On “Epistemic Arrest” and Different Forms of Capital / A Bourdieusian Analysis of Czechoslovak Ethnography
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68378114%3A_____%2F25%3A00646711" target="_blank" >RIV/68378114:_____/25:00646711 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://sd.usd.cas.cz/artkey/sod-202503-0012_on-8220-epistemic-arrest-8221-and-different-forms-of-capital-a-bourdieusian-analysis-of-czechoslovak-ethn.php" target="_blank" >https://sd.usd.cas.cz/artkey/sod-202503-0012_on-8220-epistemic-arrest-8221-and-different-forms-of-capital-a-bourdieusian-analysis-of-czechoslovak-ethn.php</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
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Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
On “Epistemic Arrest” and Different Forms of Capital / A Bourdieusian Analysis of Czechoslovak Ethnography
Original language description
The review presents Nikola Balaš’s book An Ethnographic Chiefdom, which analyses Czechoslovak ethnography during the normalization period through the framework of Bourdieu’s field theory. The author explains the absence of sustained critical scholarly debate, described as “epistemic arrest,” as a consequence of a power structure shaped by different forms of capital, including party capital, social capital, ethnographic capital, and clandestine capital. The study moves beyond both totalitarian interpretations and narratives of “islands of freedom” by offering a structural account of knowledge production under state socialism. Although some arguments, particularly those concerning the role of clandestine ties, are less extensively substantiated, the book represents an important contribution to the history of science and to broader discussions about the functioning of academic fields in both the socialist period and the present.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
O - Miscellaneous
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
60101 - History (history of science and technology to be 6.3, history of specific sciences to be under the respective headings)
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů