Sarah Lemmen – författare

During the Cold War, and despite the contrary image of relative seclusion suggested by states and political blocs, diverse groups of workers crossed for professional reasons not only national borders, but also moved from one political system to another. For shorter or longer periods of time, different kinds of workers crossed from Eastern European Communist states or from right-wing dictatorships in Southern Europe to Western Europe, but also from Western Europe to the East and South of the continent. These workers were part of transnational networks across otherwise (relatively) closed political borders and can be interpreted both as seemingly unpolitical in the ordinariness of everyday work life and as extraordinary in their defiance of the political order of national isolation. Covering cases as diverse as migrant workers, academics abroad, professionals on a foreign deployment or informal border crossings, this edited volume concentrates on personal and group experiences of these cross-border workers, on transnational networks, or on national labor policies. This focus on cross-border workers during the Cold War sheds light on the intricate entanglement of the East, South and West of Europe beyond political ideologies.

Das Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts sah eine neue europäische Beschäftigung mit außereuropäischen Regionen, die aufgrund der weltweiten Vernetzung durch Eisenbahn und Linienschiff für immer mehr Menschen direkt erfahrbar wurden. Auch im tschechischen Kontext diskutierten Wissenschaftler, Publizisten und Reisende, wie sich die eigene Gesellschaft – und ab 1918 auch der tschechoslowakische Staat – in einer sich globalisierenden Welt zu verorten habe. Vor allem anhand von Reiseberichten über Afrika, Asien, Australien und Lateinamerika wird hier der tschechische Umgang mit Kolonialismus, Rassismus sowie Globalisierung und schließlich auch eine eigene Form des Reisens "zweiter Klasse" aufgezeigt. Die diesem Buch zugrundeliegende Dissertation wurde mit dem Grete-Mostny-Preis der Universität Wien ausgezeichnet. Towards the end of nineteenth century, across Europe emerged a new interest and engagement with regions beyond Europe. Along with the vast and rapid expansion of railways and ever new shipping lines, the globe became accessible and tangible around 1900. This was not just true for western Europe but also for central Europeans. From the Czech lands experts, scientists, publicists, travellers, and explorers went out to explore and experience the world. Seeing and exploring the world, a number of Czechs both before and after 1918 sought to locate what it meant to be Czech in a globalising world and to situate Czechness in a global world. Colonialism, race, racism, and globalisation were among the themes that Czech travellers and explorers discussed in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Yet as travellers from a "small nation" they also experienced and expressed how it felt to be "second-class travellers". The book was awarded the Grete-Mostny-Prize, University of Vienna.