Projects / Programmes
Slovenian Identities in the European and Global Context
January 1, 2015
- December 31, 2021
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.04.00 |
Humanities |
Ethnology |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S220 |
Social sciences |
Cultural anthropology, ethnology |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.04 |
Social Sciences |
Sociology |
social identities, nation and nationalism, cultural heritage, postsocialism, migrations
Researchers (24)
Organisations (2)
Abstract
The programme is a continuation of the successful research work intended to support the implementation of the pedagogical process at the university level. Therefore, it concerns the acquisition of new knowledge and its transfer to students and future researchers.
The focus of the work of Slovene ethnologists in the 19th and 20th c. was on the so-called national defence work: Slovene ethnologists were primarily engaged in transforming peasants into Slovenes (cf. Weber, Peasants into French); when they did carry out research studies, they had more of a utilitarian character, they were more of a political than scientific endeavour. In their research they primarily emphasised the unique Slovene identity, thus those elements of culture that distinguish Slovenes from other nations. But culture has never been limited by national borders, not in the Austrian empire, which encompassed the current territory of Slovenia (1283-1918), not in both Yugoslavias (1918-1991), and not today, when Slovenia is a Member State of the EU.
On the territory of the former Austrian Empire the revolutionary events stemming from the incongruence of modern methods of production and traditional social relations triggered the process of national emancipation. In this process also the Slovene nation was formed. The demise of the old regime entailed the onset of modernisation, democratisation, and – nationalism. Bourgeois democracy can only successfully function when the majority perceives the political community as a common endeavour. Such an endeavour is not possible without a strong common identity. In the process of the formation of imagined communities (Anderson) they had first to invent them (cf. Hobsbawm and Ranger, Invented Traditions).
The process of the formation of a nation under the mask of a cultural community, which began in the in Austrian era, continued also after the founding of the nation-state of southern Slavs in 1918 and finally caused its collapse in 1991. In order to form the Slovene national identity, it was necessary to problematise and change the past. Naturally, other nations underwent similar processes, however, due to ideological breaks the process had to be rebooted several times with regard to Slovenes.
With accession to the EU, not only new European models of identity are developing, but Slovene identities are being increasingly shaped by the processes of global flows, therefore broader comparative research studies are necessary that take into account the transnational connections of individual groups of the Slovene population with the world. States and their systems of (co)operation remain an important segment of our comparative research studies, as is true for the organisations and institutions that have dictated people's lives and to some degree do so still today.
Significance for science
The programme group is comprised of university teachers and co-workers from the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana, and a curator from the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. Since the pedagogical process at the university level is inevitably connected with the creation and transfer of new knowledge, such is also of primary importance for our programme group. Namely, the creation of new knowledge is a necessary pre-requisite for the implementation of the pedagogical process at the university level. Programme group members concurrently transfer the findings and methods of our research into pedagogical practice, especially at levels two and three of university studies. Furthermore, we also constantly transfer our research findings into museum exhibitions, and this holds true not only for the Slovene Ethnographic Museum, which is a partner in this programme, but also for a number of other museums in Slovenia and abroad. Furthermore, we present our findings also in the media and at public events in Slovenia and abroad.
The main aim of the programme is to foster the development of science, especially the development of ethnology as a national and comparative field within the narrower national framework, as well as in an international comparative sense. Within each thematic area separately we will continue to develop tools by means of which it will be possible to understand social changes and transformations, and which we will transmit to the broader public not only in the form of scientific texts, but also by organising conferences and releasing our findings publicly, primarily in digital media and modern internet platforms (blogs).
The programme group will continue to organise scientific and professional conferences, both local and international, in Slovenia and abroad; the group will participate in applied and fundamental research projects financed by the EU or other international sources; it will promote dialogue between experts and amateurs, and will collaborate with the initiators of various activities “in the field”; it will foster the development of the application of ethnology in Slovenia and abroad; it will publish newly and previously collected materials; individual researchers will continue to actively participate in and lead professional associations and participate in the Slovene and international steering committees of these associations; above all, they will continue to directly transfer new findings into pedagogical practice.
The proposed programme will contribute to fundamental knowledge on mankind and society important for the development of the Slovene nation; to the development of the understanding of humaneness, the Slovene national identity and the recognition thereof; to learning about contemporary Slovene history; to preserving the natural and cultural heritage; to the transmission of knowledge of the Slovene natural and cultural heritage to the international community and to preserving this heritage; and to the general recognition of Slovenia abroad.
Significance for the country
The proposed programme will contribute to fundamental knowledge on mankind and society important for the development of the Slovene nation; to the development of the understanding of humaneness, the national identity and its recognition; to learning about contemporary history; to preserving the cultural heritage; to the transmission of knowledge of the local heritage to the international community and to preserving this heritage; and to the general recognition of Slovenia abroad.
We will continue to organise scientific conferences, both local and international, in Slovenia and abroad; the research group will participate in applied and fundamental research projects financed by the EU or other international sources; it will promote dialogue between experts and amateurs, foster the development of the application of anthropology, publish newly and previously collected materials; individual researchers will continue to actively participate in professional associations; above all, they will continue to directly transfer new findings into pedagogical practice.
By means of its critical assessment of the Slovene reality, as such is manifested through the analysis of everyday life and the entire nation, and by means of the effective resolution of social challenges, the programme will contribute to an improved understanding of the formation and development of nations, and at the same time it will place this ideology in relation to international space and the native practices of various people. The necessity of such placement of a nation and also a country is dictated especially by the current crisis, which problematises the nation and the nation state, both inwardly and outwardly. The nationalisation phase is over, at least at the ideological/symbolic level. However, due to processes triggered by contemporary processes in the fields of the global economy and the elimination of an increasing number of functions that in the 19th and 20th centuries were performed by the nation state, the fixation on the nation can quickly become unproductive if it is not replete with numerous connections, interactions, networks, and communities.
Our ethnographic research in neighbouring and distant countries will contribute to the treasury of knowledge of world cultures among Slovenes. The stability of the international status of a state depends on the diversity of its international connections, and ethnological research is extremely important in this regard. Knowledge and recognition of other peoples and nations have gained especially significant importance particularly during this time of globalisation (i.e. the co-habitation of differences). With regard to such, the programme group will place a much greater emphasis than hitherto on issues related to the economy and ecology of everyday life.
By means of its critical assessment of the Slovene reality, as such is manifested through the analysis of everyday life and the entire nation, and by means of the effective resolution of social challenges, the programme will contribute to an improved standard of living for all and to a higher quality of life; furthermore, in those cases when our findings regarding the heritage and the importance of sustainable development are applied it will help increase the added value per employee (especially with regard to knowledge transfer in tourism, the culinary arts, etc.
The entire thematic area of heritage research is organically connected to the applicability of knowledge in practice, with regard to both the development of local communities as well as at the level of the entire state. The largest share of knowledge gained within this thematic area will be directly or indirectly transferred into museum and conservation practices; furthermore, our findings will be of key importance in the acquisition of funds from European programmes, as well as in the urban planning and economic development of Slovene towns and regions (e.g. in tourism).
The programme will generate ne
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2015,
interim report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2015,
interim report
