Projects / Programmes
The production of meaning and knowledge in a time of crisis: cultural, religious and scientific-developmental aspects of societies in Slovenia, the Balkans, Europe.
January 1, 2019
- December 31, 2027
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.03.00 |
Social sciences |
Sociology |
|
| 6.06.00 |
Humanities |
Culturology |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S000 |
Social sciences |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.04 |
Social Sciences |
Sociology |
| 6.04 |
Humanities |
Arts (arts, history of arts, performing arts, music) |
graffiti and street art, history of Slovenian cinema, culture, science, migrations, religion, gender politics, multiculturalism, patriotism, melancholy, modernity, religion, public school, social nevro-science, food studies
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
June 28, 2024;
A3 for period
2018-2022
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
79 |
483 |
435 |
5.51 |
| Scopus |
135 |
748 |
645 |
4.78 |
Researchers (17)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The programme group is active in 3 fields that are key to the development of cult. studies in the Slov. and the broader international context. These are: cult. studies, studies of religion and cult. studies of science and technolog. development. The members of our programme group are going to continue their research work in the fields in which they have already achieved notable scientific results. In the field of cult. studies, these include the field study of contemporary graffiti and street-art subcultures in the region, primarily those that are pol. oriented (M. Velikonja); the research of the history of Slov. film, primarily the period after 1988 (P. Stanković); the connection between touch and language at the intersection of philosophy and cult. studies as it is revealed and developed in haptic studies (M. Komel); relationships between patriotism, ethnocentrism, interculturalism, Europe and the institutional structure of EU and migrations (K. Šabec); interdisciplinary research of cult. eating patterns in Slovenia with emphasis on the attitude towards meatless food which includes method. perspectives that reach from cult. studies and anthropology to cult. neuroscience (L. Zevnik); research of post-feminism, neo-patriarchalism, and cult. studies of cuteness (A. Pužar); studies of soc. neuroscience in the field of soc. action (G. Tomc); studies of socialist past futures and films as agents of memory (N.Majsova), and the relationship between melancholy and modernity (and modern literature) (P. Mlačnik). The two researchers in the field of relig. studies are going to deal with the relationship between migrations and religion in Europe (M. Smrke) and with contemporary relig. phenomena as they are expressed in Sl. society and which are analytically set in the wider spaces of the Balkans, post-socialist Cent. and East. Europe, and Europe as a whole (with special emphasis on the complex intersections of the religious-spiritual with the educational) (A. Črnič). In the field of cult. studies of science and development, the main 2 focuses of research are going to be the soc., cult., and ethical aspects of new sciences development and their influence on the change in the social-power relations (F. Mali), and the study of the communication between a robot and a person, where we are faced with the combining of knowledge from the fields of human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, robotics, understanding the nature of language, and soc. sciences (A. Kolak).
Let me add that Prof. Dr. J. Olofsson from Mid-Sweden Un. will be included in our research program as external researcher. She obtained in the EC's mobility scheme M. Skłodowska-Curie IF – Masterclass the »Seal of Excellence« which assures her the performance of 2-year reserach project at our faculty. The project is financed by Sl. Research Agency. Olofsson's research and other expert activity will fit with the planned activities of research program in the part of soc. risks and ethical issues of the new emerging technologies.
Significance for science
We estimate that the research in our programme group will significantly contribute to the development of cult. studies, and wider, of humanities and social sciences, both in Slovenia and globally, in terms of new relevant case studies and methodological advances. The presentation of these for the development of science will also follow the established complementary division of our research fields in 3 directions. The first is that of cultural studies. Even though it involves a very widespread subculture, research into political graffiti and street art is still in its infancy. The contribution of PG’s leader M. Velikonja follows the direction of theoret. as well as method. tackling of these phenomena, as well as in actual field work. The researcher P. Stanković believes that his research into the history of Slov. film is important since there are practically no systematic scientific discussions of this field. In addition to the systematic overviews of the history of Slov. film, the discussions of specific topics are also lacking, such as representations of different identities, content motives, and the like. Researcher K. Šabec will deepen her research into, on the one hand, the relationship between patriotism and nationalism, which are frequently still the prevailing mechanisms of contemporary dem.but ethically non-neutral national states, and on the other hand, in the period of mass migrations the so very important intercultural sensitivity to other cultures which derives from an ethnic-relative position and which became with its numerous variants almost the ultimate command of contemporary European educational systems as well as the wider public discourse. The contribution of researcher M. Komel to the studies of haptics goes in the direction of the connection between language and touch: this is an immensely unique approach to the question of tactility that will contribute to the development of not only haptic studies but also linguistics, linguistic psychoanalysis, philosophy in general, and post-structuralism in particular. Researcher G. Tomc will develop the interdisciplinary science still quite unestablished in Slovenia, soc. neuroscience, which at one level lower also includes sociogenomics and at one level higher social linguistics, and which presents the new paradigm of social sciences. If it proves to be explanatorily strong, it will completely redefine the traditional approach of social sciences. Analyses of researcher A. Pužar will contribute to the development of non-representative and new materialistic methodologies in Slovenia, as well as to the studies of cuteness (dollification and embodied cuteness), which are also new fields of research in Slovenia but also globally. Research performed by researcher L. Zevnik will be relevant from the aspect of science development primarily due to the fact that it introduces an innovative interdisciplinary perspective which encompasses sciences from neurophysiology to the widest aspect of culture. He also deals with the field of meatless eating patterns which are relatively unresearched in Slovenia, even though recently they have also become increasingly relevant from the perspective of the ideological struggle. Researcher N. Majsova will continue her research on past socialist futures, researching the topic through socialist cinematography. The study will present an important contribution to the international development of memory studies, treating cinematic production at the crossroads of ideology and aesthetics as memory agents and practices.Young researcher P. Mlačnik will open new perspectives in hist. definitions of melancholy which are transformed by modernity; for the placement of melancholy theories into the model of Slovenian cult. studies which means to deconstruct and contextualise psychoanalytical definitions; and hist. definitions of melancholy that focus on an individual; put into social perspective, which means the formation of new cultural studies foundation
Significance for the country
Culture is the primary environment of humans; if we want to develop as a society, we have to continuously reflect our cultural frameworks. As in the past, in the future the scientific results of our programme group “The production of meaning and knowledge in a time of crisis: cultural, religious, and scientific-developmental aspects of societies in Slovenia, the Balkans, Europe” will contribute to the general social, economic, and cultural development of Slovenia in line with our research fields and competences. In the field of cultural studies, our contributions strive towards the following directions: in-depth research of new subcultures, this time of graffiti, which have not yet been scientifically reflected in Slovenia and which in public discourse are more or less left to tendentious interpretations (M. Velikonja); further research of film culture, which expresses numerous collective values and self-evident notions in such a way that they are noticed and can be exposed to critical analysis (P. Stanković); analyses of the significance of the haptic in cultures of everyday life as well as, and especially, in artistic creations which despite stubborn insistence on audio-visual forms gradually includes moments of tactility (M. Komel); development of new methodological approaches in the study of cultural phenomena of cuteness, urban development and gender figurality, which was also developed by the researcher in his previous job at universities in South Korea (A. Pužar); methodological innovations in the emergent field of memory studies (N.Majsova); the search for scientific answers to the increase in xenophobic populism due to the so-called refugee crisis, which Slovenia faces together with other countries in Europe/European Union, which at the same time also means the search for possibilities for the realisation of inclusive societies and individuals, the identities of which could de facto be based on principles of intercultural sensitivity, empathy to others, and especially acknowledgement of their socio-economic, cultural and other differences (K. Šabec); development of social neuroscience which means the convergence of social studies and natural sciences with the research of social phenomena with laboratory observation, which will also have significant implications in the field of applicative social studies in Slovenia (G. Tomc); research of the ways in which Slovenia could – based on the experience of developed countries where eating patterns have already been discussed in the context of the development of society and its contribution to sustainable development – with the change in eating patterns take over an important economic niche in the field of nutrition (L. Zevnik); and last but not least; the research of melancholy can contribute to the deliberation about the concept of the socio-cultural development of Slovenia itself by functioning as a mirror, which through the psychoanalytical formula of unconscious loss exposes mechanisms that systematically, hierarchically, and paradoxically put the burden and responsibility for socio-historical and cultural loss on powerless social groups and individuals devoid of rights (P. Mlačnik).
For the social, economic, and cultural development of Slovenia, the following two areas are relevant for the programme group members who deal with cultural studies of science. First, analyses of potential future scenarios of scientific-technological development and their social consequences are the basis for the adoption of appropriate policy decisions in Slovenia. The future social development of Slovenia and its economic prosperity and cultural identity will depend on these decisions which have to be supported by appropriate expert knowledge and at the same time must not neglect wider views of critical civil society (F. Mali). Second, since the demands of technological and operational processes in companies and institutions, to the effect of handling and accepting technologies due to rapid
Most important scientific results
Interim report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Interim report
