Naslov
Traditionalism, Modernism, Utopianism: A Review of Recent Works on Transition in Croatia

Autori
Katunarić, Vjeran

Izvornik
Politička misao : Croatian Political Science Review (0032-3241) 44 (2007), 5; 3-27

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
Croatia; social sciences; transition; modernism; traditionalism; utopianism; Europe

Sažetak
This paper provides a survey of recent works of social scientists and economists in Croatia, focusing on the authors’ way of interpreting normatively the model of social changes or transition in Croatia, i.e. on their reply to the question where that model resides or should reside: in the Croatian past, in EU countries or western countries in general, or in a different and better, but imaginary, future of Croatian and other economies and societies. Accordingly, the said works are divided into three different categories: traditionalism, modernism and utopianism. Many theoretical (and ethical) differences notwithstanding, the authors in all three categories seem to incline towards a certain neostatism, that is, they expect of the (Croatian) state to initiate the solving of problems in various areas, from the knowledge society to health care and retirement policies. This stance is in part conditioned by the fact that most of the presented works appeared within the framework of research projects financed by the government, i.e. by the Ministry of Science. The second characteristic of the presented works is the exuberance of modernism – whose model of change exists in Western European societies, with concepts ranging from the knowledge society to the European social model – in relation to the thinness of traditionalism and utopianism. Finally, the third characteristic of the presented works, closely connected with the previous, is the growing confidence in the European Union, followed by a more reasonable outlook upon European reality. In contrast to the 1990s, when a good part of Croatian literature painted the image of Europe in historical colours, mostly romantic and Christian in content – in accordance with what Europe was once like, and what Croatia was like as a part of it (i.e. a part of its empires) – Europe is now, even more so in domestic social sciences, presented in figures and other analytical categories. The European world currently resembles a huge space for the integration of markets, parliaments, and other arenas in which Croatia has to learn to buy or sell, to use politically correct language, or to do a culturally interesting performance, in order to survive in it.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Sociologija

POVEZANOST RADA