1 Abstract This diploma thesis aims to describe the practices of the low-threshold center for homeless women "Mezi svými" by which the principles of critical social work are being executed and negotiated in the broader context of "antiradical" Czech social work (Valová and Janebová, 2015) and its discourse "reintegration ". In general, social work is expected to provide its clients with protection against social exclusion or to support their reintegration into society. However, in a situation where employment is considered a key element of integration, social work gets into some difficulties because it cannot create jobs on its own (Castel, 2003). Hence I investigate how peer and social workers find a balance between 1) the ideals of critical social work that organizations subscribe to, and 2) the need to "integrate" women back into the system, activate them, and motivate them to find work. In seeking answers to this question, I pay special attention to the asymmetry of power that characterizes the relationship between social workers and their clients, and I observe the role that peer workers play in sharing power with clients. Key words: Feminist anthropology, intersection of disadvantages, critical social work, power, women in social distress, peer workers, reintegration, work.

Diplomová práce Spor o pozitivismus v německé sociologii. Renáta Vondráková. 2012. Abstract The main theme of the work is the issue of positivism dispute, which is commonly referred to discussions that occurred in German sociology in the sixties. It was a debate between advocates of critical theory, which were Theodor W. Adorno and Jürgen Habermas, and the concept of critical rationalism of Karl R. Popper and Hans Albert. The discussion initially was confined to issues related to the logic of the social sciences, for many reasons, but rather applied to differences between the concepts and challenges of science from the perspective of both the above approaches. Also the description and discovery purposes and contexts that led to the overturning topic discussion are devoted to this work. The aim is to describe the external influences as widely as possible and how it affected the final understanding of the dispute, but also how well the positivism dispute turned the concepts of science in the following period. The first part is concerned with social and historical situation in which the dispute arose. Followed by an outline of key terms that in connection with a dispute likely occur, in fact it is the analysis of major issues. Emphasis is placed on a thorough description of the first two contributions to the...

The Master's Thesis "The Special Relationship, the ESDP and the British National Interest at the Turn of the New Millenium" analyses the relationship of the United Kingdom to both the United States and the European Union during the premiership of Tony Blair. By using critical discourse analysis and applying three criteria within the framework of the procedural concept of national interest, the work seeks to determine whether the creation and further development of the European Security and Defence Policy was in the British national interest and whether it was compatible with the close UK-US relationship. After having examined the British public political discourse of three main political parties on security and defence, this thesis arrives at the conclusion that for Britain it was essential to keep NATO at the centre of its security, to maintain the close relationship with the US and to improve Britain's position in Europe. The core attitudes of the British political elite remained unchanged in the respected period. On the discourse level, the ESDP was in the British national interest as it was presented as an effort to strengthen the European pillar within NATO. Predicate and metaphor analysis of Blair's speeches unveiled that the British Prime Minister, considered as the initiator of a more...

The aim of the thesis is the assessment of developments in the approach towards the "European" strategy Health 2020 by Czech political players while using methods of critical discourse analysis and the assessment of the development of the Health 2020 agenda during the period 2010-2012 in the context of previous activities of the World Health Organization. The approach of the Czech health care political players to the strategy had been assessed on the basis of governmental programmatic statements since 1998, the National Reform Program of Czech Republic 2011 and interviews with participants in the Czech health policy and Czech health care. The approach of Czech health policy towards the Health 2020 strategy had been evaluated as extremely problematic. The course of creation and discussion of Health 2020 in 2012 had become a critical barrier for the Czech Ministry of Health. As a result, no wider awareness of this strategy exists in Czech health policy, neither does exist a Czech translation of this strategy. Lastly, the goals of Czech health policy do not reflect in a single point of the goals of the Health 2020 strategy.

The diploma thesis analyzes the collection of fairy tales titled Pohádky pod polštář (Fairy Tales to Put Under the Pillow), written by psychologist Zuzana Pospíšilová and illustrated by Katarína Ilkovičová. The collection was published in the Czech Republic in 2012. The individual fairy tales are based on European folklore and adapted for the Czech cultural context. In terms of presentation, the collection is intended as a modern update of the popular children's fairy tale format. My analysis is rooted in feminist theory and feminist cultural and literary studies, as exemplified by authors such as Pam Morris, Simone de Beauvoir, Naomi Wolf and others. The subject of power is analyzed mainly in relation to the writings of Michel Foucault, Judith Butler and Pierre Bourdieu. From this perspective, I have attempted to make an informed criticism of the stereotypical and otherwise discriminatory images of gender present in the fairy tales. On the other hand, I have also recorded the instances in which gender normativity is subverted in the collection. In addition, the thesis attempts to employ an intersectional approach to analyzing the selected text, taking into account other categories significant to the dominant social order including not only gender, but also race/ethnicity, class, sexual identity,...

This thesis uses the Critical theory to explore the history and functioning of African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. This judicial institution was established in 1998. However, it did not rule any decision on the merits until 2013. All cases had been refused because it lacked the jurisdiction. Finally in 2013, two judgments were issued that solved the factual situation of applicants. Nevertheless, the danger still exists that the Court will function only if the states will allow it to do so. Such inactivity of the Court is firmly inconsistent with the intensity of human rights violations on the African continent. In the same way, it falsifies the presuppositions of liberal institutionalism that the international institutions should strengthen cooperation between states and contribute to the development of mutually interconnected areas: economic development, democracy and human rights protection. The thesis is an empirical case study which opposes the liberal-institutional ideas. It uses the Critical theory in narrow sense to show that those ideas played certain role in the establishment of the Court. Nonetheless, the real willingness of the states to empower the Court with authority and limit their sovereignty was absent. The Court, as a procedural enlargement of substantive human rights...

(English) The aim of this dissertation is to answer the question of whether the U.S. security policy is influenced by the threat of cyber terrorism. The dissertation is divided into chapters that can be regarded as steps in a logical reasoning process. In the first chapter, cyber space is introduced and described to illustrate its importance and complexity. The next chapter analytically compares various definitions of terrorism, and partially rejects the initial hypothesis that cyber terrorism is not included in the general definition of terrorism. The following chapter statistically analyzes the available data on terrorist groups and terrorist attacks to empirically confirm the hypothesis that terrorism is still a real threat to American security. The analysis actually proves that the threat of terrorism has not decreased in relation to the number of terrorist groups. It also shows that the number of terrorist attacks against the U.S. targets has significantly decreased in the United States, while terrorist actions have been increasing constantly on a global level. The analysis shows that the success rate of terrorists attacks does not form a time series, and therefore each terrorist attack has to be examined individually to assess its success probability. The following analysis reviews the...

This diploma thesis deals with the penetration of discourse of Communist power into the society through content of (women's) magazine Žena a móda within 50s and 60s. The aim of this thesis is to point out that the elements of communist ideology appeared also in media such as fashion magazine. First chapters of this thesis deal with socialism and its ideological propaganda and represent the importance of ideological symbols, propaganda and manipulation through the media. In connection with this the thesis represents also the political-economic situation in the textile and clothing industry and also uses the facts about the media control by the communist regime. On this basis the thesis presents an analysis of 240 issues of the Žena a móda magazine and focuses on selected ideological symbols such as socialist fashion, working clothes, relationship between the East and the West, ideological leaders and personalities, the Soviet Union as ideal, conceptualization of the "Great History" and the image of socialistic woman. The method of discourse analysis thus allowed to introduce the symbols in different historical and social contexts and also to point to their changes in time, specifically in the context of comparing their likeness in the 50s and 60s of 20th century. The content of Žena a móda magazine...

This thesis deals with Japanese foreign and security policy through the optics of critical geopolitics, specifically the "geopolitics as culture" notion developed by Gearóid Ó Tuathail. Using this notion as an analytical framework, the development of Japan's foreign and security policy from the establishment of a modern Japanese state till present days is analyzed, with three main concepts being addressed: (1) foreign policy traditions; (2) geopolitical and geostrategic discourses; (3) and strategic and geopolitical culture. For reasons of narrowing the topic down and applying the concept more consistently, one specific element of Japanese foreign and security policy is at the centre of attention: Japan's "maritime identity". The goal of the thesis is to identify and characterize Japan's geopolitical imagination and attempt to determine if and how has this imagination been expressed in the country's security policy with regard to the maritime identity. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Diabetic foot disease (DFD) is a serious complication of diabetes and, along with critical limb ischemia, significantly exacerbates the prognosis of patients. Peripheral arterial disease in patients with diabetes has an atypical clinical course, its diagnosis is challenging and is one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality of patients with DFD. The aim of this dissertation focused on the diagnosis and treatment of DFD was to identify a suitable method for evaluating the effect of autologous cell therapy (ACT), to assess options for early diagnosis of Charcot osteoarthropathy (COA) and, possibly, to establish the association between the incidence of cardiovascular disease and DFD. In our studies concerning therapeutic vasculogenesis, we observed a significant increase in the antiangiogenic factor endostatin after ACT in contrast to its unchanged levels after standard percutaneous transluminal angioplasty; the transient increase in endostatin seems to be a marker of therapeutic vasculogenesis after ACT. A benefit of using calf muscle perfusion scintigraphy in the assessment of microcirculation and ACT effect was not clearly demonstrated. By contrast, a promising method for the evaluation of microcirculation and the effect of revascularization after ACT was MR spectroscopy of calf...