The dissertation on the Carinthian provincial constitution of 1849 and its wider origins and consequences is a fundamental historiographical work based on original research and analysis of historical sources, innovative interdisciplinary approaches and fieldwork. It reveals a number of new aspects of regional constitutional, legal, political, social and linguistic history. The purpose is to prove that the provincial constitution of 1849 is relevant legally, historically, and scientific-theoretically, although it has not yet been widely reciprocated and included in legal and political historiography in Austrian Carinthia, Austria, or Slovenia. The purpose is also to prove that the Constitution was valid and at least partially implemented, although certainly not in all its articles, and that it certainly had constitutional-legal consequences and that it was certainly placed in the then legal and social system of the crown lands of the Habsburg Monarchy. At the same time, the purpose is to prove that this fact had certain concrete consequences for the Province of Carinthia (e.g. the bilingual provincial code between 1850 and 1859, the official bilingual directories of place names for the whole province and, to some extent, its social effects affected the establishment of Mohorjeva) and that it is still relevant today for the history and historiography of Austria and Austrian Carinthia, and Carinthian Slovenes and Slovenes in the Habsburg Monarchy.
D.09 Tutoring for postgraduate students
COBISS.SI-ID: 22464264According to EU regulations, commuters also constitute cross-border workers, who travel across borders to work or train on a daily basis or at least once per week. In the working environment, this change of surroundings reflects in the form of various language constellations, such as the use of a different dialect (e.g. corresponding to the spread of language varieties specific to the border region between Germany and Basel in Switzerland); the use of a different, closely related language (e.g. Kajkavian Croatian dialects – Pannonian Slovenian dialects); the use of a different language, which is related to the first language spoken by cross-border workers, while the first language spoken by cross-border workers also features a variety of language forms transferred from the neighbouring language (e.g. Slovenian dialects – Austrian Dialects); the use of a different language, unrelated to the first language spoken by cross-border workers (e.g. Hungarian – German); and the use of multiple different languages in an officially multilingual environment (e.g Luxembourg). These various constellations raise questions concerning the linguistic strategies pursued by cross-border workers as well as about their attitude towards individual languages and language varieties. Based on observing individual language biographies, the article shows how cross-border workers, who commute from Slovenia to Austria for work-related purposes on a daily basis, develop their multilingualism, how they alter it, and what roles individual language varieties play in this regard.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 23236872Miha Zobec took part at the conference »Heritages of Migration: Moving Stories, Objects and Home« with the contribution »The Notion of Home and the Issue of Identity in the Emigrant Correspondence«. Conference was organised by the University of Birmingham and took place in the Museum of Immigration in Buenos Aires from 6th till 10th of April 2017. More than two hundred researchers from all over the world took part at this conference. In his contribution, Zobec dealt with the issue of identity and the relation towards home as they unfolded in the emigrant correspondence. In centre of his attention were letters belonging to family Vrabec from Slovene Karst which he tried to analyse by taking into account the most recent scholarship of emigrant correspondence. He found out that members belonging to family Vrabec who lived dispersed either in Argentina, France or Yugoslavia (later Slovenia) respectively, lead lives which could be labelled as transnational, o reven better translocal. Notwithstanding their assimilation to Argentine society, they were constantly retaining their attachment to the family of origin. Consequently, it would be difficult to ascribe them definite or unilinear identities. Furthermore the stress on local background of the protagonists attracted attention of foreign researchers as they are not really familiar with Slovene history. Since the contribution was presented also at the lectorate of Slovene in Buenos Aires, these findings might help the development of tourism at Slovene Karst. A significant number of descendants of Slovene immigrants took part at the lecture and many expressed their wish to visit the home of their forefathers afterwards.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 23220232In 1947, the Gornja Radgona District covered an area of 338,26 km2, and had a population of 29.274. Situated along the Mura river and the Austrian border, it had a special geopolitical importance throughout the discussed period (1945-1950).The district was predominantly agricultural (public, private and cooperative ownership), and the industry was underdeveloped since there were no adequate natural conditions for its greater development. The border location of the district represented a constant problem for the new communist regime because of illegal crossing of the state border. The British occupying forces in the neighbouring Austria and the British military intelligence service (FSS) were seen as enemies who want to destroy the emerging system in Yugoslavia. The regime prevented, in all possible ways, the people to have contacts with the neighbouring Radkersburg/Radgona district and its Slovene-German bilingual hinterland of five villages (the so-called Radgona Corner). Establishing a new political system after the Second World War was the main purpose of the one-party system with the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) as the sole and leading political party. In order to protect the new socio-political system, the CPY had repressive forces: the National Security Agency (UDV), the People's Militia (NM), the People's Defence Corps of Yugoslavia (KNOJ), prosecutor's offices, courts and prisons. At the beginning of 1946, it carried out forceful eviction of the German population in the Apače region and colonized the area with settlers from other parts of Slovenia. For the CPY, the Catholic Church, large farmers and illegal groups were opponents to the new regime. The UDV in particular, with its wide network of over 400 collaborators (informants, agents, close connections), who operated openly and covertly in the district as well as in the Radgona Corner, had the task of detecting and surrendering to the court the real and alleged opponents of the new regime. The thesis represents a professional challenge for historians to explore this period also in other political districts of the then Slovenia, and among ethnic Slovenians in the neighbouring countries.
D.09 Tutoring for postgraduate students
COBISS.SI-ID: 22807560Italian constitution adopted after the Second World War anticipated the protection of linguistic minorities (Italian legal and political practice avoided the usage of the term national minority due to its political implications) as well as the establishment of the Autonomous Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia where rights of Slovenian minority would be protected by the special statute. The struggle of the Slovenian minority for adequate legal protection started shortly after signing the Memorandum of London which proved to be the act that didn't fulfill its promises. All the provisions made by the Special Statute of the aforementioned Memorandum (special enclosure designed for protection of respective minorities in Yugoslavia and Italy) lost their significance due to unwillingness of Italian legislative body to implement the international agreement in the internal legislature. The establishment of Autonomous Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in 1963 made disillusionment of Slovene minority even worse. Whereas autonomous regions of Trentino Alto Adige and Val d'Aosta included protection of German and French minority in its statutes respectively, Friuli-Venezia Giulia did not offer any kind of protection to the members of Slovene minority whatsoever. The treaties of Osimo signed in 1975 (ratified in 1977) provided legal protection for respective minorities (Italian in Yugoslavia and Slovenian in Italy) in their preamble and the article 8. That article presupposed that by putting the Osimo treaties into practice the Memorandum of London loses its legislative power. Both states (Italy and Yugoslavia) were by the treaties of Osimo however bond to respect the provisions that were guaranteed by the Memorandum. Because Italy recognized the article 8. of the treaties only in respect to the Slovenes of Trieste, Slovene minority started to struggle for achieving the law that would protect in an equal manner members of minority living in provinces of Trieste and Gorica as well as those in Udine. The ongoing struggle wasn't met with acceptance by the Italian state. Rather than preparing a law that would use equal measures to protect members of Slovene minority in the whole area of their settlement, Italy showed disrespect by forever deffering their demands and offering them designs of law that could not match their claims. The struggle for achievement of protection thus stretched to the year 2001 when the so called law for the global protection of the rights of Slovene minority was adopted in Italian parliament. After accepting the law, a special parity committee, constituted by the members of Slovene and Italian nationality was formed thereby supervising the execution of the aforementioned law. Law gained its formal confirmation in 2007 when it was signed by the president of Italy Giorgio Napolitano, but it wasn't implemented in its fullnes till 2009. Slovenes in the province of Udine faced toughest problems regarding implementation and in particular Slovenes in the region of Resia suffered most significant disrespect. The implementation of that law in Resia was delayed till 2012 and the region still faces problems concerning the respect of enacted legislature by the Italian state.
D.09 Tutoring for postgraduate students
COBISS.SI-ID: 23215880