Symbolic universes between present and future of Europe. First results of the map of European societies' cultural milieu

PLoS ONE 13 (1) (2018)
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Abstract

This paper reports the framework, method and main findings of an analysis of cultural milieus in 4 European countries. The analysis is based on a questionnaire applied to a sample built through a two-step procedure of post-hoc random selection from a broader dataset based on an online survey. Responses to the questionnaire were subjected to multidimensional analysis-a combination of Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis. We identified 5 symbolic universes, that correspond to basic, embodied, affect-laden, generalized worldviews. People in this study see the world as either a) an ordered universe;b) a matter of interpersonal bond;c) a caring society;d) consisting of a niche of belongingness;e) a hostile place. These symbolic universes were also interpreted as semiotic capital: they reflect the capacity of a place to foster social and civic development. Moreover, the distribution of the symbolic universes, and therefore social and civic engagement, is demonstrated to be variable across the 4 countries in the analysis. Finally, we develop a retrospective reconstruction of the distribution of symbolic universes as well as the interplay between their current state and past, present and future socio-institutional scenarios.

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Author Profiles

Fiorella Battaglia
University of Salento
Giuseppe Veltri
Universität Hamburg

References found in this work

The measurement of meaning.Charles Egerton Osgood - 1957 - Urbana,: University of Illinois Press. Edited by Donald C. Hildum.
Before the consummation what? On the role of the semiotic economy of seduction.George Rossolatos - 2016 - Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies 30 (4):451-465.

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