National Identity of the Czechs in Croatia in the Time of Globalization

The aim of this paper is to point out the importance of national identity in the time of globalization on the example of the Czech minority in Croatia. Although national identity is often seen as a potential source of xenophobia and conflict, the Czech minority in Croatia is a model example of a functional coexistence and co-operation of more nationalities within a single state without full assimilation on the one hand or ethnic conflicts on the other. Czech schools and their teachers have an important role to play in preserving Czech identity in Croatia. That is why we focused our attention on how they perceive their role in the preservation of Czech national identity in the next generation as well. Through in-depth interviews with twelve educators, by open encoding and categorization, we identified the core category we called responsibility towards the minority. The results show that teachers perceive their profession in a wider context as important for the Czech minority for several reasons: 1) disseminate knowledge of the Czech language, 2) participate in the cultural life of the minority and encourage the involvement of children, 3) encourage children to pride and love for Czech origin. The key finding is that teachers and schools are open to all nationalities. What might appear to be an obstacle seems to be beneficial in terms of assimilation, because the Czech language and culture is also interested in other nationalities, and globalization itself in this case contributes to the preservation of national identity.