After Utopia

Czechoslovak Normalization Between Experiment and Experience, 1968-1989. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of Collegium Carolinum Pelham, 8-11 November 2018. Edited by Christiane Brenner, Michal Pullmann and Anja Tippner.

The Husák government that came into power after the suppression of the Prague Spring formulated the goal of restoring 'normality' in Czechoslovakia. It revoked prior reforms and initiated widespread 'cleansing measures' and repression. Most notably, however, it lacked a clear vision for the future. The contributions in this volume show that the 1970s and 1980s were nevertheless not a time of complete stagnation. Efforts at restoration and modernization frequently existed simultaneously and counteractively. The essays discuss this contradictoriness and the often invisible dynamics of the normalization period exemplarily. With contributions by Thomas Lindenberger, Martin Schulze Wessel, Stefan Lehr et al. VI,406 Seiten mit 11 Abb., gebunden (Bad Wiesseer Tagungen des Collegium Carolinum; Band 41/Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2022) leichte Lagerspuren/minor shelfwear