The global/local and omnivore/univore nexus: class divisions and cultural tastes in contemporary Croatia

Karin Doolan, PhD is the co-author together with Associate Professor Željka Tonković, PhD and Associate Professor Krešimir Krolo, PhD (University of Zadar), and Jaka Primorac, PhD (Institute for Development and International Relations) of the scientific paper titled “The global/local and omnivore/univore nexus: class divisions and cultural tastes in contemporary Croatia“.

The paper is published in the renowned international journal Cultural Trends (Q1, Web of Science, Current Contents, Scopus), and is a result of the research conducted as part of the project “Social stratification in Croatia: structural and subjective aspects“ (Croatian Science Foundation; UIP-2014-09-3134), which was led by Karin Doolan, PhD.

Abstract: Research on Bourdieu’s “homology” thesis and Peterson’s “omnivore” hypothesis, as well as research on cultural cosmopolitanism, are integral to academic considerations of the interrelationship between class and cultural tastes. This paper contributes to such work by examining cultural tastes in Croatia, a context that occupies a peripheral position in the global cultural system. Multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were applied to survey data. We find that the main class distinction is between those who simultaneously express a cosmopolitan orientation and a taste in elite culture, and those who dislike both elite and non-Croatian cultural products. There is no group of “highbrow” univores in our sample, but rather those higher up the class hierarchy display different types of omnivorous tastes. A novelty of the study is identifying a multiplicity of more univorous cultural tastes. Our results point to complex cultural repertoires in which multiple forces of social structuring overlap.

The paper is available at the following link.