Vítězslav Sommer, Visegrad Talk, ‘Social Sciences and ‘Socialist Life Style’ in Czechoslovakia 1968–1989′

Although Stalinist ideologues and artists highlighted the idea of “new socialist man” in the 1950s, and reform communist scholars critically explored the issues of consumerism and leisure under socialism in the 60s, it was a “consolidated” sociology after 1968 that made “socialist life style” a crucial research topic in social sciences and humanities. The research agenda was rigidly ideological, highlighting sharp dichotomies between socialist and capitalist societies while aiming to contribute to welfare and cultural policies of Czechoslovakia after the suppression of the Prague Spring.