Martin Fafejta | Palacky University, Olomouc (original) (raw)
Papers by Martin Fafejta
The Fathers' Rights Movement as a Subaltern Counterpublic. According to Nancy Fraser, some formal... more The Fathers' Rights Movement as a Subaltern Counterpublic. According to Nancy Fraser, some formal members of the public sphere tend to be informally marginalized and consequently form "subaltern counterpublics". This article applies the concept of subaltern counterpublics to the Czech fathers' rights movement, where members of the movement believe they are discriminated in their parental rights and pushed out of the debate in the public sphere. In spite of being individuals who have represented the traditional hegemons of the public sphere, they have created their own counterpublics in order to assert their interests.
Sociální studia / Social Studies, Jan 21, 2014
We are not trying to argue that homosexuality among women is natural. To the contrary, we are arg... more We are not trying to argue that homosexuality among women is natural. To the contrary, we are arguing that is unnatural, but unnatural in the way that all human behaviour is unnatural: it is without an absolutely predetermined and fixed shape and content," John H. Gagnon and William Simon argue in their book Sexual Conduct. This sentence can be taken as a summary of the authors' general view of human sexuality, which they assert is determined not only by nature, but is socially constituted on three levels: cultural, interpersonal, and intrapsychic scripts which tell who, when, where, how, with whom and why individuals act sexually. Cultural scenarios are social institutions. Interpersonal scripts are applications of cultural scripts to specific situations through which appropriate identities are made congruent with desired expectations. Intrapsychic scripts are socially established forms of mental life. The theory of social scripts suggests that sexuality is a process and sexual scripts undergo changes. Simon and Gagnon write about the transformation from a paradigmatic to postparadigmatic society. Actors in the paradigmatic society follow a few prevailing cultural scenarios and a limited repertoire of "ritualized improvisations," while the postparadigmatic society is characterized by multiplication of scenarios. This multiplication does not necessary lead to liberalization of sexuality; it can also cause an uncertainty about how to act in conformity with expectations of others.
International Journal of Sexual Health, Jun 20, 2021
Abstract Objective: According to research participants, those who come out with their pedophilia ... more Abstract Objective: According to research participants, those who come out with their pedophilia are less likely to abuse children. Method: This study builds on qualitative research with 16 participants/members of a self-help group for people with pedophilic orientation. Results: Individuals who come out are better equipped mentally to cope with their pedophilia and coming out makes possible support from their social environment. Coming out is, however, extremely difficult, since it is associated with the label ‘child abuser’. Conclusion: An understanding approach to people with pedophilia who do not want to abuse children may help prevent child sexual abuse by allowing for more access to resources, treatment, and education.
Sociologický časopis, Oct 1, 2002
The deconstruction of gender symbolism is one of the methods and goals of contemporary feminist t... more The deconstruction of gender symbolism is one of the methods and goals of contemporary feminist theory and practice-politics. The article deals with four strategies. First, there is lesbianism as a deconstructive practice which denaturalises the institutions of 'compulsory heterosexuality'. Second, there are the deconstructive approaches to the issue of sexual violence, in order to question the belief that sexual violence is the natural expression of male aggressivity and women are men's victims. A better strategy seems to be to take the violence as a discursive matter that can be redescribed. If the narrative about a successful resistance prevails over the narrative of woman as a natural victim, the aggressor's expectations can be changed. Third, there is the deconstruction of beauty discourses showing that these discourses lead women to be weak, unable to resist violence, and susceptible to mental diseases like anorexia. Fourth, there is the deconstruction of maternity discourses, associating women with maternity and seeing a woman's body as the subject of necessary control by the psychomedical sciences. They form an idea of woman's nature that is invariable and unchangeable. This notion is questioned by feminism as a serious limit on women's agency.
Sociální studia, Nov 27, 2007
The paper analyzes the parliamentary debates and explanatory reports from the Czechoslovak Nation... more The paper analyzes the parliamentary debates and explanatory reports from the Czechoslovak National Assembly during the passing of the "Law on Traveling Gypsies" in 1927. The primary goal of the paper is to find out if the term "gypsy" was understood as a biological category (race) or a social one (mode of life characterized by traveling). At the same time, the analyzed texts are studied from the perspective of a thesis based on Foucault's Discipline and Punish and Bauman's Modernity and the Holocaust. Were the ideas expressed in legislators' statements closer to the normalization power and discipline (Foucault) in which "gypsiness" was seen as a social fact, or to the gardening culture and categorical murder (Bauman) in which "gypsiness" was seen as a racial category? Finally, the paper analyzes the Czech and Slovak wartime decrees concerning Gypsies that were induced by Nazi racial theories. The article comes to the conclusion that both in the law and in decrees issued at the beginning of the war Gypsies were identified mainly through social indicators, not racial ones.
This paper is based on qualitative research among people diagnosed with a mental illness who volu... more This paper is based on qualitative research among people diagnosed with a mental illness who voluntarily attend a mental health center. Such individuals are given a degrading “mentally ill” label, which transforms them into a “new” person. This study showed that—due to their label—research participants are often socially marginalized—not only in the public but also in the private sphere. As members of an “organized deviant group” (the mental health center), they follow a “deviant career” and find a job outside the regular job market. Their marginalization is not only caused by their health problems (by their impairment), but they are also disabled through social reactions to these problems. Psychiatry based on the biological model of the disease cannot, therefore, help them without the cooperation of social science approaches dealing with social mar-
International Journal of Sexual Health, 2021
Abstract Objective: According to research participants, those who come out with their pedophilia ... more Abstract Objective: According to research participants, those who come out with their pedophilia are less likely to abuse children. Method: This study builds on qualitative research with 16 participants/members of a self-help group for people with pedophilic orientation. Results: Individuals who come out are better equipped mentally to cope with their pedophilia and coming out makes possible support from their social environment. Coming out is, however, extremely difficult, since it is associated with the label ‘child abuser’. Conclusion: An understanding approach to people with pedophilia who do not want to abuse children may help prevent child sexual abuse by allowing for more access to resources, treatment, and education.
With the launch of the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) in January 2015, the White House grant... more With the launch of the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) in January 2015, the White House granted a high degree of federal support to an emerging biomedical paradigm. What explains this level of political recognition? Based on literature and policy analysis, we reconstruct the scientific and the legislative paths that led to the political endorsement of precision medicine. First, we describe the proliferation of personalized approaches to therapy ignited by the discovery of hemoprotein cytochrome P450 polymorphism in 1988. Then, we analyze the legislative history of precision medicine, from the unsuccessful introduction of Genomics and Personalized Medicine Acts in the second half of the last decade, to the highly acclaimed PMI. However, scientific progress and political contingency alone do not explain the upheaval of precision medicine as an institutionally supported initiative. On examination, the launch of a Precision Medicine Research Cohort and the incorporation of a participatory ethos into the fabric of the PMI proved to be crucial determinants of the political support for precision medicine. Weaving together the scientific and legislative antecedents of precision medicine, we illuminate how the mutual constitution of science and social order generates political recognition for innovative biomedical paradigms.
Social Studies, 2016
Stať analyzuje důvodové zprávy a rozpravy, které byly předneseny v Národním shromáždění republiky... more Stať analyzuje důvodové zprávy a rozpravy, které byly předneseny v Národním shromáždění republiky Československé při schvalování "Zákona o potulných cikánech a podobných tulácích" v roce 1927. Primárním cílem bylo zjistit, jak v nich byl chápán termín "cikán", zdali jako kategorie biologická (rasová) nebo sociální (způsob života, v tomto případě charakterizován potulkou). Zároveň byly analyzované texty studovány z hlediska tezí Foucaultovy knihy Dohlížet a trestat a Baumanovy práce Modernita a holocaust. Ústřední otázka zněla: Měly proslovy zákonodárců blíže k normalizační moci a disciplinaci (Foucault) a "cikánství" bylo chápáno sociálně, nebo k zahradnické moci a kategoriálnímu vraždění (Bauman) a "cikánství" bylo chápáno biologicky (rasově)? V závěru stať analyzuje české a slovenské předpisy a nařízení z doby, kdy na území bývalého Československa nastoupily ke slovu nacistické rasové teorie. Článek dospívá k závěru, že jak v daném zákoně, t...
Social Studies, 2016
John H. Gagnon a William Simon ve své knize Sexual Conduct argumentují, že homosexualita mezi žen... more John H. Gagnon a William Simon ve své knize Sexual Conduct argumentují, že homosexualita mezi ženami je nepřirozená, avšak nepřirozená přesně tím způsobem, jakým je každé lidské chování nepřirozené: totiž tak, že nemá žádný jasně předurčený a pevný tvar a obsah. Toto tvrzení shrnuje obecný pohled autorů na lidskou sexualitu, která je podle nich nejen determinována přírodou, ale také sociálně konstituována, a to na třech úrovních: na úrovních kulturních, interpersonálních a intrapsychických scénářů, které určují kdo, kdy, kde, jak, s kým a proč se podílí na sexuálních aktivitách. Kulturní scénáře jsou sociálními institucemi. Interpersonální scénáře jsou aplikacemi kulturních scénářů na specifické situace, v jejichž rámci jsou náležité identity dávány do souladu s požadovanými očekáváními zúčastněných aktérů. Intrapsychické scénáře jsou sociálně ustavenými formami mentálního života. Teorie sociálních scénářů říká, že sexualita je proces a sexuální scénáře procházejí změnami. Simon a G...
Sociológia , 2018
According to Nancy Fraser, some formal members of the public sphere tend to be informally margina... more According to Nancy Fraser, some formal members of the public sphere tend to be informally marginalized and consequently form "subaltern counterpublics". This article applies the concept of subaltern counterpublics to the Czech fathers' rights movement, where members of the movement believe they are discriminated in their parental rights and pushed out of the debate in the public sphere. In spite of being individuals who have represented the traditional hegemons of the public sphere, they have created their own counterpublics in order to assert their interests.
Sociologicky Casopis-czech Sociological Review, 2002
The deconstruction of gender symbolism is one of the methods and goals of contemporary feminist t... more The deconstruction of gender symbolism is one of the methods and goals of contemporary feminist theory and practice - politics. The article deals with four strate- gies. First, there is lesbianism as a deconstructive practice which denaturalises the in- stitutions of 'compulsory heterosexuality'. Second, there are the deconstructive ap- proaches to the issue of sexual violence, in order to question the belief that sexual vio- lence is the natural expression of male aggressivity and women are men's victims. A better strategy seems to be to take the violence as a discursive matter that can be re- described. If the narrative about a successful resistance prevails over the narrative of woman as a natural victim, the aggressor's expectations can be changed. Third, there is the deconstruction of beauty discourses showing that these discourses lead women to be weak, unable to resist violence, and susceptible to mental diseases like anorexia. Fourth, there is the deconstruct...
Sociální studia / Social Studies, 2014
John H. Gagnon a William Simon ve sve knize Sexual Conduct argumentuji, že homosexualita mezi žen... more John H. Gagnon a William Simon ve sve knize Sexual Conduct argumentuji, že homosexualita mezi ženami je nepřirozena, avsak nepřirozena přesně tim způsobem, jakým je každe lidske chovani nepřirozene: totiž tak, že nema žadný jasně předurcený a pevný tvar a obsah. Toto tvrzeni shrnuje obecný pohled autorů na lidskou sexualitu, ktera je podle nich nejen determinovana přirodou, ale take socialně konstituovana, a to na třech urovnich: na urovnich kulturnich, interpersonalnich a intrapsychických scenařů, ktere urcuji kdo, kdy, kde, jak, s kým a proc se podili na sexualnich aktivitach. Kulturni scenaře jsou socialnimi institucemi. Interpersonalni scenaře jsou aplikacemi kulturnich scenařů na specificke situace, v jejichž ramci jsou naležite identity davany do souladu s požadovanými ocekavanimi zucastněných akterů. Intrapsychicke scenaře jsou socialně ustavenými formami mentalniho života. Teorie socialnich scenařů řika, že sexualita je proces a sexualni scenaře prochazeji změnami. Simon a G...
The Fathers' Rights Movement as a Subaltern Counterpublic. According to Nancy Fraser, some formal... more The Fathers' Rights Movement as a Subaltern Counterpublic. According to Nancy Fraser, some formal members of the public sphere tend to be informally marginalized and consequently form "subaltern counterpublics". This article applies the concept of subaltern counterpublics to the Czech fathers' rights movement, where members of the movement believe they are discriminated in their parental rights and pushed out of the debate in the public sphere. In spite of being individuals who have represented the traditional hegemons of the public sphere, they have created their own counterpublics in order to assert their interests.
Sociální studia / Social Studies, Jan 21, 2014
We are not trying to argue that homosexuality among women is natural. To the contrary, we are arg... more We are not trying to argue that homosexuality among women is natural. To the contrary, we are arguing that is unnatural, but unnatural in the way that all human behaviour is unnatural: it is without an absolutely predetermined and fixed shape and content," John H. Gagnon and William Simon argue in their book Sexual Conduct. This sentence can be taken as a summary of the authors' general view of human sexuality, which they assert is determined not only by nature, but is socially constituted on three levels: cultural, interpersonal, and intrapsychic scripts which tell who, when, where, how, with whom and why individuals act sexually. Cultural scenarios are social institutions. Interpersonal scripts are applications of cultural scripts to specific situations through which appropriate identities are made congruent with desired expectations. Intrapsychic scripts are socially established forms of mental life. The theory of social scripts suggests that sexuality is a process and sexual scripts undergo changes. Simon and Gagnon write about the transformation from a paradigmatic to postparadigmatic society. Actors in the paradigmatic society follow a few prevailing cultural scenarios and a limited repertoire of "ritualized improvisations," while the postparadigmatic society is characterized by multiplication of scenarios. This multiplication does not necessary lead to liberalization of sexuality; it can also cause an uncertainty about how to act in conformity with expectations of others.
International Journal of Sexual Health, Jun 20, 2021
Abstract Objective: According to research participants, those who come out with their pedophilia ... more Abstract Objective: According to research participants, those who come out with their pedophilia are less likely to abuse children. Method: This study builds on qualitative research with 16 participants/members of a self-help group for people with pedophilic orientation. Results: Individuals who come out are better equipped mentally to cope with their pedophilia and coming out makes possible support from their social environment. Coming out is, however, extremely difficult, since it is associated with the label ‘child abuser’. Conclusion: An understanding approach to people with pedophilia who do not want to abuse children may help prevent child sexual abuse by allowing for more access to resources, treatment, and education.
Sociologický časopis, Oct 1, 2002
The deconstruction of gender symbolism is one of the methods and goals of contemporary feminist t... more The deconstruction of gender symbolism is one of the methods and goals of contemporary feminist theory and practice-politics. The article deals with four strategies. First, there is lesbianism as a deconstructive practice which denaturalises the institutions of 'compulsory heterosexuality'. Second, there are the deconstructive approaches to the issue of sexual violence, in order to question the belief that sexual violence is the natural expression of male aggressivity and women are men's victims. A better strategy seems to be to take the violence as a discursive matter that can be redescribed. If the narrative about a successful resistance prevails over the narrative of woman as a natural victim, the aggressor's expectations can be changed. Third, there is the deconstruction of beauty discourses showing that these discourses lead women to be weak, unable to resist violence, and susceptible to mental diseases like anorexia. Fourth, there is the deconstruction of maternity discourses, associating women with maternity and seeing a woman's body as the subject of necessary control by the psychomedical sciences. They form an idea of woman's nature that is invariable and unchangeable. This notion is questioned by feminism as a serious limit on women's agency.
Sociální studia, Nov 27, 2007
The paper analyzes the parliamentary debates and explanatory reports from the Czechoslovak Nation... more The paper analyzes the parliamentary debates and explanatory reports from the Czechoslovak National Assembly during the passing of the "Law on Traveling Gypsies" in 1927. The primary goal of the paper is to find out if the term "gypsy" was understood as a biological category (race) or a social one (mode of life characterized by traveling). At the same time, the analyzed texts are studied from the perspective of a thesis based on Foucault's Discipline and Punish and Bauman's Modernity and the Holocaust. Were the ideas expressed in legislators' statements closer to the normalization power and discipline (Foucault) in which "gypsiness" was seen as a social fact, or to the gardening culture and categorical murder (Bauman) in which "gypsiness" was seen as a racial category? Finally, the paper analyzes the Czech and Slovak wartime decrees concerning Gypsies that were induced by Nazi racial theories. The article comes to the conclusion that both in the law and in decrees issued at the beginning of the war Gypsies were identified mainly through social indicators, not racial ones.
This paper is based on qualitative research among people diagnosed with a mental illness who volu... more This paper is based on qualitative research among people diagnosed with a mental illness who voluntarily attend a mental health center. Such individuals are given a degrading “mentally ill” label, which transforms them into a “new” person. This study showed that—due to their label—research participants are often socially marginalized—not only in the public but also in the private sphere. As members of an “organized deviant group” (the mental health center), they follow a “deviant career” and find a job outside the regular job market. Their marginalization is not only caused by their health problems (by their impairment), but they are also disabled through social reactions to these problems. Psychiatry based on the biological model of the disease cannot, therefore, help them without the cooperation of social science approaches dealing with social mar-
International Journal of Sexual Health, 2021
Abstract Objective: According to research participants, those who come out with their pedophilia ... more Abstract Objective: According to research participants, those who come out with their pedophilia are less likely to abuse children. Method: This study builds on qualitative research with 16 participants/members of a self-help group for people with pedophilic orientation. Results: Individuals who come out are better equipped mentally to cope with their pedophilia and coming out makes possible support from their social environment. Coming out is, however, extremely difficult, since it is associated with the label ‘child abuser’. Conclusion: An understanding approach to people with pedophilia who do not want to abuse children may help prevent child sexual abuse by allowing for more access to resources, treatment, and education.
With the launch of the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) in January 2015, the White House grant... more With the launch of the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) in January 2015, the White House granted a high degree of federal support to an emerging biomedical paradigm. What explains this level of political recognition? Based on literature and policy analysis, we reconstruct the scientific and the legislative paths that led to the political endorsement of precision medicine. First, we describe the proliferation of personalized approaches to therapy ignited by the discovery of hemoprotein cytochrome P450 polymorphism in 1988. Then, we analyze the legislative history of precision medicine, from the unsuccessful introduction of Genomics and Personalized Medicine Acts in the second half of the last decade, to the highly acclaimed PMI. However, scientific progress and political contingency alone do not explain the upheaval of precision medicine as an institutionally supported initiative. On examination, the launch of a Precision Medicine Research Cohort and the incorporation of a participatory ethos into the fabric of the PMI proved to be crucial determinants of the political support for precision medicine. Weaving together the scientific and legislative antecedents of precision medicine, we illuminate how the mutual constitution of science and social order generates political recognition for innovative biomedical paradigms.
Social Studies, 2016
Stať analyzuje důvodové zprávy a rozpravy, které byly předneseny v Národním shromáždění republiky... more Stať analyzuje důvodové zprávy a rozpravy, které byly předneseny v Národním shromáždění republiky Československé při schvalování "Zákona o potulných cikánech a podobných tulácích" v roce 1927. Primárním cílem bylo zjistit, jak v nich byl chápán termín "cikán", zdali jako kategorie biologická (rasová) nebo sociální (způsob života, v tomto případě charakterizován potulkou). Zároveň byly analyzované texty studovány z hlediska tezí Foucaultovy knihy Dohlížet a trestat a Baumanovy práce Modernita a holocaust. Ústřední otázka zněla: Měly proslovy zákonodárců blíže k normalizační moci a disciplinaci (Foucault) a "cikánství" bylo chápáno sociálně, nebo k zahradnické moci a kategoriálnímu vraždění (Bauman) a "cikánství" bylo chápáno biologicky (rasově)? V závěru stať analyzuje české a slovenské předpisy a nařízení z doby, kdy na území bývalého Československa nastoupily ke slovu nacistické rasové teorie. Článek dospívá k závěru, že jak v daném zákoně, t...
Social Studies, 2016
John H. Gagnon a William Simon ve své knize Sexual Conduct argumentují, že homosexualita mezi žen... more John H. Gagnon a William Simon ve své knize Sexual Conduct argumentují, že homosexualita mezi ženami je nepřirozená, avšak nepřirozená přesně tím způsobem, jakým je každé lidské chování nepřirozené: totiž tak, že nemá žádný jasně předurčený a pevný tvar a obsah. Toto tvrzení shrnuje obecný pohled autorů na lidskou sexualitu, která je podle nich nejen determinována přírodou, ale také sociálně konstituována, a to na třech úrovních: na úrovních kulturních, interpersonálních a intrapsychických scénářů, které určují kdo, kdy, kde, jak, s kým a proč se podílí na sexuálních aktivitách. Kulturní scénáře jsou sociálními institucemi. Interpersonální scénáře jsou aplikacemi kulturních scénářů na specifické situace, v jejichž rámci jsou náležité identity dávány do souladu s požadovanými očekáváními zúčastněných aktérů. Intrapsychické scénáře jsou sociálně ustavenými formami mentálního života. Teorie sociálních scénářů říká, že sexualita je proces a sexuální scénáře procházejí změnami. Simon a G...
Sociológia , 2018
According to Nancy Fraser, some formal members of the public sphere tend to be informally margina... more According to Nancy Fraser, some formal members of the public sphere tend to be informally marginalized and consequently form "subaltern counterpublics". This article applies the concept of subaltern counterpublics to the Czech fathers' rights movement, where members of the movement believe they are discriminated in their parental rights and pushed out of the debate in the public sphere. In spite of being individuals who have represented the traditional hegemons of the public sphere, they have created their own counterpublics in order to assert their interests.
Sociologicky Casopis-czech Sociological Review, 2002
The deconstruction of gender symbolism is one of the methods and goals of contemporary feminist t... more The deconstruction of gender symbolism is one of the methods and goals of contemporary feminist theory and practice - politics. The article deals with four strate- gies. First, there is lesbianism as a deconstructive practice which denaturalises the in- stitutions of 'compulsory heterosexuality'. Second, there are the deconstructive ap- proaches to the issue of sexual violence, in order to question the belief that sexual vio- lence is the natural expression of male aggressivity and women are men's victims. A better strategy seems to be to take the violence as a discursive matter that can be re- described. If the narrative about a successful resistance prevails over the narrative of woman as a natural victim, the aggressor's expectations can be changed. Third, there is the deconstruction of beauty discourses showing that these discourses lead women to be weak, unable to resist violence, and susceptible to mental diseases like anorexia. Fourth, there is the deconstruct...
Sociální studia / Social Studies, 2014
John H. Gagnon a William Simon ve sve knize Sexual Conduct argumentuji, že homosexualita mezi žen... more John H. Gagnon a William Simon ve sve knize Sexual Conduct argumentuji, že homosexualita mezi ženami je nepřirozena, avsak nepřirozena přesně tim způsobem, jakým je každe lidske chovani nepřirozene: totiž tak, že nema žadný jasně předurcený a pevný tvar a obsah. Toto tvrzeni shrnuje obecný pohled autorů na lidskou sexualitu, ktera je podle nich nejen determinovana přirodou, ale take socialně konstituovana, a to na třech urovnich: na urovnich kulturnich, interpersonalnich a intrapsychických scenařů, ktere urcuji kdo, kdy, kde, jak, s kým a proc se podili na sexualnich aktivitach. Kulturni scenaře jsou socialnimi institucemi. Interpersonalni scenaře jsou aplikacemi kulturnich scenařů na specificke situace, v jejichž ramci jsou naležite identity davany do souladu s požadovanými ocekavanimi zucastněných akterů. Intrapsychicke scenaře jsou socialně ustavenými formami mentalniho života. Teorie socialnich scenařů řika, že sexualita je proces a sexualni scenaře prochazeji změnami. Simon a G...
The book Sex Trouble is a unique academic book that looks at the situation of intersex people (i.... more The book Sex Trouble is a unique academic book that looks at the situation of intersex people (i.e. people with DSD or variations of sex characteristics) in the Czech Republic from a social science and legal point of view. The book first explains possible understandings of what gender is. Based on a study of sociological and medical literature, relevant professional documents, and sociological interviews with intersex people and doctors, we explore what health, disorder, and decision-making mean, awareness, adolescence, identity or care in the context of living with gender variations characteristics. The subsequent legal analysis clarifies how the key issues thus described relevant international, Czech and selected foreign legislation. It analyses the right to bodily and mental integrity, provision of health care, self-determination, and the right to effective protection and redress. It concludes with recommendations for improvement situation and practice in the Czech Republic.
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