Projects / Programmes
Constitution of new national and ethnic identities in the Alps-Adria region with special regard to border areas and the city of Trieste, and to the “community-making” aspects of contemporary media
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.06.00 |
Humanities |
Culturology |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S210 |
Social sciences |
Sociology |
| S220 |
Social sciences |
Cultural anthropology, ethnology |
| S263 |
Social sciences |
Social psychology |
National identity, ethnic identity, new ethnicities, new media, border regions, interculturalism, transculturalism, cross-border cooperation, the Alps-Adria region, Slovenes of Carinthia (Austria), Slovenes of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italy), Trieste
Researchers (5)
Organisations (1)
| no. |
Code |
Research organisation |
City |
Registration number |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
0507 |
Institute for Ethnic Studies |
Ljubljana |
5051517000 |
4,514 |
Abstract
The research project will focus on the varied and variable topicality of contemporary national and ethnic identities. It will be based on the hypothesis that national identity – the same as ethnic identity – even in the time of globalization is a strongly anchored and highly adaptable cultural tie, which might even be gaining strength in reality (as indicated by the EU opinion polls, known as Eurobarometer). With the growing mobility and permeability of borders for the flow of people, goods, services and capital, the awareness is gaining ground that there are “new ethnicities” (St. Hall) emerging everywhere; these identities which are not fixed, hover between different positions, reaching out for different cultural traditions at the same time; they are a result of complex identifications and crossings. Special attention will be given to contemporary media, especially with regard to their “community-making” aspects, along with the tendency, summed up by R. Silverstone in the title of his widely discussed treatise: “Finding a voice: Minorities, media and the global commons”.
Geographically, the project will be focused on the Alps-Adria region with special emphasis on the ethnically mixed territories along the boundary-lines between Austria and Slovenia, and Italy and Slovenia, respectively, including the city of Trieste. Also discussed will be issues, related to »across-border« cooperation and the role of the Alps-Adria region as a “laboratory in which the essence of Europe is being created” (H. Valentin).
The research topic will be studied on theoretically conceived case studies and empirically substantiated theoretic reflections, based on narrative interviews (n=20), ethnodemographic data, identification of the Slovene borderline on the World Wide Web and analyses of media-produced notions of national and ethnic identity. The methodological approaches of the project will be culturologically and transculturologically oriented, including the Bhaba's concept of “Third Space” (which surpasses scientific disciplines) and Hall's model of codification/decodification. The interviews will be structured on the basis of “qualitative conceptual analysis” (Ph. Mayring), and analyzed with methods providing access to conscious as well as subconscious mind. The consultant with the interviews analysis will be the Slovene psychiatrist and psychoanalyst dr. Pavel Fonda from Trieste, one of the leading authorities in the field of psychoanalysts' training and psychoanalysis promotion in Eastern Europe.
To be even more successful in promoting its aims, the project will actively participate in the simultaneous three-year international research project “Multicultural dialogue in different parts of the world: searching for a global paradigm of the preservation of linguistic and cultural diversity”, taking place under the patronage of UNESCO and including a publication of respective research findings in a special book monograph.
Significance for science
The research project enables, in connection to contemporary concepts of globalization, transnationalization and transculturation, and by means of different methodological approaches (demogeographic analysis, auto/biographically oriented narrative interviews, the interpretation of which includes also conscious and subconscious aspects, "virtual field work") an in-depth insight into the origin and development of Alpine-Adriatic region, into the processes of shaping and re-shaping of national and ethnic identities. In a complex way, it deals with the links between the macro-social processes and micro-social processes, thus contributing to the understanding of phenomena such as transnationalism, transculturalism, cross-border communication. The Alpine-Adriatic region is described as an actual space of cross-border cooperation, as a living environment, as the horizon of experiences. And there is a special regard to border regions and the city of Trieste. It illustrates that individuals in this region are no longer linked to (only) one place or settlement, but are crossing from one to another, and are increasingly marked by double, triple or multi-layer identities and appurtenances, which are the result of complicated identifications and crossings, and are re-produced in the context of multiple choices. The plurality and fluidity of contemporary identities are perceived also in school experiments (the Kugy classes at the Federal High School and the Federal Real High School for Slovenes in Klagenfurt), as has been established during the work on the project; these schools are parting with the nationally designed education system, linked to the "monolinguistic habitus”. Although the project stresses that the transformation of identities and the "new ethnicity” (St. Hall) are also supported by the new information and communication technologies, emphasizing adaptation, flexibility, decentered networking, it was still primarily interested in the understanding of the "community-building" aspects on the web, including the tendency mentioned in the title of the influential treatise by R. Silverstone: "Finding a Voice: Minorities, Media and Global Commons".
The project results fill the relative gap in the current study of ethnic and national identities. It often seems as though we are well acquainted with these identities, but is thereby forgotten that during the past few decades thorough changes have been under way, amongst them the fall of communist systems, which have deeply affected the society and altered the social structure, as well as the environment of the dealt-with Alpine-Adriatic regions, and parallelly also the national and ethnic identities.
Significance for the country
The research project enables, in connection to contemporary concepts of globalization, transnationalization and transculturation, and by means of different methodological approaches (demogeographic analysis, auto/biographically oriented narrative interviews, the interpretation of which includes also conscious and subconscious aspects, "virtual field work") an in-depth insight into the origin and development of Alpine-Adriatic region, into the processes of shaping and re-shaping of national and ethnic identities. In a complex way, it deals with the links between the macro-social processes and micro-social processes, thus contributing to the understanding of phenomena such as transnationalism, transculturalism, cross-border communication. The Alpine-Adriatic region is described as an actual space of cross-border cooperation, as a living environment, as the horizon of experiences. And there is a special regard to border regions and the city of Trieste. It illustrates that individuals in this region are no longer linked to (only) one place or settlement, but are crossing from one to another, and are increasingly marked by double, triple or multi-layer identities and appurtenances, which are the result of complicated identifications and crossings, and are re-produced in the context of multiple choices. The plurality and fluidity of contemporary identities are perceived also in school experiments (the Kugy classes at the Federal High School and the Federal Real High School for Slovenes in Klagenfurt), as has been established during the work on the project; these schools are parting with the nationally designed education system, linked to the "monolinguistic habitus”. Although the project stresses that the transformation of identities and the "new ethnicity” (St. Hall) are also supported by the new information and communication technologies, emphasizing adaptation, flexibility, decentered networking, it was still primarily interested in the understanding of the "community-building" aspects on the web, including the tendency mentioned in the title of the influential treatise by R. Silverstone: "Finding a Voice: Minorities, Media and Global Commons".
The project results fill the relative gap in the current study of ethnic and national identities. It often seems as though we are well acquainted with these identities, but is thereby forgotten that during the past few decades thorough changes have been under way, amongst them the fall of communist systems, which have deeply affected the society and altered the social structure, as well as the environment of the dealt-with Alpine-Adriatic regions, and parallelly also the national and ethnic identities.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2008,
2009,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2008,
2009,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
