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95
Erik BREZOVEC
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Croatian Studies, Croatia
Josip JEÆOVITA
Catholic University of Croatia, Croatia
Ivan PERKOV
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Croatian Studies, Croatia
SOCIAL COHESION IN THE CROATIAN
ADRIATIC: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
OF THE DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL
COHESION IN ISTRIA AND DALMATIA
Abstract
There are multiple definitions of social cohesion, both scientific and political. Thus, the
concept of social cohesion lacks a succinct and coherent definition and remains subject to
different interpretations: such as political, which defines it as a term aimed at tackling social
inequality, but primarily in economic terms (tackling poverty, unemployment ...). From a
sociological point of view, social cohesion can be reduced to three basic dimensions:
solidarity of society members, trust in the institutions of the society, and the general
sociability of its members. The main objective of the paper is to comparatively analyze the
degree of social cohesion in the counties of the Croatian Adriatic. The analysis will be carried
out through the use of secondary data collected in the European Value Study 2018 project.
For the purposes of this paper, questions directly related to the theoretical determinants of
social cohesion are used. Special emphasis is placed on analyzing and interpreting the
differences between the counties of the Croatian Adriatic in terms of solidarity/trust/sociability
with respect to some socio-demographic characteristics (salaries, employment, age,
traditional/modern attitude) of the respondents, and the data obtained are critically interpreted
and contextualized.
Keywords:
social cohesion, Croatian Adriatic, European values study, solidarity, trust,
sociability
This paper deals with the concept of social cohesion in counties on the Croatian Adri-
atic coast. The main goal of the paper was to investigate the plurality of the dimen-
sions of social cohesion and to comparatively analyze Adriatic counties in terms of the
degree of social cohesion. The Croatian part of the Adriatic is historically and cultural-
ly rich and belongs to the Mediterranean cultural circle. Culture and society have been
developing in this area since ancient times. In this area, the influences of different cul-
tures changed, they were adopted by the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires and
Napoleon’s France, to name a few. Different areas of the Croatian Adriatic were part of
Mediterranean — Impressions, Concepts, Stories
96
different countries and empires during certain phases of history. This cultural and his-
torical diversity prompted us to explore whether there are differences in the levels of
social cohesion in these areas that are conditioned by this diversity.
Social cohesion is a dynamic phenomenon which is not universal for all societies.
Social cohesion is constantly in a state of formation. There are political and other def-
initions of social cohesion, but in this paper it is perceived as a primarily sociological
concept. Sociologically, social cohesion consists of three basic categories: social soli-
darity; trust; and sociability. Each of these categories is operationalized in this study.
The data analyzed in this study comes from the survey European Values Study
2018 — the largest study of this sort in Europe. For the purpose of this paper, the fol-
lowing counties were analyzed: Dubrovnik County; Istria County; Primorje-Gorski Ko-
tar County; Split-Dalmatia County; ©ibenik-Knin County; and Zadar County. The total
number of respondents from the selected counties was 504. The three previously de-
scribed operationalized variables are considered quantitative variables and, according-
ly, appropriate statistical tests were used to answer the research aim.
This paper consists of three parts (1) a theoretical framework in which the key
concepts are defined, (2) a methodological part that explains the complexity of the
study and (3) the findings and interpretations of the statistics that indicate certain dif-
ferences in the level of social cohesion in the observed counties. The observed differ-
ences are the result of statistical analyzes that are presented graphically in the paper
and are interpreted in the discussion and the concluding part of the paper.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The Mediterranean itself is a culturally diverse and heterogeneous region. The basic
theoretical presumption of our paper is that the conditions of social cohesion have al-
so been plural and dependent on the social context and figurations developed over
time. It was Elias (1996) who introduced the term of figuration in Sociology. In this
term, Elias pointed out that society in not only a structured meta concept but also a
complex set of interrelations between individuals who (each by and for themselves) or-
ganize their lives. But these interrelations are making these individuals highly depend-
ent on each other and with it, this interdependence forms the processes and dynamic
of society. Thus, figuration as a term incorporates the social context and is not pro-
duced by the higher power of society itself. It is not only structurally intentional (be-
ing able to observe and interpret history as a set of causal and planned actions) but it
is also a process that is dependent on interaction which is highly unpredictable, which
holds some sort of meaning (collective and individual). Figuration, interdependence
and interrelations of individuals (inside the configured social values and norms) shapes
the basic dimensions of social experience.
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E. Brezovac, J. Jeæovita, I. Perkov:
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Nevertheless, the basic precondition to have social experiences is that a social di-
mension exists. The social dimension of actions can be described as a field in which
actions hold meaning not only for the individual but to others who are part of the in-
teraction. Thus, the basic condition for cohesive social interaction is the degree by
which individuals can enter it “peacefully”, the degree in which they can suppress their
selfish wants and needs in favor of compromise, in that sense, being part of a society
with social cohesion. To conclude, it is important to point out the argument that the
Mediterranean with its diverse figuration processes has a different setting in relation to
social cohesion.
The term social cohesion itself has often been debated in the field of Sociology
and it is a polemical term. Some authors have gone as far as calling it a meta concept
(Bernard, 1999) without actual empirical use. The pluralism of meaning did not help in
the quest of detecting the actual scope of the term but it is helpful to consider the term
of social cohesion with reference to its two etiological roots. The first one is connect-
ed to the political connotation and use of the concept of social cohesion in formation
of policy, either of the European union or the United Nations. In that sense, the Euro-
pean Commission defined social cohesion as: An expression of solidarity between EU
member states and regions. The main goal of social cohesion is balanced socio-eco-
nomic development in the EU (EU Commission, 1996). From a political perspective,
when constructing a term, it is not important to construct the precise terminology as
the concept itself is (debatably) ideological in its basis. The only category mentioned
in the document which could have implication in the empirical sense is solidarity —
but in policy format it is also vaguely defined. With the already proposed problem,
there is also a close relation with the economic basis of society. In the political sense,
the roots of social cohesion are grounded in the economical predispositions of devel-
opment which can be, but does not have to be, a dominant factor of the formation of
a cohesive society (case in favor of this argumentation are Mediterranean communities
which had their share of poverty and economic regression throughout history but man-
aged to preserve the social cohesion of their community).
Although the political definition and policy aspect of social cohesion have popu-
larized the term itself, it had little or even no use in the scientific sense. That would be
especially problematic for Sociology, as social cohesion and the question as to why
people interact and integrate into society are key concepts in understanding and ex-
plaining society. Because of that, more precise terminology regarding social cohesion
had to be developed over time (to give this meta concept some empirical and scientif-
ic value). But as there has been an increase in scientific interest regarding social cohe-
sion, pluralism of definitions has become one of the major challenges (Beauvais & Jen-
son, 2002). As the plurality of the term did make things more confusing, it also opened
a chance to find (within all the definitions) similarities and connections.
Mediterranean — Impressions, Concepts, Stories
98
Putting the term of social cohesion together (in the sense of connecting all theo-
retical, paradigmatic viewpoints) it is possible to assert that social cohesion is a degree
of individual participation in social life (Muntaner & Lynch, 1999). There are two main
concepts that should be marked by this definition: (1) that social cohesion can be ex-
pressed only as a degree, not as a concept that is evident or not in some societies and
(2) that social cohesion is something that is happening inside the society — inside the
interaction of everyday life itself. The macro structural factors such as economy can
have an influence on it but it does not determine social cohesion itself. To conclude,
it is important to add that social cohesion cannot be explained fully with a degree of
poverty, degree of unemployment or even political instability. Social cohesion needs to
be investigated throughout social dimensions, by using sociological terminology and
tools. But which dimensions of social life should be addressed by that term? This ques-
tion can be answered with the help of the study by Dragolov and his team (2016). They
did a mapping and factor analysis of the commonly used dimensions regarding the me-
ta-concept of social cohesion.
The first dimension they extracted was social relations. In the network of socie-
ty, social relations are often empirically expressed by the degree of trust. It is trust that
makes social relations and social networks “cohesional” (Dragolov et al., 2016). But to
conceptualize trust in the empirical sense, it is important to consider the macro and
micro expression of trust itself. The macro expression of trust can be understood as
having trust in social institutions (like church, military, parliament…). It is, in some
way, an expression of individual legitimization of the structures that are present in an
individual’s everyday life. Micro expression of trust, on the other side, is trust toward
participants of social interaction. This type of trust is focused more on the people in
close contact with the individual. Who can they trust in their everyday life and to
which degree (for example; friends, people who are known, people who are un-
known to the individual, neighbors). Within this paper, the discussion of the structur-
al figuration of the Mediterranean, is restricted to analyses of the macro expression of
trust.
The next dimension of social cohesion is social interconnectedness. In other
words, it is the dimension which shows how much some individuals are connected
with society itself. What is the individual’s degree of sociability: How much and how
often is he or she taking part in social interaction (exchange of meaning)? (Dragolov et
al., 2016). The last dimension which could be extracted from the numerous research
studies regarding social cohesion is “focus on the general good”. It is a dimension
which expresses the degree by which an individual internalizes his or her social life
(Dragolov et al., 2016). In other words, it measures how much an individual values his
or her participation in society in general. How much can they internalize the values of
their social world? This dimension can reflect the concept of solidarity as is asserted in
Sociology
11
. Thus, in the conceptualization of the research regarding social cohesion,
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E. Brezovac, J. Jeæovita, I. Perkov:
Social cohesion in the Croatian Adriatic...
three dimensions can be discussed that can express its degree. These are dimensions
which have been already conceptualized each by themselves, which are standardized
in the sociological research: solidarity, sociability and trust (Brezovec, 2021).
This theoretical background of social cohesion provides a clearer picture of the
epistemological but also conceptual usefulness of the term. It was evident from the dis-
cussion presented thus far that social cohesion is a degree of three dimensions of so-
cial life and interaction of an individual. These concepts have been reflected in the aims
of this study. The main research aim has been to investigate the plurality of social co-
hesion in the Mediterranean. The main hypothesis is presumed throughout the theoret-
ical viewpoint of social cohesion as a dynamic phenomenon which is not universal for
all of societies. Social cohesion is constantly in a state of formation. Figuration process-
es are forming a different ratio between the mentioned dimensions. It is important to
add that, within this paper, causalities of this ratio differentiation are not included. This
study has been guided by the goal — to investigate whether societies that are located
relatively close to each other form different degrees and aspects of social cohesion as
different contexts have made the figuration process possible. It is noted that the main
historical background processes which were responsible for the development of social
cohesion in Mediterranean are mapped. The goal has been to empirically show that so-
cial cohesion (three dimensions of it) is unique for each and every micro community
(because of the process of figuration) and with it to get the background for more pre-
cise research. In other words, our study focuses on the specific dimensions of social
cohesion that differentiate across the Mediterranean and by doing so, provide a clear-
er starting point for research that is using alternative approaches (for example; histori-
cal analysis, qualitative methodology…).
METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH AIM
For this paper, an analysis was made with the main aim to examine the differences be-
tween the six Mediterranean counties in the Republic of Croatia in terms of the degree
of social cohesion in these counties. The used data came from a survey called the Eu-
ropean Values Study 2018 (EVS)
22
. It is a survey that has been conducted continuously
in Europe since 1981, and in which the Republic of Croatia has been participating since
year 1999. Year 2018 was the fifth wave of this research (the third wave for the Repub-
lic of Croatia). The observed population in the study was composed of all people re-
11
In the sociological sense, social solidarity is a key concept for the self preserving capacity of
the social world (Durkheim, 1972). In other words, to acknowledge our own place in society,
to hold meaning toward the meta concept of society is to give the legitimization for that same
society — to know that I am part of some society means that I acknowledge that this society
truly is a ‘society’ in the full meaning of the word.
22
Evswebpage. (2019). Croatia. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://europeanvaluesstudy.
eu/category/dissemination/croatia/
Mediterranean — Impressions, Concepts, Stories
100
siding in the Republic of Croatia that were over the age of 18. Based on the applica-
tion of a multi-stage sample, a total of 1488 respondents were surveyed. A question-
naire that contained 111 questions was used, among which were the questions used
for the purposes of this article. By selecting 6 Mediterranean counties out of 21 Croa-
tian counties, the number of respondents in this analysis dropped from 1488 to 504.
For the purposes of this paper, the following counties were analyzed: Dubrovnik Coun-
ty; Istria County; Primorje-Gorski Kotar County; Split-Dalmatia County; ©ibenik-Knin
County; and Zadar County.
The concept of social cohesion studied in this paper is operationalized through
three sub-concepts: social solidarity; trust; and sociability. Data for all three sub-con-
cepts was obtained using selected variables from the EVS survey. On the concept of
social solidarity, the data was obtained using two questions that examined the respond-
ent’s level of concern about two groups of people. The first question was related to the
respondent’s concerns for people in relation to their place of living (concern about
neighbors; people in own region; fellow countrymen; Europeans; and humankind).
The second question was related to respondent’s concerns about various vulner-
able social groups: elderly people; unemployed people; immigrants; sick; and the dis-
abled. Respondent’s concerns were examined using a 5-point Likert scale. The answers
were summed to give a new variable representing the concept of social solidarity. For
example, if one respondent answered the first statement with a grade of 5 and the sec-
ond with a grade of 3, he received 8 points based on those answers. The higher the
number of points scored by the respondents, the higher the level of their social soli-
darity.
As with the concept of social solidarity, the same procedure of variable operation-
alization was done for the concept of trust. Namely, for the operationalization of this
term, the authors used the results obtained from the question about the level of trust
that someone has towards certain institutions in the Republic of Croatia. Respondents
were able to present their attitudes towards a total of 18 institutions (e.g., armed for-
ces, education system, media, environmental organizations, etc.). Attitudes were exam-
ined using a 4-point Likert scale. As with the previous term, for this term, the respond-
ent’s answers were also summed up to get a single variable that represents the concept
of trust. The higher the level of trust that the respondent had in one of the institutions,
the more points he received. It is important to note here that the level of trust in the
institutions can also be connected with the level of civic engagement and thus with the
level of cohesion. Perkov (2019) states that “in order to participate in decision-making
processes, citizens need to be informed and educated about specific problems. Most
importantly, citizens need to be motivated to engage in these processes, and they can
only be motivated if they think their role can make any difference.”
Finally, the third concept that needed to be operationalized for the purposes of
this article can be described as the ‘level of sociability’ of the respondents. To achieve
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E. Brezovac, J. Jeæovita, I. Perkov:
Social cohesion in the Croatian Adriatic...
this, the authors used an EVS survey question in which the affiliation of the respon-
dents to one of the 11 organizations or institutions was examined (e.g., religious insti-
tutions, political parties, humanitarian organizations, consumer organizations, etc.). The
variables used in the mentioned question were of the dichotomous type (yes/no), so
for the operationalization of the new variable, the number of affirmative answers each
respondent had were summed up. An individual respondent could achieve a maximum
of 11 points, and the higher the number, the more sociable the respondent was con-
sidered.
The three previously described operationalized variables are considered quantita-
tive variables and, accordingly, appropriate statistical tests were used to answer the re-
search aim. Namely, to find out whether there is a statistically significant difference be-
tween the observed counties in terms of social solidarity, trust, and sociability among
their residents, it was originally planned to use analysis of variance (ANOVA). Howe-
ver, the Shapiro-Wilk test showed that the distribution of data in all three variables was
not normal (sig. <0.05) (Marques de Sá, 2007: 187-189). Based on the presented find-
ings, the authors decided to use the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test (Corder & Fore-
man, 2009. pp. 99-118). Also, in terms of the graphical representations of the results,
the graph from the Kruskal-Wallis test and the box-plot graph were used. All analyzes
were made in SPSS (V25), and all conclusions in the results were made at a significance
level of 5 %.
THE RESULTS
Level of Social Solidarity
The first results are related to the issue of social solidarity as one of the indicators for
describing social cohesion. Using the Kruskal-Wallis test, it was shown that there is a
statistically significant difference between individual counties (H (5) = 203.7; p = 0.000).
To find out exactly between which counties there is a difference, the Dunn-Bonferro-
ni post-hoc method was used and a pairwise comparison of counties was made. In Fig-
ure 1, it can be seen that differences were found between the following seven pairs of
counties (continuous lines): Primorje-Gorski Kotar County vs. Dubrovnik County, Za-
dar County, Istria County, ©ibenik-Knin County, and Split-Dalmatia County; also Istria
County vs. Zadar County and Split-Dalmatia County. The values in parentheses in the
figure indicate the mean rank of each county.
Although it was found that there is a statistically significant difference between the
seven pairs of counties in terms of the level of social solidarity in these counties, in the
box-plot graph (chart 1) it can be seen that these differences are not large. In the mid-
dle of each box-plot graph is a horizontal line representing the median values of indi-
vidual counties. Dubrovnik County has the highest median value (Me = 30), which
means that compared to other counties, the residents of that county have the relative-
ly highest level of social solidarity, but as mentioned above, these differences are rel-
Mediterranean — Impressions, Concepts, Stories
102
atively small in practical terms. Also, visible in the third box-plot (Primorje-Gorski Ko-
tar County) is that for this county there is an outlier in the data about the social soli-
darity of its inhabitants, and that outlier deviates greatly compared to all other results.
This observation is important because it influenced the fact that this county has the
lowest mean rank value (MR = 206.3) compared to other counties.
Trust Level
In the previous section, the level of social solidarity among the inhabitants of individ-
ual counties was observed and it was compared whether there is a difference between
these counties. This chapter will present the results for the following indicator that can
be used to describe social cohesion and that is the level of trust in people. Using the
FFiigguurree 11— Counties Between Which Statistically Significant Differences
Were Found in Terms of The Level of Social Solidarity Among Their Inhabitants.
GGrraapphh 11— Box-plot graphs by counties for the variable social solidarity.
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E. Brezovac, J. Jeæovita, I. Perkov:
Social cohesion in the Croatian Adriatic...
Kruskal-Wallis test, it was shown that there is a statistically significant difference be-
tween individual counties (H (5) = 145.0; p = 0.000). As in the previous section, the
Dunn-Bonferroni post-hoc method was further used to make a pairwise comparison of
counties with the aim of discovering exactly between which counties there is a differ-
ence. In Figure 2, it can be seen that differences were found between the following
five pairs of counties (continuous lines): Primorje-Gorski Kotar County vs. Zadar Coun-
ty, Dubrovnik County, Istria County, Split-Dalmatia County and ©ibenik-Knin County.
The values in parentheses in Figure 2 indicate the mean rank of each county. As with
social solidarity, the lowest mean rank value for trust was found in Primorje-Gorski Ko-
tar County (MR = 234.8) compared with other counties.
FFiigguurree 22— Counties Between Which Statistically Significant Differences
Were Found in Terms of The Level of Trust Among Their Inhabitants.
GGrraapphh 22— Box-Plot Graphs by Counties for the Variable Level of Trust.
Mediterranean — Impressions, Concepts, Stories
104
As in the previous chapter, it is again possible to observe the differences between
counties in relation to the median values for the level of trust of the inhabitants in those
counties. In the box-plot graph (Chart 2) it can again be seen that these differences are
not large. This time, ©ibenik-Knin County and Zadar County had the highest median
values (Me = 35 for both counties), which means that in these counties their residents
had the highest level of trust towards state and private institutions, compared to other
counties. However, it should be emphasized that from a practical point of view, the
differences between counties are still relatively small. Also, as with the level of social
solidarity, for the level of trust it was identified that Primorje-Gorski Kotar County has
the lowest mean rank value due to the presence of outliers that deviate greatly from
all other results.
FFiigguurree 33— Counties Between Which Statistically Significant Differences
Were Found in Terms of The Level of Sociability Among Their Inhabitants.
GGrraapphh 33— Box-Plot Graphs by Counties for the Variable Level of Sociability.
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E. Brezovac, J. Jeæovita, I. Perkov:
Social cohesion in the Croatian Adriatic...
Level of Sociability
The Results section will present the findings for the last indicator that can be used to
describe social cohesion, and that is the level of sociability in people. Using the Krus-
kal-Wallis test, a conclusion was reached that there is a statistically significant differ-
ence between individual counties (H (5) = 26.8; p = 0.000). As in previous analyzes,
the Dunn-Bonferroni post-hoc method was further used with the aim of a pairwise
comparison of counties to identify between which of them there is a significant differ-
ence. In Figure 3, it can be seen that differences were found between the smallest num-
ber of pairs of counties so far, that is, between three of them (continuous lines): Pri-
morje-Gorski Kotar County vs. Split-Dalmatia County, Istria County, and ©ibenik-Knin
County. As with the previous indicators, the lowest mean rank value (MR = 364.9) was
found for Primorje-Gorski Kotar County compared to other counties.
Finally, it is possible to present box-plot graphs (Chart 3) in order to see what the
median values of the counties are in relation to the ‘level of sociability’ of their inhab-
itants. It can be seen that all counties have the same median value (Me = 1), but this
should not be surprising considering that this indicator is constructed on the basis of
dichotomous variables. Regardless, variability of the data expressed for each county
can be considered as an interesting result for this part. It can be seen that the data for
Split-Dalmatia County is within the interquartile range, which means that no extreme
values were found that would indicate emphasized differences between individuals in
the level of their sociability, that is, it can be concluded that respondents in that coun-
ty were a homogeneous group. For all other counties, it is evident that the data varia-
bility is not so homogenous and that for some counties there are outliers on the right
side of the box, which indicates that in these counties there were individuals with a
very high level of sociability, compared to the rest of group.
Discussion
The presented results can show us a different degree of the three dimensions of social
cohesion regarding Mediterranean counties. Based on the results, we could confirm our
theoretical presumption of significance of figurations and the social context in defining
the ways that social cohesion is expressed. This could be explained with the two main
theoretical backgrounds. One is socio-historical. This viewpoint can interpret the results
macro-sociologically. From this viewpoint it is possible to assert that despite the polit-
ical and cultural differences throughout time, there has been one similar collective
identification across these counties. For example, no matter if the area has been under
the government of Hungary, Austria, Venice, Croatia; identity of Dalmatian or later Cro-
at, it has remained as a factor that connected politically divided territory. This similari-
ty has had an influence for the relatively close ratio of social cohesion dimensions.
Mediterranean — Impressions, Concepts, Stories
106
The second theoretical explanation of the results focuses more on the micro lev-
el of the foundation of social cohesion. Differences in social cohesion will always ex-
ist as long as there is social interaction and “space of the life-world”
33
, however these
differences will vary regarding the degree of reflection toward societal structures of a
larger area of meaning-formation (nation state, macro dimensional forms of collective
knowledge). For example, it is known how some things are done, but those things are
manipulated and adapted by the individual who enters social action and interaction (so
he or she could easier achieve their goals). This goes along with De Certeau’s concepts
of strategy and tactic. While strategy is macro-conceptual, something that is given to us
by the structures of society, tactic is purely ours. Tactic is something that we do with
strategy, manipulating it to our own advantage (De Certeau, 2003). But by doing this,
the rules of interaction are slightly modified and with it, the rules of social cohesion.
Thus, social cohesion in the larger viewpoint is different in its own dimensions (on
Mediterranean), but on closer examination, these dimensions are just the ways that so-
cial actors are adapting larger structures in their own lives. Differences were evident
but those differences are just interactional figurations of the given, macro-structural
components of social life. This explanation follows the concept of figurations by Norb-
ert Elias, mentioned at the beginning of this paper. Figurations are random, sometimes
planned but realized differently. Figurations do not follow the rules of structures alone,
but the rules of social interaction as well.
In the two mentioned possible explanations of the results, the stance has been or-
ganized according to the second, microstructural, figurational approach. It is everyday
life that makes differences in social cohesion, which makes it dynamical. Everyday life
in the six counties examined is similar, the economy is mostly based on the tourism
and service industry, the cultural background that has an impact on everyday life is al-
so similar. The results are showing that social life; the life-world is fully operational
across the Mediterranean. Everyday life is not passive, but an active co-creator of so-
cial reality.
But even with these presumptions, research of differences in social cohesion can-
not be concluded. It remains an unanswered question how exactly and why is the con-
temporary setting of dimension manifesting itself in that order/ratio in some counties?
To being able to answer this, the very formation of collective meaning inside the indi-
vidual must be discussed. In other words, to conclude the ways social cohesion is form-
ing in specific counties, we have to conduct qualitative, phenomenological research on
the subject of specific dimensions which had the highest degree of difference. Right
33
Life-world as a concept in sociological theory is widely used by authors (Schütz, Habermas,
Berger, Luckmann, Giddens…) that are trying to reflect a dynamic and independance of inter-
action in everyday life from the purely structural pressure. Life-world is a field of interaction in
everyday life with all its knowledge internalized inside the individual (Schütz and Luckmann,
1973).
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Social cohesion in the Croatian Adriatic...
there lies one of the main benefits of this paper. With mentioned theoretical presump-
tions confirmed, it provided the needed data for future research on this subject. In oth-
er words, the mentioned phenomenological research, the meaning analysis (individual
meaning of social): with which dimensions?; in which counties?; and between which
counties? Presented research provided the support for the figurations, but these figura-
tions (in one point in time — a contemporary setting) should be investigating in future
research.
CONCLUSION
This paper approached social cohesion as a sociological phenomenon worthy of anal-
ysis. Social cohesion in this paper is sociologically analyzed through three key catego-
ries, trust, solidarity and sociability. These categories are defined in the theoretical part
and operationalized and explained in the research part of the paper.
The degree of social cohesion, operationalized through trust, solidarity and socia-
bility has a significant impact on quality of life in a society due to the assumption that
people are social beings and want to trust institutions, but also trust their neighbors
and live in solidarity with them. Viewed through this prism, research into the degree
of social cohesion in different parts of the country can also have its social value. The
data for this analysis comes from the largest European transnational survey — The Eu-
ropean Values Study (2018). For the purposes of this paper, the following counties
were analyzed: Dubrovnik County; Istria County; Primorje-Gorski Kotar County; Split-
Dalmatia County; ©ibenik-Knin County; and Zadar County. The total number of respon-
dents in the selected counties is 504.
Statistical analysis indicated the existence of statistically significant differences in
the degree of social cohesion in different counties and thus confirmed the basic hy-
pothesis of the paper. The fact that the observed differences are not large indicates that
everyday life, which is culturally and economically very similar in the observed coun-
ties, also significantly affects the level of trust in institutions, solidarity and sociability.
The paper started from the assumption that the diversity and heterogeneity of his-
torical and cultural forces that influenced the Croatian part of the Adriatic can have an
impact on the different degrees of social cohesion that are present in different Croatian
Adriatic counties today. However, by further theoretical elaboration of the phenome-
non, it could have been pointed out that not only historical and cultural forces drive
the different ratio or values of social cohesion. It is a part of everyday life, as a micro-
sociological concept, to produce, reproduce; construct and deconstruct the elements of
social life (that is social cohesion). The figurations of social cohesion in the Mediterra-
nean that we know today are a result of complex interactional relations throughout his-
tory. Although a larger structural (e.g. political) context contributed to defining social
cohesion, it was the individual that made sense of these structural settings in their life
— defining by it the reality of solidarity, trust or sociability (reality in the sense that
Mediterranean — Impressions, Concepts, Stories
108
those concepts can actually be evident from the observation of some action). But as
much as theoretical elaboration presented in this discussion provided much needed in-
sight, it has also shown us that the method we used in the analysis of differences had
its own limitations. The limitations of our method could be pointed out with the scope
of conclusions that we could provide with the data that was obtained. We could have
identified the differences and different ratios of the dimensions of social cohesion
across the Mediterranean, but we could not have given the scientifically grounded ex-
planation of why these dimensions manifest themselves that way.
Due to this, it is important to add that this paper did not have the ambition of a
definitive interpretation of the observed differences because for such a level of analy-
sis it is necessary to conduct additional, complex qualitative phenomenological re-
search. Nevertheless, the observed differences suggest that the level of social cohesion
depends on many social forces and that it needs to be sociologically studied and re-
searched. In this sense, this paper can serve as a theoretical basis for further research
of the phenomenon and articulation of reliable methodological instruments. A combi-
nation of our results with more focused qualitative approaches could be, at the end,
be a decent basis for public policies that can be adopted with the aim of encouraging
social solidarity and raising the level of sociability and trust in social institutions.
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