Ideologies and Realities of the Masses in Communist Czechoslovakia

by Thorne, Vanda

This dissertation rethinks some of the core arguments of the Western theories of the masses. By demonstrating the inapplicability of these theories in the situation of the Twentieth Century totalitarian regime in Czechoslovakia, this study argues for a replacement of the dominant paradigms with new theories of the masses relevant to the specific historical and social conditions. History of the masses in communist Czechoslovakia shows that the masses were not viewed as an inherently destructive social element. Instead, the masses functioned as supportive social structures for the oppressive regime, but also as the expressions of the nascent democratic civic interaction that later challenged this regime.