Crisis culture and culture crisis: The case of Serbia

Abstract

The crisis of culture reflects in the crisis of cultural values, cultural institutions and the foundations on which it rests. More specifically, the culture crisis is driven by: a serious lack of funds which prevents the cultural institutions from better responding to the demands that have been placed upon them; inertia found in the very institutions, resulting in extreme slowness with which they adapt their internal structures to the needs, even if they are not too affected by lack of funds; and inertia of the social system, bounded by traditions, beliefs and values, which has proven to be incapable of making the best use of culture and cultural institutions in the interest of national development. The gap between cultural institutions and social environment is caused by relative autonomy of these institutions. They tend to remain what they have always been in order to protect their own interests and values. In order to overcome the crisis, it is quite obvious that the culture and the society must agree on the need for mutual adjustment and adaptation. Planning of cultural needs must take into account the development of other social activities, in particular the development and financial aspect of the economy. Programs that do not comply with other programs of social life remain a mere collection of wishes and efforts that can often bring confusion into the social life. The development of certain activities over others should be replaced by a balanced and coordinated planning of all activities. Practice has shown that 'the activity' of culture in the period of pre-transitional changes was not just part of the material sphere of work, but also its result - a distribution of total income through contributions. The state has set up the necessary infrastructure and established various cultural institutions. However, bureaucratic attitude towards culture and bureaucratic culture has often neglected the function of people in dealing with social affairs. It has bypassed the world of their needs, because its objective has been to keep the production and the culture separated. This is how the culture has become a guided activity, where the possibilities of manipulation are huge.