Role "ledna" v diskurzu pražského jara

Despite disparaging undertones surrounding the term “populism” in public debate, the phenomenon remains an elusive and contested concept among political theorists. This paper suggests utilising Ernesto Laclau’s theory of populism to offer a new perspective on the dynamics of the so-called Prague Spring. The Prague Spring appears to be a unique period in Czechoslovak history, almost as ungraspable as defining or understanding populism seems unattainable in political theory. Laclau’s understanding of populism, however, may draw attention to the layers of the political development that have previously been neglected, i.e., the discourse and rhetoric of political representatives, and, therefore, lead to a deeper understanding of Prague Spring’s dynamics. Thus, the paper applies a key category of Laclau’s theory, the “empty signifier”, to grasp the notion of “January”. The thrust of the paper’s argument is that after the plenary session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in January 1968, the name “January” emerged through uncensored media channels and started being used by various actors as an empty signifier to constitute the “people”.