Croats in Brazil: migration, identities, status and global impact

Brazil represents a relatively unexplored area, especially in the context of Croatian emigration, which indicates the need for systematic scientific research. The complexity of the issue, which includes unclear origins, perception of identity, and specific migration circumstances, requires the application of a mixed methodological approach. The combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses will enable a more thorough understanding of the historical, but also other social and cultural processes that shape the position of Brazilian Croats in the broader context of migration movements. Project activities are aimed at forming an interdisciplinary team in order to enable a comprehensive analysis of the collected data and material, thereby supplementing previous knowledge about the position of Croats in Brazil. The interdisciplinary project team will conduct field research with the aim of determining selected socio-demographic characteristics, such as gender, age, employment status, achieved level of education and assessment of one’s own standard of living, and analyzing differences in attitudes towards selected indicators. The research will enable the detection of the interests and expectations of the Croatian community in Brazil in the areas of culture, society, and economy. It will also examine the level of knowledge and preservation of the Croatian language, as well as the interest in learning it. The connection with the homeland will be established and the extent to which cultural, educational, scientific and economic cooperation between Croatia and the Croatian community in Brazil is encouraged. In the context of increasingly intensive integration and globalization processes, the mechanisms for preserving Croatian national consciousness within the Croatian community will be explored, taking into account the cultural, linguistic and identity challenges faced by members of the Croatian community in Brazil. Lifestyle migrations will be analyzed through the prism of the discourse of success and belonging and the Croatian community in Brazil will be mapped. The results and conclusions of the research should improve the cooperation of the Croatian community, as a national collectivity, with institutions in Croatia and Brazil. Project team members: Rebeka Mesarić Žabčić, Željko Holjevac, Krešimir Ivanda, and Milan Puh.