Projects / Programmes
Rebellious Survival Strategies in Slovenian Territory (16th to 19th Century)
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.01.00 |
Humanities |
Historiography |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| H270 |
Humanities |
Social and economic history |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 6.01 |
Humanities |
History and Archaeology |
disobidience, banditism, smuggling, strategies for survival, rituals, social rebels, border region, western Slovenia, Mediterranean, early modern history, 19th century
Researchers (22)
Organisations (4)
Abstract
The project sets out to explore different aspects of social disobedience (smuggling, banditry, peasant and other revolts, poaching, minor offences etc.) in the western part of present-day Slovenia and its neighbouring regions from 16th to the 19th century.
The project covers the western part of Slovenia, which has always been a border region located between the Venetian Republic, Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire and has historically always been faced with crises and challenges of survival which consequently forced its population to turn to various non-agrarian survival strategies that were often bordering illegal practices.
Border in this case is perceived not only as a barrier, but also as a survival strategy of individuals and the community, as well as an agent of mediation between different cultures.
The timeframe of the project coincides with the expansion of banditry and other forms of rebellious strategies related to social changes that were brought about by the slow disintegration of the feudal regime, centralization and modernization and had a particularly adverse effect on the rural population. The studied period saw a change in rules of social control both on the part of the subjects as well as the government. Building on the selected starting points of disobedience, which can either be seen as a form of social protest or as a latently present endemic phenomenon that breaks out in times of crises or changes in social and political circumstances, the project will strive for an internationally comparative evaluation of these rebellious practices.
The main research objectives:
1. To show how the inhabitants of border regions surpassed the natural and social constraints by inventing a wide range of strategies that provided them with (better) chances of survival, the effects of the practices of disobedience on the everyday life of certain communities and on the resulting formation and transformation of individual identities within respective communities, and not least also to identify possible ideological or typified connotations of these practices that evolved in particular with the emergence of mass media (pamphlets, newspapers) and the extent to which such strategies ensured a social consensus and preservation of political and social order.
2. To determine which of these rebellious survival strategies the community perceived as acceptable and which ones posed a threat to the community, what the reasons were for their occurrence and the way in which the authorities responded to such acts of deviance.
We will examine how such survival strategies affected the occurrence of rebellious practices triggered by various factors, ranging from the economic and tax systems, legal and administrative organization, family and household strategies, state repression, to political aspects; and finally, we will observe how individual delinquent identities were formed in the context of a broader collective identity and mentalities.
With its conceptual and methodological innovations the proposed research will fill the gap in this kind of research that currently exists in Slovenian historiography and through its innovative interdisciplinary methodological approach of historiography and related disciplines (exploration of the types of written, iconographic, printed and visual material, literature and records of folk heritage), show the specificities of this phenomenon in historiography. The results of this research will also provide valuable information for use in economic sector especially in tourism and promotion. Within the proposed project, computer software for data processing and advanced multi-dimensional representations of smuggling routes and outlaw posts containing short descriptions of individual points on said routes will be designed by HARPHA SEA company. In addition, professional templates will be prepared for use in tourism, for the studied topics are attractive and interesting to different segments of the consumer m
Significance for science
The project results represent an innovative contribution to filling existing gaps in the Slovenian historiography in the research on the forms and practices of disobedience, conditioned by the strategies and methods of survival in the western part of present-day Slovenia and its neighboring regions. This was achieved on the one hand due to the systematic treatment of the above research questions over a long period of time and, secondly, by applying innovations in methodology and theory as well as in analytical practice, embedded into the current research trends of European historiography. By examining the phenomena of illegal practices as a component of ways and strategies of survival from the economic and legal, social and cultural-historical perspective, the project team better evaluated the addressed reality, while verifying the applicability of the existing theories on social protest, on the endemic of illegal practices in a given location and on the attitude of the authorities and the majority population towards them. In the application and analysis of administrative, judicial and police sources, the project has also introduced the source interpretation, based on post-modern reading (questions on the use of rhetorical strategies and the various recipients of messages, imageries of certain practices and social groups and their changes over time). Considerable attention was paid to the issue of rituals in the acts of rebellion and violence. Furthermore, mention should be made of the presentation of the methodology and interpretation in dealing with rural and popular uprisings in the neighboring Italian space, the progress in understanding and interpreting the Tolmin revolt in 1713 and the tradition of peasant resistance in the Tolmin area basiing on the applications of new interpretive approaches, the creation of the concept "integrated peasant economy" as a conceptual upgrading of currently used concepts as “peasant trade” and additional activities, and a new contribution to the maritime history of the Slovenian territories and to the knowledge of the functioning of Karst communities and their judicial power within the Devin manorial court. The project results themselves already include a comparative dimension with other neighboring and European realities, while at the same time they offer a more solid basis for further comparative studies of the Slovenian western area in a broader historical and historiographical context.
Significance for the country
The main target groups of the applied project were: providers of cultural tourism, local policy makers, small businesses and entrepreneurs who develop and market the products of the local cultural heritage, students, teachers in primary and secondary schools. The main activity of the applicative project was the creation of an innovative ICT tool. The cataloging system HIC - Heritage Information Catalogue we developed allows to enter information and materials in written form, digitized images and audio recordings of any element of the natural and cultural heritage, ranging from the natural phenomena to the intangible folklore. The designed system is an innovative tool at the international level. In addition, it was associated with a three-dimensional electronic cartography depicting the relief of the Kras area and northern Istria, on which georeferenced digitalized maps from the Franziscean cadastre were loaded. The system allows constant updating and online access. It is usable in research, educational and informational purposes, therefore suiting the intended objective. Its innovativeness and usefulness in other environments enables the promotion and affirmation of Slovenian science, while offering a new tool that can be used both in the education system and public institutions for the protection of natural and cultural heritage, as well as in companies operating in the field of environment analysis and spatial planning, and in the marketing of natural and cultural heritage. In addition, the results of the research are useful for the development of new cultural and tourism products (the rebellion and escape od the galliots from Koper to the Karst and their journey through the Karst and Slovenia as a basis for events and tourist routes), as well as to consolidate the cultural identity of the local population, especially in the case of the Tolmin area (new insights and interpretations of resistance and rebelliousness). Even in broader terms the results are interesting because of the emphasis on the historical relationship of the Slovenian space with the sea.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2011,
2012,
2013,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2011,
2012,
2013,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
