FVP:USESEA026 Comparative Analysis of Politi - Course Information

USESEA026 Comparative Analysis of Political Persecusions in Central and Eastern Europe in the 20th Century I

Extent and Intensity

1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).

Teacher(s)

prof. PhDr. Dušan Janák, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Lubomír Hlavienka, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)

Guaranteed by

prof. PhDr. Dušan Janák, Ph.D.
Institute of Central European Studies – Faculty of Public Policies in Opava

Prerequisites

Expert Knowledge:
Students demonstrate the knowledge of basic methodological problems of political persecutions; of specialized literature and of the research source bases in Central and Eastern Europe including the most important institutions and research centres. Students have a good grasp of relevant terminology, are able to define basic terms, to analyse and to typologically and chronologically sort out the main forms of persecutions in the 20th century. They demonstrate the knowledge of relevant research methods, are able to describe and evaluate the development of political persecutions as well as the problems related to their research and comparison in supranational scale.
Expert Skills:
Students are able independently to look up, critically evaluate and sort out relevant facts from literature and other sources. They are able to identify concrete demonstrations of political persecutions, place them in the context of historical development in national and supranational scale and are able to explain their nature. They are able to use relevant heuristic procedures and methods; are able to devise a research project on political repressions, to carry out analysis as well as diachronic and synchronic analysis of selected phenomena and systems, and to independently proces a specialized or popularizing text.
General Competency:
The subject cultivates logical reasoning, analytic-synthetic and comparative abilities. Students are able to analyze pathological phenomena of social development and to better grasp the nature of totalitarian ideologies, non-democratic regimes and their instruments and functions, and of geopolitical processes on theoretical level. They are able to compare various phenomena and infer more general conclusions about the consequences of repressions for contemporary political development as well as for international relations between the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

• Central European Studies (programme FVP, N6702-MTS)

Course objectives

The subject defines the role of political persecutions and repressions in non-democratic forms of government, their typology and periodization. Comparative analysis of the forms and mechanisms of political justice, criminal law, forced labour and prison and camp systems in totalitarian, and also authoritarian and post-totalitarian regimes of Central and Eastern Europe in the 20th century is based on both published nad unpublished results of long-term research. At the same time, students will be presented with the possibilities and restrictions of a comparative method in the proces of synchronic and diachronic comparison and creating typologies.

Syllabus

• 1. Terror and repression in non-democratic regimes.
  2. Criminal law, imprisonment and political justice.
  3. Forced labour in modern era.
  4. The century of camps - the origin, development and typology of camp systems.
  5. The Soviet criminal law and imprisonment as an instrument of political repressions.
  6. The history of GULAG (1918 - 1960).
  7. Nazi extermination centres, concentration camps and prisons (1933-1945).
  8. Communist and Nazi camps (the comparison).
  9. The criminal law development in Central European countries after 1945.
  10. Political repressions and imprisonment in Central Europe after 1945.
  

Literature

required literature
• JANÁK, D. Českoslovenští občané a Češi v sovětských věznicích a táborech (1918 - 1956). In Perzekuce československých občanů v Sovětském svazu (1918 - 1956). Část I. Opava: Slezské zemské muzeum a Slezská univerzit, 2007. ISBN 978-80-86224-64-0. info
• APPLEBAUMOVÁ, A. Gulag: dějiny. Praha: Beta-Dobrovský, 2004. ISBN 80-7306-152-X. info
• KOTEK, J. a RIGULO, P. Vek lagerej. Lišenije svobody, koncentracija, uničtoženije. Sto let zlodějanij. Moskva: Tekst, 2003. info
• JANÁK, D. Kapitoly o československém vězeňství 1945 - 1955. Opava: Slezské zemské muzeum, 2002. ISBN 80-86224-34-1. info
• COURTOIS, S. et al. Černá kniha komunismu. Zločiny, teror, represe. I. Praha, Litomyšl: Paseka, 1999. info

recommended literature
• SNYDER, T. Krvavé země. Praha - Litomyšl: Prostor - Paseka, 2013. info
• GEYER M. - FITZPATRICKOVÁ S. (eds.). Za obzor totalitarismu: Srovnání stalinismu a nacismu. Praha: Academia, 2012. info
• MOZOCHIN, O. B. Pravo na represii. Vněsuděbnyje polnomočija organov gosudarstvennoj bezopasnosti (1918 - 1953). Moskva, 2006. info
• SOFSKY, W. Řád teroru: koncentrační tábor. Praha: Argo, 2006. info

Language of instruction

Czech

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

The course can also be completed outside the examination period.

Teacher's information

Written exam - the first part is taken in the form of a closed questions test, the second part is in the form of a comparative exposition (a comparison of two phenomena).

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