My focus

Sociological theory, Rural sociology, Urban sociology, Public space, Cultural sociology, Modern self

My research interests

My work is broadly located on the intersections of rural sociology, urban sociology and cultural sociology. I am interested in what constitutes our ideas of urbanity and rurality and how the values attached to these concepts are (re)produced. I have studied these phenomena across rural policies and promotions of rurality, in urban policies of “law and order” as well as in urban spaces such as shopping malls.

I am a Faculty Fellow of the Yale University Center for Cultural Sociology and I am deeply interested in the role that culture and cultural meanings play in the transformation of our societies. I have studied the meaning-making processes and the production of symbols in post-socialist transformations and I am doing research on the imaginaries of large-scale social changes.

I serve as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Sociální studia / Social Studies.

Some of my publications are available at https://muni.academia.edu/PavelPospech​

Recent publications

Pospěch, P., Fuglestad, E. & Figueiredo E. (eds.) 2022. Politics and Policies of Rural Authenticity. London: Routledge.

Pospěch, P., Fuglestad, E. & Figueiredo E. 2022. Rurality : From the margins to the focus of interest. In: Pospěch, P., Fuglestad, E. & Figueiredo E. (eds.) . Politics and Policies of Rural Authenticity. London: Routledge.

Fuglestad, E., Figueiredo, E. & Pospěch, P. 2022. Rural Authenticity Between Commodification and Populism. In: Pospěch, P., Fuglestad, E. & Figueiredo E. (eds.) . Politics and Policies of Rural Authenticity. London: Routledge.

Pospěch, P. 2021. Homeless people in public space and the politics of (in)visibility. Space and Culture (Published Online First 14/3/2020)

Pospěch, P. 2021. Policing cities: incivility, disorder and societal transformations. Sociology Compass 15(3): 1-12.

Pospěch, P. 2021. The locals and the elites: discourses on the Roma and the roots of populism. Ethnic and Racial Studies 44(11): 2034-2051.

Swirek, K. & Pospěch, P. 2021. Escape from arbitrariness: legitimation crisis of real socialism and the imaginary of modernity. European Journal of Social Theory 24(1):140-159.

Pospěch, P. 2020. The Spectre of the Queue: Re-signifying the Past in the Post-communist Czech Republic. American Journal of Cultural Sociology 8(2): 191-213.

Slavík, L. & Pospěch P. 2019. Youtubing as construction, destruction and reparation of privacy [Youtuberství jako konstrukce, destrukce a reparace soukromí]. Czech Sociological Review/Sociologický časopis 55(2): 135-159.

Pospěch, P. 2018. Negotiating Public Space in Shopping Malls. In: Hristova, S. & Czepczynski, M. (Eds.). Public Space: Between Reimagination and Occupation. London: Routledge.

Pospěch, P. 2017. Urban or Family-Friendly? The Presentation of Czech Shopping Centers as Family-Friendly Spaces. Space and Culture 20(1): 68-80.

Delin, M., & Pospech, P. 2016. Komodifikace venkova a utváření identity regionu. Czech Sociological Review/Sociologický časopis 52(2): 209-235.

Delín, M., & Pospěch, P. 2016. Vývoj přístupů ke zkoumání venkova v rurální sociologii. Slovak Sociological Review/Sociologia 48(1): 5-24.

Pospěch, P. 2016. Caution, control and consumption: defining acceptable conduct in the semi-public space of Czech shopping malls. In. De Backer, M., Melgaço, L., Varna, G., & Menichelli, F. (Eds.). Order and Conflict in Public Space. London: Routledge.

Pospěch, P., Spěšná, D., & Staveník, A. 2015. Images Of A Good Village: A Visual Analysis Of The Rural Idyll In The “Village Of The Year” Competition In The Czech Republic. European Countryside 7(2): 68-86.

Pospěch P. 2015. Od veřejného prostoru k nákupním centrům: svět cizinců a jeho regulace. Prague: Sociological Publishing (SLON).

Pospěch P. et al. 2015. Vynálézání venkova v ČR po roce 1989. Brno: Centre for the study of Democracy and Culture (CDK).

Pospěch P. 2014. Discursive no man’s land: Analysing the discourse of the rural in the transitional Czech Republic. Journal of Rural Studies 34: 96-107.

Pospěch P. 2014. Semiveřejné prostory. In: Osman R., Matoušek R. (eds.). Space/s of geography [Prostor(y) geografie]. Prague: Karolinum.

Pospěch P. 2013. Moc v privatizovaném městském prostoru. Czech Sociological Review/Sociologický časopis 49(5): 751-779.

Pospěch P. 2013. Městský veřejný prostor: interpretativní přístup. Czech Sociological Review/Sociologický časopis 49(1): 75-100.

Pospěch P. & Spěšná D. 2011. What is the importance of social capital in Czech agriculture? Agricultural Economics 57/6: 279-287.

Nohel F., Spěšná D. & Pospěch P. 2011. Regional markets with agricultural workforce based on labour offices data. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendeleianae Brunensis 59(4): 177-186.

Pospěch P., Delín M., Spěšná D. 2009. Quality of life in Czech rural areas. Agricultural Economics 55/6: 284-295.

Spěšná D., Pospěch P. et al. 2009. The aging of agricultural workforce in relation to the agricultural labour market. Agricultural Economics 55/9: 424-435.

Spěšná D., Pospěch P. et al. 2009. Agricultural labour market [Agrární trh práce]. Prague: ÚZEI.