. income, property, savings in the first
decade
 Increasing role of education, low education ->
lower income
 Gender differences in income, even when
education equal
 People perceived income differences as rising,
which should be solved by the govt
115

Life-style changes
 Trends: from uniformity to plurality, higher
mobility, increasing role of socio-economic
factors
 More work oriented
 Cultural activities equal for men and women,
different across education and profession
 Theory and research – P. Bourideu -
Distinction, habitus, research on photo-
autostylisation
122

ECES

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