Projects / Programmes
The Anthropology of European Integration
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.03.02 |
Humanities |
Anthropology |
Social and cultural anthropology |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S220 |
Social sciences |
Cultural anthropology, ethnology |
Slovenija, antropologija Evrope, integracija, Evropska unija, institucionalne kulture
Researchers (2)
| no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
20004 |
PhD Tatiana Bajuk Senčar |
Ethnology |
Head |
2007 - 2010 |
0 |
| 2. |
23545 |
PhD Jeffrey David Turk |
Administrative and organisational sciences |
Researcher |
2007 - 2010 |
0 |
Organisations (1)
Abstract
This project will provide an ethnographic analysis of emerging trends in European integration and the role of Slovenes in shaping this integrated Europe. To do so it will focus on the formation and experiences of Slovenia's first generation of Eurocrats, who as cultural mediators are being integrated into the EU institutional network, in which they play a key role in realizing Slovenia's contribution to the daily operation of the EU from Brussels. In so doing this project will shed light on aspects of Slovenia's integration experiences that fall outside the boundaries of existing analytical models of integration, in which Slovenia is cast into a passive role and whose particular social circumstances are of little relevance. An analysis of the integration experiences of Slovenia's first generation of Eurocrats as they become part of the EU institutional network will help shed light on the complexities of European integration on the ground as well as on the workings of the EU institutions themselves
Significance for science
An anthropological analysis of Slovene Eurocrats as a group of EU civil servants from a new member state enables the researchers to explore the cultural dynamics that inform social reality in an expanded European Union. The main drawback of research on integration within the EU institutions is that it based primarily on reductive understandings of culture and of the relationship between cultures. Furthermore, existing ethnographic research on the EU institutions has been focused primarily on the EU before the enlargements of 2004 and 2007, after which membership in the EU almost doubled. This research project, which was focused on the everyday lives and experiences of Slovene Eurocrats, aims at providing a better understanding of the cultural dynamics of integration as they unfold on the ground in the expanded network of EU institutions. In this fashion this project sheds light on the development of identity in the EU as a postnational social context. On this basis it is expected that the final results of this research will contribute to anthropological research on identity and on the European Union, to the broader field of European studies as well as to research on integration and globalization. As part of our effort in engaging research in this broader area of European studies, we have focused on the burgeoning debate on methodology in the social sciences. This is especially important, since the contributions of qualitative research that have long been the province of anthropological research are now receiving renewed attention. We have therefore gone as far as to sponsor a workshop on scientific realism and biographical methods, where we were able to demonstrate the value of the approach taken in our project for methodologically sound social science.
Significance for the country
The ongoing anthropological research conducted among Slovene Eurocrats exploresd the powerful relationship between culture and territory that has for centuries been a key component of national identity in Europe. It is this very relationship that is being put into question by the European Union as an integration project as well as by the forces of globalization reconfiguring social relationships at all levels. Exploring the narratives and practices of Slovene Eurocrats on a daily basis in an explicitly European setting provides us with insights into the ways that integration informs the ways social actors continually redefine their identity. These insights will enable researchers to contribute constructively academic and popular discussions about the relationship between integration and identity in Slovenia as Slovenes explore issues of identity as a nation and as a member of the European Union. Furthermore, a very important part of our project has been concerned with the role of the Slovene national officials, particularly those from the Permanent Representation of Slovenia to the European Union in Brussels. The narratives of these particular social actors represent an invaluable resource for understanding their effectiveness in their role as integrating agents between the various ministries in Ljubljana and the European institutions. This is especially important, since these agents arguably form the best links through which Slovenia is able to formulate, pursue and defend her national interests in a European context through active participation in the European institutions. Understanding and improving the quality of the participation of Slovene officials within the European institutions are thus of paramount importance for the development of Slovenia in European and global contexts.
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,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
