Laura Šakaja

A SANCTUARY IN POST‐CONFLICT SPACE: THE BAPTIST CHURCH AS A ‘MIDDLE OPTION’ IN BANOVINA, CROATIA

Abstract. One of the observable aspects of social change during the transition period in most post‐socialist countries is the revival of religion. The resurgence of churches has accompanied national revival and in some countries it is also connected to a growing post‐socialist nationalism. This article focuses on the development of different –‘transnational’– religious options in an area of ethnic conflict by presenting a case study of the post‐war growth of the Baptist Church in the Banovina region in Croatia, close to the Bosnian border. Research results are based on halfstructured interviews with church representatives and members. The research shows that there has been a considerable post‐war expansion of the Baptist Church in the Banovina region, and that it is mainly ethnic Serbs and people from mixed marriages who have joined the Church. Many of them have a background as communists. For them, neither the Catholic Church, which is regarded as a Croatian church, nor the Serbian Orthodox Church are viable religious options. Instead, there are three factors that make the ‘Baptist option’ attractive. First, it is grounded in the historical tradition of the Baptist Church in this region and on memories and myths activated in the war and post‐war periods. Second, the Baptist Church has made a middle transnational option available in an ethnically mixed area. As such it attracts those who are searching for a niche of neutrality in an ethnically strongly divided region characterized by conflict. Third, the considerable humanitarian work and help of organizations related to the Baptist Church during and after the war not only added in the eyes of many people in need to its image elements of existential shelter, but also brought the Church out of the shadows and made it more ‘visible’– thereby improving its former reputation as an obscure sect.

Other(ing), self(portraying), negotiating: The spatial codification of values in Zagreb’s city-text

One of the essential characteristics of the post-socialist transition is rethinking history and negotiating its meanings. As the capital of the newly independent state of Croatia, Zagreb communicated and mediated a dynamic process of national identity building, closely linked to the politics of heritage. The article explores the role of statuary and street toponymy in post-socialist identity building in the Croatian capital. The removal/installation of public plaques and statuary as well as the renaming of streets and squares in postsocialist Zagreb was a revealing indicator and an instrument in the post-socialist (re)writing/(re)signifying of space. These political acts have disclosed the ‘Other’, in relation to whom the construction of post-socialist Croatian identity was developed. The article argues that symbolic rewriting of Zagreb’s city-text was organized and shaped primarily by discursive practices of Othering and Selfreferencing, as systematic acts of articulation in the frame of the politics of landscape. The transition process was accompanied by semantic displacements in the landscape which occured in three ways: by a) relocation of certain streets and monuments from central to more peripheral zones, or vice versa, b) resemiotization of memorials, and c) ‘secondary sacralization’, or resemiotization of places.

Spatial Aspects of Social Distance Towards the Roma

Cilj ovoga rada jest povezivanje socijalne distance s fizickom, odnosno pokusaj da se odgovori na pitanje ovisi li stupanj (ne)prihvacanja Roma o njihovoj prostornoj udaljenosti/ blizini. Istraživanje je provedeno u Međimurju, regiji gdje su Romi najzastupljenija manjinska zajednica. Dobiveni rezultati pokazuju da se u uvjetima male fizicke međusobne distance, koja osigurava cesci međuetnicki kontakt, blizina Roma cak smanjuje stupanj prihvacanja socijalnih odnosa s njima. Istraživanje je ukljucilo i mjerenje socijalne distance Roma Bajasa prema određenim drugim etnickim skupinama. Rezultati pokazuju visoki stupanj spremnosti Bajasa na socijalne kontakte s Hrvatima, ali istovremeno i izrazito visoku socijalnu distancu prema svim drugim ponuđenim etnickim skupinama, ukljucujuci Lacatare –pripadnike drugih romskih skupina. Kako u uzorku vecinskog stanovnistva tako i u uzorku Roma može se zapaziti veca razina spremnosti na prijateljske nego na susjedske odnose. Ta inverzija na Bogardusovoj skali socijalnih odnosa, kada se prostorni javni kontakt prihvaca teže nego intimniji i osobniji kontakt, nesumnjivo cini izglednim održavanje visokog stupnja prostorne segregacije Roma.

The non-visual image of the city: how blind and visually impaired white cane users conceptualize urban space

ABSTRACT Using the methodology of in-depth interviews, this article explores how blind and visually impaired white cane users conceptualize urban space. The study presented in the article showed that the city is conceived, even without visual mechanisms, through landmarks, paths, edges, nodes and districts, i.e. the types of elements in the city image defined by Kevin Lynch. However, spatial representations of blind people are produced on the basis of spatial experience that is proximal and not distal, as was the case with Lynch. The article discusses elements of the non-visual image of the city that are constructed through direct touch and white cane use. Drawing on Lefebvre’s stance on the interconnectedness of the body, practice and representational spaces, the author argues that the white cane is not just an aid that facilitates the mobility of blind people and helps to navigate in the urban space. As part of the ‘practico-sensory totality’ of the body, it also influences the ways in which the city is experienced and conceived.

Experiencing a Place: Karlovac as an Older Teenagers’ Daily Environment

Spatial planners, when creating plans to develop towns, often build into them their desires and visions, or the wishes and visions of their clients. In these processes the interests of many groups in the local population remain neglected. Successful planning of community development presumes an understanding of place experiences and place use by different groups in the local community. Our study dealt with the daily environment of older teenagers – a group whose practices and needs are generally neglected in urban planning processes. The complexity of the research task required mixing quantitative and qualitative methods. The research was conducted among 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders in secondary schools in Karlovac. The questionnaire included structured and open-ended questions, about important landmarks, frequently used, preferred and avoided places. After administering the questionnaire, we worked with two focus groups. The study investigated how teenagers perceive and value their city and expressed their need for better representation of young people in city decision-making.