Memories of Communism and Support for Democracy in Czechia: Evidence from a Mixed-Methods Study

• In Event: Intergenerational Construction and Transmission of Memory and Support for (Non-)Democracies: The Cases of Czechia, Russia, and beyond

Abstract

How do memories of communism survive in Czech families? How do they shape support for democracy? I answer these questions, using a mixed-methods research design. First, I collect and analyze 15 qualitative interviews with Czech people of all ages and explore how people make meaning of democracy and their family’s history with communism. This part of the research informs my intergenerational questionnaire development. I then test whether the patterns that emerge from qualitative research hold for the general population in an intergenerational survey of an adult-child and their parent. The novelty of the study lies in a broader conceptualization of the communist legacy that goes beyond “exposure to repression” questions, a focus on family practices outside political discussion, and different memories generations share about communism. By opening up the “black box of the family, it contributes both to the study of political socialization in the post-communist region and the role of legacy in the formation of political attitudes.

Author

• Vera Beloshitzkaya, U of Salzburg (Austria)