“The book is clearly organized and the presentation maintains a high standard throughout. It is an original reappraisal of late socialist ‘ethnography’ in Prague.” • Chris Hann, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

“This book is an innovative contribution to the history and theory of anthropology. It is an impressive piece of work that introduces a difficult subject in clear prose, is very well written, well composed and with a strong theoretical argument.” • Han F. Vermeulen, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

The Czechoslovak academic discipline called ‘Ethnography and Folklore Studies’ was impacted and influenced by the daily realities of state socialism in 1969–1989. This book examines the role of the planned economy, Marxist–Leninist ideology, disciplinary hierarchies and clientelist networks, ultimately showing how state socialist features together brought about the discipline’s epistemic stalling. It offers a fresh perspective on the long-standing debates purporting to capture the differences between the Central and Eastern European tradition of ethnology and Western sociocultural anthropology.

Series: Volume 49, Methodology & History in Anthropology

Subject: Theory and Methodology Anthropology (General)

Area: Central/Eastern Europe

LC: GN307.85.C95 B35 2025

BISAC: SOC002010 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Anthropology/Cultural & Social; SOC011000 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Folklore & Mythology; POL005000 POLITICAL SCIENCE/Political Ideologies/Communism & Socialism