Prague Spring 1968. The Struggle for Economic Democracy, Workers’ Councils and Social Self-Government

0568650 - FLÚ 2023 RIV eng A - Abstract
Kužel, Petr
Prague Spring 1968. The Struggle for Economic Democracy, Workers’ Councils and Social Self-Government.
[Prague Spring 1968. The Struggle for Economic Democracy, Workers’ Councils and Social Self-Government. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 01.11.2022-01.11.2022]
Method of presentation: Zvaná přednáška
Event organizer: Czechcafe
URL events: https://www.czskboston.org/2022/10/22/november-1-2022-talk-by-petr-kuzel-prague-spring-1968-the-struggle-for-economic-democracy-workers-councils-and-social-self-government/ 
Institutional support: RVO:67985955
Keywords : Prague Spring * workers’ councils * 1968 * economic reforms * Ota Šik
OECD category: Philosophy, History and Philosophy of science and technology

The Prague Spring of 1968 is justifiably associated with the democratization process. For the first time in Czechoslovakia, censorship was abolished, cultural life was free to develop, forms of a pluralistic democratic system were discussed, greater participation of citizens was emphasized, civil society and political and civil rights were developed. However, the emancipatory efforts of the Prague Spring were not limited to the achievement of political and civil rights. One of the main pillars of the economic reforms advocated by Ota Šik was the struggle for economic democracy and social self-government associated with the so-called workers' councils and the removal of the role of the state to directly manage enterprises. Today this aspect of the Prague Spring is somewhat overlooked. This lecture will therefore outline the debates that led to this radical policy, the profiling of the various political currents, the public opinion polls of the time, the real functioning of these councils, in which 900,000 people participated, and the struggle against their suppression after the 1968 invasion.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0340171