Projects / Programmes
RURAL AND URBAN PRIMORSKA: SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND LEGAL RELATIONS FROM THE OLD ORDER TO MODERNIZATION
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.01.00 |
Humanities |
Historiography |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| H270 |
Humanities |
Social and economic history |
town – countryside relations; transition from ancien regime into modernization; social networks; economic strategies; community and individuals; demographic structures and dynamics
Researchers (9)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The proposed research examines the relationship between the countryside and larger cities in the Slovene littoral area (Gorizia, Trieste, Koper) in the period between the old regime and the modernization processes of the modern age. The research group approaches this basic historic problem by focusing on the rural areas and population. The idea is to approach rural society as a reality, capable of establishing an active relationship with the city and of innovative responses to the challenges of modernization, an entity, which is not merely a passive receiver of relationships and changes under the pressure of factors arising from the urban sphere. The countryside and rural population will therefore be approached as active subjects in historical processes.
The research will combine the analytical and comparative approach (comparison between neighbouring research environments), not only because of the methodological necessity or conviction, but also because the rural areas in the influential sphere of Trieste, Gorizia and Koper have not only been marked by a single rural culture and village communities developed different social and economic networks, which evolved through time. Their research will consider ordinary circumstance and extraordinary situations (peasants’ revolts). The research group will focus on separate case studies of village communities and village elites, illuminating their relationship towards the cities, as well as case studies concerning the economy of the countryside, rural strategies of survival and their responses to the influence of urban centres, reflected in the form of tactics and practices of village communities and individuals in both the old regime society and in the process of modernization. At the same time case studies will be used to study demographic associations between the countryside and the cities, particularly migratory flows and changes of demographic structure during the period of demographic transition.
Quantitative and qualitative analysis of various kinds of sources (especially, but not exclusively, archive sources) will enable the generation of new findings concerning rural cultures and economies during the transition from the old regime to modernization.
Significance for science
From a methodological and substantive aspect the researches covered a rather unexplored area in Slovenian historiography and introduced into it the original research approaches. The project was based on new materials, analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. Esp. in quantitative analysis new analytical categories (gender, social, age and professional groups) and typical applications have been introduced. At using and analysing of administrative, ecclesiastical, judicial and police sources an interpretation of the source, based on a postmodern reading (use of rhetorical strategies and different message recipients), is involved. Besides, other forms of research sources were used (e.g. itineraries). Since an accurate reading of administrative resources was hampered by deficit of the studies in the field of legal history, the project team worked intensively on new legal institutions and instruments that are part of modern societies and which have under the influence of the Enlightenment, natural law, Cameralism, new economic opportunities and fiscal needs intensively developed in the 18th cent.
Exploration of confraternities was important for the understanding of social networks and economic flows between urban and rural areas and represented the first extensive study of relation between religious and secular social sphere. Members of project team have presented the results of the research at international conferences abroad, which interfere in the field of economic (Panjek), social history (Kalc, Čeč) and the history of migration (Panjek).
The project results form the basis for comparative analysis of the issues raised between the Slovenian and European area as well as for binding and contextualizing the Slovenian history in the wider European history. Research has contributed to the conceptualization of the relations between urban and rural and to knowledge of development of modern police forces in the period of legal absolutism in the case of Trieste. It highlighted still unfamiliar issues of administrative-political and broader modernization processes, representing currently one of the more prominent objects of comparative research on international legal, political-administrative and social history. Since in 19th and 20th cent. relations between the town and countryside in the coastal area intertwined with the relations between the different ethnic identities, the treatment of modernization process contributed results, relevant to the history of the western Slovenian ethnic territory. Research results have substantially supplemented knowledge of demographic and economic trends, or trends in the labour market in Slovenian border region during the 19th and 20th cent., especially the position/s of women and their gainful activities, and complemented the understanding of relations between the rural hinterland and the towns and the effects of these on major segments of the demographics of selected areas.
The research project has upgraded the existing scientific cooperation with foreign researchers in particular with the Universities of Venice and Udine, with which they have held a joint international conference and several applied projects. The research work of 3 universities has also led to the acquisition of a strategic project SHARED CULTURE (total value amounts to 3.5 mill. EUR); researched, restored and presented to the public are also 3 locations of a great cultural and historical significance, a cross-border mechanisms of knowledge transfer will also be set up as well as the use of technical improvements in the study and restoration of cultural heritage. The establishment of inter-university centre for the Venetian history and cultural heritage in Koper, which will act as the main institution for coordination and promotion of the research and education, for the presentation of cultural heritage, will contribute to the awareness of expert and interested public on the common cultural heritage of the cross-border area.
Significance for the country
Research results will serve to improve the higher education curriculum by introducing new contents into the various studies of the humanities, resulting in improved students’ knowledge and providing a higher quality of the university. Project team members also supervised several Bachelor’s and Doctoral theses which have been completed this year and which also related to the project topics (brotherhoods of Koper and Izola, the Sečovlje Saltpans). This year, the team members published another special electronic publication dedicated to this field. Furthermore, lifelong learning is promoted by public accessibility of international scientific conferences and preparation of popular texts and lectures for the general public (historical seminar at the University of Primorska, Science and Research Centre and the Faculty of Humanities) and guest lectures of the project team members at various cultural and educational institutions (e.g. the Slovene National and Research Library in Trieste, museums and galleries of Radovljica) and other events.
The first results of the studies importantly contribute to the understanding of different identities of individuals and social groups in the region and their influence on modern society. They offer specific groundwork for a more effective intercultural dialogue, while at the same time provide historical bases for understanding the attitude towards different, deviatory and marginalized social groups in modern societies and consequently offer the guidelines for the inclusion of these individuals and social groups. The studies provide a basis for recording, evaluation and preservation of cultural heritage (material and non-material) and their application for cultural purposes, for encouraging creativity and developing new products. In this respect, the field of tourism should be underlined, which will remain an important economic sector.
Research results will significantly improve the knowledge of demographic and economic trends or trends in the labor market in the Slovenian border area in the final decades of the 19th and in the 20th century, especially the position(s) of women and women’s gainful employment and will complement the knowledge and understanding of the interrelations between rural hinterland and the towns and the effects of these on major demographic segments of specific/chosen environments.
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
