Objectives. Scholars have debated Max Weber's theory of the relationship between religion and capitalism for almost 100 years. Still, the debate is clouded by confusion over Weber's claims about religious doctrine and over the supporting evidence. The purpose of this study is to clarify Max Weber's claims regarding the concept of the calling and the related "anti-mammon" injunction and concept of "good works" and substantiate with historical evidence the religious doctrine Weber describes. Methods. Comparative analysis of early Protestant Lutheran and Calvinist documents from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was used to flesh out a history of ideas to determine whether evidence exists to support Weber's claims related to religious doctrine. Results. Historical analyses revealed that the concept of the calling pre-dated Luther in the Bible. Luther's innovation was not in his use of the word beruf but in his application of the concept of the calling to the common people and his teaching of that idea. The idea of sanctified work was key in both Lutheran and Calvinist documents. There was an increased emphasis on work and encouragement to accumulate wealth in Calvinist documents. Conclusion. Weber's etymological evidence surrounding Martin Luther's use of the word beruf in his German translation of the bible is idiosyncratic and not important to the transmission of the concept of the calling. Luther's application of the concept of the calling to the laity and idea of sanctified work, however, is the foundation on which the Protestant ethic rests, as Weber claims. Weber's other claims regarding the concept of work in early Protestantism are also supported here. Weber did not overstate the implications for societal transformation in early Protestant theology.

The goal of this thesis is to identify specific language elements in selected opinion pieces that appeared in Rudé právo newspaper over the course of 1975. The first part of the thesis examines terms such as persuasion, propagandism and manipulation, and considers the interrelations between these terms. Following sections of the paper are devoted to the characterization of distinct elements of persuasion as traced in diverse articles of Rudé právo. In a pragmatic perspective, the thesis describes such linguistic attempts at manipulating the reader as means to praise the communist regime or to defame its adversaries. KEYWORDS Propagandsim, persuasion, manipulation, Rudé právo, text, communism, capitalism, follower, adversary, author, reader.

(English) This work deals with dependency theory n conceptions of its two main exponents Andre Gunder Frank and Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Metodologically is it based on a basic hypothesis of sociology of knowledge that human thought (both everyday knowledge and abstract theories) is fundamentally determined by its social and historical context. It follows necessity combine a historical and sociological approach. At first, the work concentrates on historical and theoretical conditions of emergence of dependency theory (especially modernization theory, Marxism and structuralism). A core of the work is focused on writings of Frank and Cardoso, their intelectual trajectory, metodology of analysis, concept of dependency and its political implications. Hereupon follows a sketch of political influence of dependency theory in a form of Frank's activity as an advisor of Salvador Allende and particularly of Brasil at a time of Cardoso's presidency and a survey of a vast and wide-ranging critics of dependency theory. Final part of the work is comprised by a sketch of contemporary position of dependency theory, its influence and actual relevance.

The thesis aims to understand the development of cement market in Cisleithanien and Czechoslovakia and its cartelization. The subject of research is the organization of cement cartels and it's role as a structure which influences the functionality of the market, related industries and national economic policy (tarrifs, export and import restrictions and state's contracts). The thesis focuses on the abilities of the cement cartels how they control the market and affect customers. The thesis is limited by the year 1900, when the first cement cartels emerged, and the years 1938-1939, during which the significant economical and legal change occurred. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

This thesis entitled "Globalization: the sociopolitical consequences of the activities of supranational corporations" examines the effects of actions of supranational organizations in the process of globalization, on the basis of contemporary sociological literature. In the first two chapters I assess the process of globalization itself and its most important aspects. The third chapter inspects the supranational corporations, their development, functioning and characteristic attributes and then presents the consequences of these actions. The final chapter focuses on socially responsible behavior.

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The diploma thesis deals with the question of work and rest in the life of a contemporary Czech person. This includes the development of western Europe in past centuries before and after the industrial revolution up to the present situation characterized by the emphasis on speed and profit. The next part deals with the development of the Czech countries in the twentieth century that have undergone significant dramatic changes reflected even in the field of work and rest. The changes that took place with the commencement of capitalism are reflected from the position of the Jewish-Christian tradition and the social encyclicals issued from the late nineteenth century. It also focuses on the risks closely associated with an imbalance of work and rest both on the level of an individual and also his/her surroundings. Finally, current problems and possible solutions from the side of the state, the employer, the society and the individual himself/herself.

Thesis Abstract The thesis examines manifestations of transgression in Robert Coover's The Public Burning (1977), Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (1971), William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch (1959) and The Nova Trilogy (1961-1967), and Kathy Acker's Empire of the Senseless (1988) on a structural and thematic level. Georges Bataille's theory of escalated excess and Michel Foucault's theory of the transgression-limit power dynamics, outlined in Chapter One, provide the theoretical framework through which the texts are analyzed, as through concepts of the spectacle, the carnival, taboo, and the Situationist détournement practice. The nature of the American Dream Machine is explored in regards to its chief components of control; the American war on abstractions, American exceptionalism, and the American Dream, examined through their contradictory connotations and historical relevance. The thesis proposes that despite their anti- systemic drive, the selected texts are complicit with and dependent on the American Dream Machine in perpetuating their power play. In Chapter Two, the hyperbolization of American Cold War propaganda rhetoric is analyzed in Coover's The Public Burning. Chapter Three details Thompson's gonzo writing against the...

This dissertation deals with the nature of the Chinese economic system. The first chapter focuses on the global economy and seeks to define the main economic systems prevailing in it, ie. Anglo-Saxon, Continental and Asian-developmental. Compared to these systems defined as market economies, the dissertation consequently analyses and defines a system of state capitalism and the main elements of it. The following part of the dissertation is focused on the historical Chinese approaches to economic governance of the country and attempts to identify those historical approaches that are still relevant and influential in modern Chinese economy. The third chapter analyses the Chinese economic system and the role of the state in it; it also examines the government's approach to the ownership of state enterprises and the overall extent of state ownership in the Chinese economy. The final chapter examines the different types of state subsidies to domestic, often state, enterprises in China. As an example of the various subsidies a case study on the automotive industry is used.

The theme of this diploma theses is surveillance capitalism. Its aim is to provide comprehensive insight into the key aspects of this phenomenon that has a significant impact on the global economy and society as a whole. The first part of the thesis deals with the topic of information society and its transformational effect on the economical sphere and surveillance system. It reveals some of the key issues following this new state of society and postmodern surveillance practices as well. The second part of the thesis aims to define what is meant by surveillance capitalism, to uncover the principles and the economic imperatives that dominate various stages of the development and finally to outline the threats and ethical problems this new logic of assimilation has brought in.