Swept away by a Rage of the People? : Public Acts of Collective Violence in the Czech Lands 1938-1945
Abstract
In the following contribution I would like to integrate the acts of exclusionary violence (HOFFMANN-BERGMAN-SMITH, 2002) to the topography of collective violence in the Czech lands between 1938 and 1945 with some remarks about previous and following period. Besides this general overview of collective violent acts offering a macro social typology I would like to pursue some detailed insights into the micro social context of violent events.
Considering both the configuration of the social system (ZIMBARDO, 2007) and the interaction of social actors in particular violent situations (COLLINS, 2009) I strive to capture the interdependent nature of public acts of collective violence that occurred between the state organised violence and spontaneous action of the people. In the first step I am going to elaborate some conceptual considerations about relations between collective violence and exclusionary violence as its particular type.
Afterwards I am going to outline the concrete typology and topography of collective violence in the Czech lands with a main focus on the period between 1938/1939 and 1945. Finally I am going to conclude with some general considerations about social processes on different levels of social political reality that made the collective violence even possible with a special emphasis on the role of the state.