Ota Konrád’s Study on the History of Domestic Violence in Socialist Czechoslovakia

Ota Konrád has published an article in the Journal of Family History titled "When Is It Violence? Social Recognition of Domestic Violence in Czech Society Under State Socialism, 1948–1989." The study examines domestic violence in socialist Czechoslovakia as a social phenomenon shaped by specific historical, cultural, and social conditions.

Based on extensive archival research, the article analyzes how the articulation of violent experiences, social spaces of communication, the gendered appearance of victims, class, ethnicity, and expert knowledge influenced the recognition of private aggression as violence. It argues that domestic violence did not exist as a self-evident reality but rather emerged through historically situated communication and perception.

The article is available in Open Access here.