Social divisions and identity engineering of transitional cultural policy in Serbia

Abstract

Starting from the relationship to the government, we study the social division into ?off-institutional? and ?institutional?, ?independent? and ?dependent? actors of cultural life in Serbia and their mutual interactions within the four families of the transitional cultural system. Due to the similarity with self-management in culture, we observe the phenomenon through two time points that represent turning points in the conduct of cultural policy based on the political, legal and financial authority of the govern?ment acquired on the basis of election results. Empirical research is based on interviews with actors of transitional cultural policy in Serbia and contextualization of the content of internet presentations and media texts. In addition to the comparative analysis, a nor?mative analysis of the document ?Protocol on cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and the Independent Cultural Scene of Serbia? (2011) was also applied, which is a con?firmation of cultural hegemony and identity engineering by the alternative model of cultural policy ?state double?. The results of the research showed that this alternative model in 2011 obstructed the decision-making system defined by law which does not provide for the transfer of decision-making authority to an independent body; that the independent scene is not aware of the joint responsibility for the disastrous results of a weak state according to the Index of states weaknesses in the developing world; that it uses the weaknesses of the transitional cultural policy in order to achieve benefits for itself and related organizations by excluding undesirable value systems in culture, especially those that are the bearers of Serbian cultural identity.