Šventės su bendradarbiais – suvienijančios ir atskiriančios etnines grupes (1950–2017 m.)

Abstract

This paper explores the issue of an ethnic group involved in the organization. Celebrating various festivals within the team is an important tool for both promoting engagement and maintaining social relations. The aim is to reveal the celebrations celebrated by co-workers as uniting and dividing different ethnic groups. In order to achieve this aim, the paper addresses the following objectives: describe the field of research; discuss the ethnic distinctiveness of the celebration of personal and official holidays; analyze the preconditions for the formation of distinctiveness between holidays celebrated by members of the same confession and citizenship. Analyzing which holidays were celebrated with co-workers in mixed collectives or in collectives dominated by non-Lithuanian ethnic group employees, it was found that among the official, confessional festivities, Poles did not celebrate Shrovetide (Užgavėnės) and Midsummer Day (St John’s Day), unless there was an employee in the team with the name of Jonas or Janina. Poles avoid celebrating Užgavėnės and Midsummer Day (St Jonas’s Day) because they see them as Lithuanian and unrelated to church rituals. The celebration of modern national festivals with political content has also differed between ethnic groups. Soviet state-building holidays, such as 9 May and 23 February, remained more popular among Russians and Poles in the workplace, while state and independence restoration days (16 February and 11 March) were more popular among Lithuanians. The study found that personal and modern public holidays (except those with political content) are best suited to facilitate the integration of ethnic groups in the organization. Mutual tolerance is fostered by ethnic groups sharing distinctive meals at their festivals.