The European Union in Czech public discourse

The book focuses on the discourse of the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union and its subsequent membership in the EU. It offers the reader an interpretation and understanding of the meaning of the relationship between the Czech Republic and the EU as it has been constructed in public discourse by political parties or various civil society actors. It examines in detail the different meanings that these actors constructed in the peak phase of the various debates and discussions before the referendum on the Czech Republic's accession to the EU. In this phase, the interactions of the selected actors and how these actors framed the input are the focus of attention. The author then traces the development of key events related to the relationship between the Czech Republic and the EU and, above all, the space for discussion and debate on the relationship between the Czech Republic and the EU that these events created. The thesis culminates with an analysis of the discourse of political parties and movements at the time of the 2019 European Parliament elections.By analysing the meanings associated with the Czech Republic and the European Union, the thesis also opens the way to understanding why and how we act towards the EU (not only on a symbolic level), thus inviting a (re)construction of the existing meanings that limit our (not only symbolic) activism towards the EU. It also encourages an open debate on the importance of the relationship between the Czech Republic and the EU.