About the Programme | Global Conflicts and Local Interactions

Global Conflicts and Local Interactions: Cultural and Social Challenges

Research programme focuses on global conflicts and their local interactions which present important cultural and social challenges in the 21^st century. It analyses cultural and social transformations with regard to interactions of global and local dynamics in the contemporary and historical development of cultures and societies, especially in Europe, but also in the Americas, Africa and Asia, particularly with respect to interactions with the local processes in the Czech Republic.

It examines not only problems connected with armed conflicts but also various important social, cultural, civilizational or economic conflicts, which are also preconditions and causes of diverse violent clashes. The research programme analyses internal and transnational migrations of various groups of populations, territorial integration and secessionism, cultural and social diversities, social tensions and consensus, security and suicides. It examines conflicts with regard to particularism and universalism and with regard to interactions between global, macro-regional (especially European), national and local orders. It analyses cultural contradictions and inter-cultural dialogue, social, gender and economic divisions and disparities, and problems of moral responsibility. It makes research of development and historical roots of selected conflicts (e.g. World War II, Cold War, both enforced and spontaneous mass migrations, etc.), with regard to processes leading to assertion or imperilment of democracy, justice, law order, international law or formation of global constitutionalism. In this context, the research programme also studies reflections of conflict changes from the perspective of the actors, with emphasis on changes of forms of their identity, sociability and world perception, including their material and spiritual production, behaviour and action. In this way, the research programme develops interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary cooperation of scholars from various institutions across the particular disciplines. The research programme provides its findings to the civil society, local and national governance, UNESCO and other organisations, and to contribute to public discussions on these important themes.

Coordinator of the research programme:
Jindřich Krejčí, PhD.
Institute of Sociology at the Czech Academy of Sciences

Objectives

To make research of global and local conflicts, territorial integration and secessionism, plurality of societies and cultures and their interactions
To study internal and transnational migrations of various groups of populations and development of social, cultural, economic and other contradictions and disparities
To examine the historical roots of conflicts with reference to their impact in the area of social and ethnic composition and migration processes
To analyse changes in assertion of justice, democracy, human rights, transformations of forms of identity and perception of the world, including their material and spiritual production, behaviour and action
To provide the outcomes of the research to the public, civil society, local and national governance, UNESCO and other organizations

Participating institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Cooperating partners

UNESCO
United Nations
European Parliament
Chamber of Deputies, Parliament of the Czech Republic
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic
Czech and foreign universities and other academic institutions