WOMEN AND CULTURAL GHETTO: THE BALKANS PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

This paper explores the status of women- refugees belonging to families who immigrated to Vojvodina from Croatia. We discuss the influence of these women in preserving their cultural model and the possible distance in relation to the native population in Vojvodina. Although both the natives and the newcomers belong to the Serbian majority, there are considerable cultural differences among them. For instance, the women from immigrant families have, on average, lower levels of education and they are more inclined to maintain inter-group cohesion. These women are the transmitters of the traditional behavior/way of thinking but at the same time, they also transmit newly created legends about harmonious and happy way of life in their native land. Processes of globalizations, or multicultural communications, do not have an effect on their view of life, nor do they affect the relationships within their families: this is due to the partially self-imposed segregation of the newcomers, by which the newcomers are able to preserve and replicate their cultural model in a new environment.