Theoretical Approaches to Public Spaces and their Relevance to an Interpretation of the Czech Student Movement in 1989

Abstract

While analyzing three theoretical framewors of public spaces, the article highlights relevant aspects of the participation of the current Czech elites in the Velvet Revolution in the former Czechoslovakia in 1989. The presentation of empirical data from interviews with the current Czech elites, who used to be striking students, focused on the activities of students and teachers in the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, as well as on their personal interpretation of a suddent renewal of various prallel publc spaces, characteristic of democratic societies.