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Nešpor, Zdeněk R. 2017. „Meziválečné sociologické výzkumy pražské chudiny“. Pp. 173–186 in. Pp. 173–186 in Documenta Pragensia XXXIV, 2015. Praha: AHMP + Scriptorium. ISBN 978-80-86852-71-3.

The article describes and analyses the first two sociological studies on the poor in Prague, which took place in the 1920s and 1930s. The first study was initiated by Alice Masaryk in the American tradition of “social surveys”, and the second was undertaken by Otakar Machotka, a member of the Prague sociological school, using more modern means. The author presents the background, the greater contexts, practical implementation and the results of both studies, and highlights the fact that their implementation was unique not only in a Czech, but also in a European context. It can however be stated that the execution of both studies had a greater effect on the development of Czech sociology than on the practical solutions to the issues of poverty. Not even in the case of sociology as an academic discipline did this influence last long, because both were completely forgotten after their prohibition following the Communist takeover.  Today they can be utilised primarily as a source for historical data, but also as an inspiration for the public engagement of academics and their interest in resolving stubborn social issues.

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