Issue 3, Vol. 101 (2014)

In this paper I would like to present some problem of tradition in the context of globalization and politics. In the vocabulary of studies on the society and culture, the words ‘tradition’ and ‘traditional’ belong to the most commonly used terms. Today, the current globalization processes have significantly transformed its meaning. On one hand, the tradition ceased to be a way of life or a system of social values, an issue generally failed to be brought to attention, but rather became a became specific field of symbolic battles, an object of pride and adoration, an element national and ethnic politics, interesting economic strategies and the part of popular culture. On the other hand, phenomena and processes such as "invented tradition", "conscious culture" and "heritage work" become more and more evident. The article not only discusses the debate around the evolving understanding of the tradition, but also provides some an examples of its new functioning: New Guinean kela memb ritual, laced g-string from southern Poland, London's royal wedding and dance houses movement from Hungary and Poland.

Zpráva o 35. ročníku American Indian Workshopu, největší evropské konference týkající se severoamerických indiánů. Proběhla ve dnech 21. – 25. 5. 2014 v Leidenu, pod záštitou Universiteit Leiden (Leiden University Centre for Linguistics - LUCL) a Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde (Národního muzea etnologie). Tématem konference byla komunikace.