Theoretical Approaches to Public Spaces and their Relevance to an Interpretation of the Czech Student Movement in 1989
Theoretical Approaches to Public Spaces and their Relevance to an Interpretation of the Czech Student Movement in 1989

Summary/Abstract: When analyzing three theoretical frameworks of public spaces, the papers highlighted some relevant aspects of the course of the Velvet Revolution in former Czechoslovakia in 1989. The collection of empirical data from interviews with former striking students focused on the activities of the students and teachers in the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, as well as a sudden renewal of various parallel public spaces, characteristic of liberal societies. These unique forms of public action, and the emergence of horizontal public domains, occurred not only as a result of the students’ and teachers’ efforts, but also thanks to the interest of those representatives of Czech cultural and political life who, under the totalitarian regime, had been barred from practicing their professions , and in November 1989 made the decision to join the umbrella group Občanské Fórum (Civic Forum). Czech researchers, specifically historians, have collected a wealth of information regarding the course of the national students’ mobilization against the last stage of the Czechoslovak post-totalitarian regime. Nevertheless, insufficient attention has been paid to a theoretical explanation of the November protestations, and an elucidation of the genealogy and mechanisms of the alternative public realms. Dozens of interviews with former striking students have revealed that the liberation of the public spaces in the Faculty of Arts at Charles University had been achieved by unsatisfied students and later assisted by activists from diverse informal networks as well as by ordinary citizens. In November and December 1989 a substantial segment of the Czech population showed their interest in engaging with the striking students and sparked off fruitful informal debates combining generational, political, and professional perspectives.

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