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Cultural Identity Politics <strong>in</strong> the (Post-)Transitional Societies<br />
viewed as a process of “translocal learn<strong>in</strong>g” oriented to the outside) (Nederveen Pieterse,<br />
1994: 672-674). Th erefore, globalization processes are important for the newly emerged<br />
changes, where the level of cultural globalization is vital, but the levels of economic and<br />
political globalization have to be taken <strong>in</strong>to account as they also <strong>in</strong>fl uence the redefi nition<br />
of old and the shape of new “localities”. Cultural globalization, which highlights stronger<br />
dependency between diff erent cultures on a world scale, manifests itself <strong>in</strong> diverse ways:<br />
as cultural diversifi cation and cultural reidentifi cation (Švob-Đokić, 2008: 22), cultural<br />
re<strong>in</strong>vention (Lee, 1994: 33), cultural hibridity (Garcia Cancl<strong>in</strong>i, 2005, Nederveen Pieterse,<br />
1994), and towards global multiculture/global mélange (Nederveen Pieterse, 1994, 2009).<br />
Th us, we have to research how, <strong>in</strong> what way, and to what extent the processes of cultural<br />
globalization are occurr<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Croatia by observ<strong>in</strong>g all levels of the “locality”.<br />
In this way we cannot view cultural changes <strong>in</strong> Croatia only through the prism of<br />
territorial borders and/or redefi nition of these borders. Th e exam<strong>in</strong>ation of Croatian<br />
culture has to come out of “conta<strong>in</strong>er” categories that Beck stipulates (2003: 56), that is,<br />
from the model of a closed homogeneous identitarian system. We have entered an age of<br />
“and” (Beck, 2001: 17-20), where the culture of niches and the culture of hits coexist; we<br />
have to observe changes that come with physical and communicative deterritorialization<br />
and thus contribute to the creation of the translocal cultural forms. Furthermore, it has to<br />
be highlighted that although the processes of deterritorialization are under way, as Castells<br />
(2000: 449) stressed, people still live <strong>in</strong> certa<strong>in</strong> places, that is, the diff erences that occur<br />
due to historical and cultural components are nevertheless relevant. Th is dimension is<br />
important <strong>in</strong> the case of Croatia due to the former Yugoslavian context as a broader cultural<br />
framework where cultural cooperation <strong>in</strong> the past was very strong. Aft er years of neglect,<br />
cultural cooperation and exchange <strong>in</strong> Southeastern Europe have <strong>in</strong>tensifi ed <strong>in</strong> certa<strong>in</strong><br />
fi elds, especially <strong>in</strong> the audiovisual fi eld. Th e broader framework of the Southeast European<br />
region is imm<strong>in</strong>ent, partly due to economic and political processes that are connected to<br />
EU <strong>in</strong>tegration processes, and partly as some of the countries are already its members.<br />
At the global level the changes <strong>in</strong> culture and creativity are happen<strong>in</strong>g very fast.<br />
Accord<strong>in</strong>g to pre-recession data the cultural and creative <strong>in</strong>dustries were among the<br />
fastest grow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>dustries <strong>in</strong> Europe (KEA, 2006), and <strong>in</strong> the world as well accord<strong>in</strong>g<br />
to data from UNCTAD (2008). With the <strong>in</strong>novations <strong>in</strong> ICT, digitalization, and thus<br />
larger availability of tools for production and distribution, it is easier for everybody<br />
to create, show their work and fi nd their audience. In addition, one can notice the<br />
upsurgence of parallel cultures that are based on diff erentiated and specifi c tastes (based<br />
on the diversity of demand) and on the division <strong>in</strong>to cultural tribes accord<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>in</strong>terest,<br />
creat<strong>in</strong>g niche cultures (Anderson, 2006: 184; Jenk<strong>in</strong>s, 2006). With technological<br />
convergence and the <strong>in</strong>tertw<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g of (tele)communications and <strong>in</strong><strong>format</strong>ion technologies,<br />
the new possibilities for diversity of cultural <strong>in</strong>teractions are created. It has to be<br />
mentioned that convergence is not only present at the technological level – it implies<br />
the <strong>in</strong>terconnection of multiple media systems, which enables the circulation and<br />
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