Tento unikátní kurs je založen na spolupráci mezi IES FSV UK a Robinson College, University of Cambridge. Kurs nabízí jak vhled do nejnovějších tematických a metodologických inovací v ekonomických a sociálních dějinách, tak výukovou praxi poživánou na jedné z nejlepších universit světa.
Téma letošního kursu: Psát dějiny (rozumět dějinám) měnící se doby v čase změn
Témata jednotlivých přednášek, povinná i doporučená literatura, stejně jako téma závěrečných esejů jsou každoročně ohlášena během úvodního semináře.
V roce 2019 získala Antonie Doležalová díky tomuto kursu cenu Arnošta z Pardubic za nejinovativanější počin ve výuce na UK.
Poslední úprava: Doležalová Antonie, prof. PhDr. Ing., Ph.D. (15.02.2023)
This unique course is based on cooperation between IES FSS and Robinson College, University of Cambridge. It offers both the inquiry into the newest thematic and methodological development of economic and social history and the teaching practice as is used at the University of Cambridge. For the Cambridge Lectures, Antonie Doležalová was awarded the Arnost of Pardubice Prize 2019 for the most innovative teacher at the Charles University.
CLEH 2026:
HISTORY AS A TOOL FOR SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ANALYSIS
JAN HOWLET, JESUS COLLEGE, Cambridge
11-15 May, 2026
1.History as a tool for Social and Political Analysis
2. Why no one expected the Russian Revolution
3. Why no one expected 1991
4. Why no one expected Putin's Russia
Poslední úprava: Doležalová Antonie, prof. PhDr. Ing., Ph.D. (14.04.2026)
Deskriptory -
Poslední úprava: Doležalová Antonie, prof. PhDr. Ing., Ph.D. (14.04.2026)
With the exception of the first lecture
of 02.20. 15:30-17:00, Opletalova 206
the course will taught as the compact course during the week 04/07. - 04/10 2025:
07.04..2025, 14-15:20, Opletalova 206,
04.08.2025, 18-19:20 Hollar H014,
04.09.2025, 14-15:20 Opletalova 206
04.10.2025, 15:30-17, Opletalova 206
Poslední úprava: Doležalová Antonie, prof. PhDr. Ing., Ph.D. (13.04.2026)
Podmínky zakončení předmětu -
Four short reflections on compulsory reading and the lecture (25 points each)
Hodnocení:
A…...100-91
B…... 90-81
C…... 80-71
D…... 70-61
E….... 60-51
F… .....50 - 0
Poslední úprava: Doležalová Antonie, prof. PhDr. Ing., Ph.D. (14.04.2026)
Grading policy:
A…...100-91
B…... 90-81
C…... 80-71
D…... 70-61
E….... 60-51
F… .....50 - 0
Compulsory attendance 3/4
Total grade will depend on:
2. Active aprticipation in lectures. The discussion will be based on compulsory reading (20 points max)
3. 4 short papers esssays/reflections based on the lecturer assignement during the lecture (900 characters incl spaces max, via Moodle by May 17), 20 points max. each - it is necessary to submit at least 3 of them
The minimal amount of points required to pass the subject: 51
Each paper will be evaluated by points as follows:
20 -17: very well written (5 points max) , highly structured and focused (5 points max), comprehensive understanding of key facts (5 points max), an ability to formulate own ideas in the analysis (5 points max)
16-13: clear style, well structured and focused, good understanding of key facts, evaluative sought in some areas
12-7: descriptive style, logically structured and focused, a partial understanding of the key facts, missing evaluation
6-1: poorly and unclearly written, poorly structured and not focused, poor understanding the topic, missing evaluation
0: not submitted
Poslední úprava: Doležalová Antonie, prof. PhDr. Ing., Ph.D. (14.04.2026)
Literatura -
Will be specified during the lectures.
Poslední úprava: Doležalová Antonie, prof. PhDr. Ing., Ph.D. (14.04.2026)
Compulsory reading
F. Cooper, ‘Africa and capitalism’, in Cooper, Africa in the World (Princeton, 2014).
J.E. Inikori, ‘Africa and the globalization process: Western Africa, 1450-1850’, Journal of Global History 2: 1 (2007), pp. 63-86.
G. Austin, ‘The economics of colonialism’, in C. Monga & J. Lin, eds, Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics (Oxford, 2015), pp. 522-35.
J-F. Bayart, ‘Africa in the world: a history of extraversion’, African Affairs 99 (2000), pp. 217-67.
Poslední úprava: Chytilová Julie, doc. PhDr., Ph.D. (15.04.2026)
Kontroly studia předmětu a podmínky pro jejich úspěšné vykonání, způsob hodnocení -
Poslední úprava: Doležalová Antonie, prof. PhDr. Ing., Ph.D. (13.04.2026)
Poslední úprava: Doležalová Antonie, prof. PhDr. Ing., Ph.D. (13.04.2026)
Sylabus -
Poslední úprava: Doležalová Antonie, prof. PhDr. Ing., Ph.D. (14.04.2026)
CAPITALISM AND AFRICAN HISTORY
Prof. Gareth Austin, King's College, Cambridge
This compact course explores the economic development of Sub-Saharan Africa in the long term. It does so from the perspective of a long-debated question: has Africa had too little, too much, or the wrong sort of capitalism?
1. Introduction This opening lecture briefly reviews the economic history of Africa, 1450 to the present, showing that it includes episodes of economic growth and trends of development. It goes on to outline the debate about capitalism and African development or underdevelopment, which requires us to think both about African history and about conceptions of capitalism. Reading: F. Cooper, ‘Africa and capitalism’, in Cooper, Africa in the World (Princeton, 2014).
2. Slavery and the Market This lecture introduces the natural resources of precolonial Africa, and how Africans responded to and changed them. It focusses on the labour ‘problem’ in a region in which land was abundant but rarely favourable to intensive agriculture, in a period in which African and foreign merchant and plantation capitalists shaped change. We ask why slave trades from Africa were economically and politically possible and profitable for so long, and we briefly consider their effects inside and outside Africa. Reading: J.E. Inikori, ‘Africa and the globalization process: Western Africa, 1450-1850’, Journal of Global History 2: 1 (2007), pp. 63-86.
3. Colonialism and Capitalism in Africa Did European colonial rule promote capitalism, and if so, what kind of capitalism? Scholars have long debated whether European rulers actively supported the deepening of capitalist institutions such as land and labour markets; or whether their political priority of social control led them to obstruct the further extension of the market system. We also consider the role of African capitalists, especially in the so-called ‘peasant’ colonies of British West Africa, and how far colonial rule helped or hindered them. Reading: G. Austin, ‘The economics of colonialism’, in C. Monga & J. Lin, eds, Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics (Oxford, 2015), pp. 522-35.
4.Capitalism in Independent Africa From independence, about 1960 in most cases, various forms of state-led development policy tended to limit opportunities for African private enterprise. Then came ‘Structural Adjustment’ in the 1980s, the drastic swing towards economic liberalism, supported by the IMF and World Bank. How have African capitalists, and capitalist institutions in Africa, fared since then? We will also briefly review the ‘capitalism and apartheid’ debate in South Africa: did systematic racial discrimination favour or frustrate economic development? Finally, is Africa’s future capitalist, and what are the implications in the context of the Anthropocene? Reading: J-F. Bayart, ‘Africa in the world: a history of extraversion’, African Affairs 99 (2000), pp. 217-67.
Poslední úprava: Chytilová Julie, doc. PhDr., Ph.D. (15.04.2026)
