Society and Lifestyles: Towards Enhancing of Social Harmonization through Knowledge of Subcultural Communities The project aims to extend

d knowledge about values and religions in Europe by investigating communities representing various values and religious beliefs in Eastern European countries; to enhance the integration of communities with different values and religions into the life of the society-at-large based on harmonious coexistence of individuals and sub-groups. The area of research is Eastern Europe because the cultural heritage after a half-a-century of the Communist rule is sharply different from the cultural heritage of Western countries. There has not been any systematic, comparative research on values and religions in this region to date.

SAL research fields

Main research objectives

To analyze:
how do groups arise, function, and disappear. processes leading to the division of Eastern European society into individual social groups with different identities

challenges to the society through creation of individual values, beliefs, world-views and cultural identities

historical perspective of the emergence of resistant communities in Eastern Europe during the Soviet period

modifications of religious and cultural traditions caused by the influence of Western culture

main social power stimulating the ris of new resistant groups in the regio (power = ability, authority and constraint)

Specific objectives

Description of community members behaviour

Search for cultural identities including values, beliefs, rituals, norms of behavior etc. Perception of individual identity Meanings attached to the values that constitute identity Impact of subcultural values on individual idebtities The role of symbols (including ethnic ones) used by members of subcultural groups and transformations of their meanings that occur

Identifying community environment

Communication with other groups: close contacts and rejections Expressions of tolerance and intolerance in different communities Solidarity and opposition to ethnic/religious minorities and other minority cultures Elements of nationalism in neo-religious and other groups

Prevailing attitudes towards different communities in society (media, family, work and school). (From the standpoint of group members)

Methods
This project will use an interdisciplinary approach, based on the methodology of cultural/social/political/linguistic anthropology and sociology. It will be implemented through fieldwork emphasis on in-depth integration of researchers into the community with the purpose of revealing the meanings of the life-world and the principles for its formation in groups under analysis, with the aim of understanding the meanings (including origins) of values and religions, which arise in various communities and later spread into the societyat-large. The research methodology includes the development of an electronic archive system for analysis and systematisation of qualitative data. The originality of the project is field verification, which will be performed on an experimental basis in Kaunas (Lithuania). It is focused on the establishment of a sociocultural environment for communication between groups, researchers and members of the society at large. The centre will provide appropriate archives, assembly, studio and other space.

Expected results in theory

Identifying processes leading to the division of the society into individual subgroups with different identities

Policy relevance of the project

Modeling of mycrodynamics of society Revising of the theory of subculture Individual research discourses based on general objectives of the project

These investigations will provide EU politicians with information about resistance groups and movements in Eastern Europe. Thus, the problems they bring with them can be better understood.. The recommendations generated by the research are expected to be applicable at different levels, ranging from individuals to institutions of different function and at various scales: leisure, work places, educationa institutions, mass media as well as governmental institutions such as ministries. The recommendations will be formulated regarding to the needs and rights of individuals of varied identities, genders, cultures and values. The project aims to enhance tolerance and facilitate joint efforts between diverse social groups with regard to factors, such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion and cultural tastes. Further, it expects to initiate discussion about arising social problems. Mutual understanding will facilitate the integration of the new countries into the social and cultural sphere of the EU while simultaneously preserving their authenticity.