More about Oikumene
Activity:
Association for the publication of philosophical and theological literature OIKOYMENH (Oikumene) is the only Czech publishing house that directly follows in the footsteps of samizdat publishing during the period of ‘normalisation’ (1970–1989). Over time, OIKOYMENH became one of the most important publishing houses focused on philosophy and theology in the Czech Republic. In 2007, it was awarded the prestigious Magnesia litera prize for a large project, namely the publication of the history of philosophy in numerous volumes.
Activities of the publishing house, supervised and guaranteed by an editorial board consisting of leading experts in the relevant fields, are not driven by commercial considerations but by the importance of the texts. As such, they are inherently non-profit and the publishing house in effect provides a service to the Czech public. It is no exaggeration to say that the library of classical works published by the OIKOYMENH is a public good. Production of the publishing house currently includes over 700 titles.
For many years, the success of OIKOYMENH’s publishing activities was driven by the tireless personal commitment and organisational skills of doc. Ing. Aleš Havlíček, Ph.D. (†), the founder of this publishing house. Currently, the high professional standards are maintained thanks to the voluntary collaboration of specialised members of the editorial board, who are all leading experts in their fields from universities or institutes of the Academy of Sciences. This goes hand in hand with the amount of attention paid to the scholarly and linguistic preparation of the publications. Activities of the Editorial Board are directed by the association’s vice-president PhDr. Ing. Jiří Chotaš, Ph.D., who is also in charge of the editorial series Library of Modern Tradition and Current Thought.
The OIKOYMENH association is headed by Ing. Ivan Chvatík, Dr. h. c., the founder of Jan Patočka Archives, who is, among other things, in charge of publication of the collected works of Jan Patočka. In 2007, he received an honorary doctorate of the Charles University for ‘contribution to the development of Czech philosophy and its reputation in our country and abroad’. In 2020, he received the VIZE 97 award of the Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation.
In early 2017, in the year of the 40th anniversary of death of the philosopher Jan Patočka and the proclamation of Charta 77, there was created a new editorial section of OIKOYMENH at the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences, headed by Mgr. Ing. Martin Žemla, Ph.D., which draws on the existing publishing experiences of the association.
Editorial series:
The key works of important thinkers appear in the following editorial series: Library of Ancient Greek and Roman Tradition, Library of Early Christian Tradition, Library of Medieval Tradition, Library of Renaissance Thought, and Library of Modern Tradition and Current Thought.
Secondary literature or texts of authors not included in the series of classical works form the OIKOYMENH Edition.
Highly popular and award-winning editorial series (which won, among other things, the Magnesia litera prize in 2007) is the History of Philosophy, which publishes Czech translations of the best current studies on particular periods in the history of European philosophy.
Other book series include Fontes Latini Bohemorum, a series of previously unpublished works in Latin that were written in Bohemia or Moravia during the Middle Ages or Renaissance humanism, series History of Political Thought, which features large Czech collective works, and series History of Religious Thought and Library of Political Thought.
OIKOYMENH also publishes the Collected works of Jan Patočka and, in its Mathesis series, prepares collective monographs, dictionaries, and textbooks. Series Philosophical Interpretations features both original and translated interpretations of philosophical and theological texts.
Philosophical journal REFLEXE is a scholarly peer-reviewed periodical focused on philosophy and theology, was founded in 1985 by Ladislav Hejdánek. Initially, it circulated in the form of a samizdat but since 1990, it is published by the OIKOMENH publishing house in collaboration with the Centre for Theoretical Studies, a joint institute of the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University in Prague and the Academy of Sciences, and the Karolinum Press. REFLEXE publishes original studies, translations, discussions, and reviews of both Czech and international philosophical literature. It appears biannually and its current editor-in-chief is Markéta Dudziková. The journal is included in the list of peer-reviewed non-impacted periodicals published in the Czech Republic and in the international databases SCOPUS, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO, and DOAJ.
Organisation structure:
President of the association and head of the editorial board: Ivan Chvatík <Chvatik@cts.cuni.cz>
Vice-president and secretary of the association: Jiří Chotaš <jChotas@flu.cas.cz>
Head of the technical department: Marie Padevětová <Marie@OIKOYMENH.cz>
Head of the economic department: Tereza Chadimová <distribuce@OIKOYMENH.cz>
Editorial board: Marie Havlíčková, Jiří Chotaš, Ivan Chvatík, Petr Kitzler, Pavel Kouba, Jan Kuneš, Milan Lyčka, Vladimír Mikeš, Václav Němec, Aleš Prázný, Jaroslav Rytíř, Miroslav Šedina, and Štěpán Špinka
Honorary members: Jakub S. Trojan, Aleš Havlíček (†), Milan Balabán (†), Ladislav Hejdánek (†)
The association has headquarters in the New Town of Prague in Černá Street no. 3. This space functions also as a storeroom and pick-up point for the public. Operation of the office and the store is managed by Tereza Chadimová (distribution) and Marie Padevětová (e-shop and social networks) in collaboration with part-timer Jan Leffler.