Czech families ten years after the velvet revolution

The authors report on the experiences of sixteen Czech families ten years after the Velvet Revolution. The families were selected from a four-year panel of 740 households and were interviewed in 1997-98. They talked about their lives during communism and since the reform. They recalled their initial high expectations, followed by facing new challenges and their later reassessment of the reform. Their stories show that the transition toward a market economy and democracy has been a mired blessing consistent with social thought on the earlier GI ear Transformation. They also complement the notion that attitudes about the reforms differentiate into the dichotomy of winners and losers. These families gave well-measured accounts of this historic change whether winners or losers.