Globalization in the context of multiculturalism and ethnicity in the Western Balkans and intercultural communication

• Published date: 01 May 2021
• Author: Sibel Akova,Gökmen Kantar
• Date: 01 May 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2185

ACADEMIC PAPER

Globalization in the context of multiculturalism and ethnicity

in the Western Balkans and intercultural communication

Sibel Akova

1

| Gökmen Kantar

2

1

Faculty of Art and Design, Communication Arts Department, Yalova University, Yalova, Turkey

2

Economics and Administrative Sciences Faculty, Tekirdag Namık Kemal University, Tekirda

g, Turkey

Correspondence

Sibel Akova, Faculty of Art and Design,

Communication Arts Department, Yalova

University, Yalova, Turkey.

Email: sibelakova@gmail.com

The Balkans have historically been referred to by many as a transition region. There

has always been a policy of dissolving (assimilating) one another between the peoples

who settled/placed in the Balkan lands and the existing ones. For this reason, it is

possible to express that an unstable structure prevails in the historical process. How-

ever, Balkan geography, despite its unstable structure, has managed to survive even

in a multicultural structure until today. The Balkan lands are located in an attractive

region where the Asian, European and African continents intersect with the Eastern

Mediterranean. Therefore, the changes taking place on the Balkan geography can also

affect the stability structures of the nearby geographies. In this context, the Balkans,

which have an important geostrategic structure, are a region that has been a fighting

area between many cultures throughout history. Instead of being referred to as a

geographical domain name with its characteristics, the Balkans have taken its place in

the history scene as a political issue. The Balkan Peninsula has a complex ethnic

mosaic, including religion, language, culture and ethnic differences. It is a special

geography that has witnessed identity formations where the worlds of individuals of

different beliefs intersect and at the same time identity separations. The Balkan geog-

raphy was an important place because it was the spark that ignited the fuse, which

was the reason for the emergence of both World Wars. With this aspect, the Balkans,

which are projected to host important developments in the future, are considered to

be the cradle of innovations due to the effect of globalization phenomenon. This is

why Turkey must take into account regional and global power actors while esta-

blishing foreign policy strategies for the Balkans. Throughout history, language, reli-

gion, culture, ethnic pluralism and multiculturalism such as conflict and instability in

the Balkans due to differences together with the end of the Cold War, disputes car-

ried over to generation for centuries, the religion brought by the difference in clashes,

big country remained under the influence of many factors such as ideologies. Tito

Yugoslavia was subjected to the exploitation of the global powers, which came into

competition to become “world dominant”in the international environment through

the influence of the world political cyclical restructuring, which is referred to as glob-

alization. Related abuses and ideologies have also pushed Balkan peoples into con-

flicts and civil wars. The aim of this study is to examine Turkish and Balkan cultures

and explain the concepts of ethnic, intercultural communication and multiculturalism

Received: 5 May 2020 Accepted: 9 May 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2185

J Public Affairs. 2021;21:e2185. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 1of8

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2185