Socioekonomické hodnoty, politiky a instituce v období vstupu České republiky do Evropské unie

The volume presents a study of some of the central dimensions of the complex changes Czech
society has experienced in connection with the transformation after 1989 and the country’s accession
to the European Union. It expands on standard mainstream economic, sociological and political
science approaches to also take into account the historical dimensions of these processes.
The study is methodologically grounded in the tradition of economic sociology and the conceptualisation
of economic culture; it also analyses the differences between objective social facts and their
ideological, political and media representation and looks at transition policies and their social reception.
Special attention is devoted to analyses of the labour market, social and family policy, the monetary
system, education, health care, and the issue of contemporary international migration.
Qualitative field research is used to compare the business values of domestic and foreign business
people doing business in the Czech Republic and the economic culture of Czech public administration,
while comparative analyses based on international quantitative surveys are used to examine
work and family values and attitudes on contemporary religiosity/spirituality. A key question
that the authors attempt to address is whether various types of (economic) cultures – (post)communist,
Western or different Western types, or even that which preceded the rise of the socialist dictatorship
– have clashed, changed, or fused in the processes of transformation and European integration.
In other words, whether and how much the Czech Republic is already in Europe and/or
how much it is still moving towards it.