Porucha na křižovatce světů (2026)

This scholarly yet accessible book examines identity and cohesion among populations without any form of centralization. It leaves aside states, chiefdoms and other structures that impose identity from outside, are created for a specific purpose and are often maintained through force, focusing instead on levels of integration that are natural to archaic societies and perceived as such by their members. It explores the foundations of these forms of cohesion and shows how multilayered identity, beginning with the family and extending through clans and tribes, is closely connected with the cohesion of mythological compatibility. When this spiritual bond is disrupted, a fatal disturbance of the cultural system occurs, and society seeks salvation in new cults while desperately awaiting cargo. Far from being a dry theoretical work, the book brings to life the stories of societies largely forgotten by great civilizations, including the Aztecs and Pueblo Indians of the Americas, the Hutu and Tutsi of Rwanda, and the Asmat and Marind-anim of New Guinea. Through them, readers can understand how the clash of different civilizations creates a disturbance at the crossroads of worlds. The book is intended for both specialists and general readers, and its contents are in Czech.