Reflection of the Lustration Law in the Czech Society: An Analysis of Public Opinion and Narrative sources
Abstrakt
The beginning of the 1990s in Central and Eastern Europe is for scholars a very challenging part of the most recent contemporary history not only because of the fundamental changes in the policies of these countries at both personnel and institutional levels but also because of the great demands on multidisciplinarity and fact-based understanding of the past. This panel explores possibilities of the interdisciplinary research of lustration law in the Czech society based on the analysis of public opinion and narrative sources.
Lustration law as a part of transitional justice has opened important political and moral questions which adressed reppressive past and the legacy of communist repression itsel. Discussions on the adoption of the law filled headlines of the newspapers in the 1990s reflecting the statements of the supporters of the law but also the testimonies of falsely accused agents and other critics of the law.
This presentation will examine reflection of the lustration law in the Czech society from different methodological and theoretical perspectives, asking: What are the benefits of the sociological analysis of newspapers and narrative sources compared to other methodological approaches? What different aspects of memory (individual, collective..) can we find in these testimonies?