Bridges and Walls: Slovenian Multiethnic Literature and Culture is a first step towards a comparative confrontation between the social-cultural situation of Slovenian emigrants in the past and the current social-cultural situation of various groups of immigrants in Slovenia. One of the main goals of this comparative study is to alert the Slovenian majority to the specific socio-cultural conditions of immigrants and thus help to develop both intercultural awareness and a multicultural national identity, which are, in fact, a precondition for a stable society. There are already some early responses to this work from the international community, among others a favourable review in the Columbian scholarly journal Ikala. Published by a renowned international academic publisher, the book upgrades the author’s earlier academic monograph Večkulturna Slovenija (Multicultural Slovenia, 2008 [COBISS.SI-ID 240121344], which was also very favourably reviewed in Slovenian and some foreign academic journals in the field of ethnic and migration studies, Slovene studies and literature (Slovene Studies, U.S.; Migracijske i etničke teme, Zagreb, Croatia; Primerjalna književnost, Slavistična revija, Treatises and Documents: Journal of Ethnic Studies / Razprave in gradivo: Revija za narodnostna vprašanja, Glasnik SED, Dve domovini / Two Homelands…). In 2009–2010 it was included in reading lists for several subjects within undergraduate and postgraduate study programs at the University of Nova Gorica and within the international postgraduate study program Migration and Intercultural Relations.
COBISS.SI-ID: 33825069
The article analyses burekalism – a mentality based on an ontological and epistemological distinction made between a population and place defined by the burek and a population and place not defined by the burek, or in other words: between “immigrants” and “Slovenians”. And further, burekalism is a style of domination over a population defined by the burek by a population not defined by the burek. The article was published in a distinguished academic journal, Annales.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2138067
The author addresses the role of Ljubljana in migration processes at the turn of the twentieth century, focusing particularly on the role of the town police until 1913. Emigrants contributed to a more cosmopolitan character of the town, especially of the area surrounding the railway station, where shops and emigration agencies had been set up. Accommodation facilities and diners were opening across the town. Criminal activities and prostitution were on the increase, while Slovenian philharmonic provided annual concerts at the garden of the hotel Južni kolodvor (South railway station). Travelling emigrants made Ljubljana a European crossroad leading to the west, north and east. The author highlights the role of the town police in the context of emigration dynamics on these railway crossroads. The article was published in the renowned scientific journal Acta Histriae.
COBISS.SI-ID: 31792173
The authors deal with the impact of migration, demographic and ethnic dynamics on employment in the Slovenian Army in connection with the contemporary dimensions of patriotism. The authors argue that the Slovenian Army as an employment organization is not prepared to adapt to contemporary social change, and is fostering traditional social values as army values. These are incongruent with contemporary social values among Slovenian youth. In their discussion the authors refer to the employment policy of the Slovenian Army that restricts the employment of immigrants/residents in Slovenia without Slovenian citizenship and people with dual citizenship in the basis of patriotism. Therefore, they put the so-called military values and especially patriotism under scrutiny. Conception of patriotism as authoritarian has a negative impact on the representative role of the Slovenian Armed Forces in Slovenian society, and in consequence also discredits its legitimacy. The negative role of the armed forces in Slovenian society is diminishing people’s interest in seeking employment in it.
COBISS.SI-ID: 30052909
Louis Adamic (1898–1951) was the most successful Slovenian émigré writer, editor and social critic so far. The purpose of the article is to present that area of Adamic's literary and other public activities that has been least known to his readers in Slovenia and elsewhere (except in the US), although it probably deserves most attention. The question in focus is Adamic's pioneer role in the prehistory of multiculturalism. The article sheds a new light on Louis Adamic's permanent significance in this area and the influence of his works on the formation of current integration strategies and the development of intercultural awareness.
COBISS.SI-ID: 1069189