ORTHODOXY AND ROMANIAN NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION

The world today heads more and more rapidly towards globalization, towards a world in which identities are seen as a whole that concur for an international equilibrium. Nations are integrated in this process, globalization appearing thus not as something destructive, but as a force which sometimes amplifies specificity. National identity doesn't seem to be threatened, but its report with globalization supposes an interdisciplinary dialogue. In Romania orthodoxy is one of the most defining elements of national identity and, against the international tendency of encouraging tolerance, combating religious discrimination, stimulating interdisciplinary dialogue, it continues to manifest vividly, as a defining Romanian national element. This reality could be tested in an experiment, with the design: 2 lots, one randomized of 320 students, one homogenous of 130 students, of intentionality. Instruments and methods applied were of quantitative and qualitative type: questionnaire, focus-group method, semi-structured interview. The results have shown an increase of the youths' awareness regarding the presence of orthodoxy in their lives as element of national identity; although the general attitude towards globalization and its effects in everyday life is a positive one, we observe a growing tendency towards defending and practicing orthodoxy and awareness regarding its importance in Romanian's national conscience.