<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Slovene nationalism has developed along the lines of the so-called Eastern nationalisms, which are characterised by their understanding of culture and ethnicity as the fundamental unifying element of a nation. Accordingly, the prevailing view is that the Slovene nation and Slovene emigration are based on Slovene ethnic origin and the Slovene language, wherefore the members of other ethnic groups (Germans, Hungarians, Jews, etc.) are excluded from the concept of Slovene nationhood or Slovene emigration, despite their longstanding presence in the territory of the Republic of Slovenia. Indeed, the question arises; if they do not belong to Slovene emigration, to whose emigration do they belong? Based on the civic (voluntaristic, territorial) understanding of the nation and field research conducted among the Gottscheer diaspora in the USA, Canada, Austria and Germany, I analyse the problem described in the case of Gottschee Germans.
</abstract>

Are the Gottschee Germans in Diaspora a Part of Slovene Emigration?

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
In 2022, the United Kingdom downgraded the security threat in Northern Ireland from “severe” to “substantial”, first set in 2010. The latter means that an attack is likely but not highly likely. For many analysts and political observers, the twenty-five years of peace that followed the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (B/GFA) though interspersed with periods of political stalemate, have led to an overall external sense the conflict has ended. This downgrading of the security threat in Northern Ireland appears to confirm this sense of a settled peace. Still, the type of peace that has been achieved, and particularly the political dynamics regarding contentious spatial issues, continue to shape the quality of peace experienced by the local population. In turn, it is precisely this everyday quality of peace that reflects the real success, or failure, of various peacebuilding efforts as such practices produce the empirical evidence of sustainable reconciliation or continue sectarian divisions in a post-conflict space.
</abstract>

Contested Spaces and Everyday Peace Politics in Northern Ireland

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
After a brief presentation of the history of the concept of diaspora and its derivatives, and a critical review of the relevant literature, the article explores the phenomenon of diasporic Sloveneness, with a particular focus on the contemporary Slovenian diaspora. The concept encompasses, but is not limited to, Slovenes and members of Slovene national communities (with an emphasis on Carinthian and Trieste Slovenes) who have dispersed around the world since Slovenia’s independence in 1991. The author concludes that the contemporary Slovene diaspora consists mainly of young, highly educated people who are actively striving to establish themselves in the global world. Even though they have emigrated from their country of origin, they remain - especially through modern communication technologies - connected to it. The article provides an insight into the complex and multifaceted process of diasporic grouping and long-distance nationalism, which also includes processes of transculturation and sheds light on Slovene national identity in the contemporary globalised world.
</abstract>

Diaspora and Diasporisation: Slovene National Identity in the Contemporary Globalised World

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Slovenian national minorities in the four Slovenia’s neighboring countries are represented as a whole by the so-called umbrella organizations. Such status is recognized to these organizations by the countries where these communities live, as well as by the Republic of Slovenia. But among members of these Slovenian communities there are also very critical views that umbrella organizations do not have the necessary legitimacy and that such a system is not appropriate. The article first summarizes the historical reasons why the existing organizations established themselves as umbrella organizations, and then we present and compare the views of selected interviewees who are critical about the legitimacy and effectiveness of such an arrangement. We conclude with a reflection on possible reforms of representation of Slovenian minorities.
</abstract>

Some Dilemmas About the Concept of Umbrella Organizations in Slovenian Communities in Neighbouring Countries

Introduction – Twenty-Five Years on And the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement: Some Critical Reflections

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
In 2010, 13 of the 14 victims of Bloody Sunday were publicly exonerated by the Report of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry after the lengthy struggle of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign (BSJC). By 2011 however, the BSJC publicly fractured over the impact of the Report and whether to continue the annual Bloody Sunday March. This article argues the split in the BSJC is a proxy for a broader struggle between divergent “spatial stories” (de Certeau 1984) of the city of Derry itself. Will Derry be narrated as a city transcending its difficult past or will the original struggle remain perpetually present?
</abstract>

Derry, Bloody Sunday, and the “Great Sea-Change”

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The COVID-19 pandemic has dominated media and scholarly literature since 2020. The impact(s) of crisis management on democracy, legitimacy, human rights, minorities, marginalized groups, and persons belonging to them are mentioned but seldom the main focus. From the perspective of human rights, protection of minorities, and the principle of non-discrimination in multilevel systems in Europe, the paper discusses certain conceptual, terminological, and methodological problems in studying such complex dynamic phenomena and argues that qualitative approaches might be the most suitable for studying the perceptions of persons belonging to diverse minorities on democracy and the legitimacy of crisis management and governance.
</abstract>

Legitimate Multilevel Crisis Management from the Perspective of Human Rights, Minorities, and Non-Discrimination

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The role of education systems is crucial in creating bilingualism and multilingualism. Based on domestic and foreign literature and structured interviews with public officials in North Macedonia and Italy, the article analyses the solutions and incentives for institutional bilingualism, which have proven insufficient thus far. It also offers a model of multilingualism as a concept of an ideal environment where speakers can communicate using multiple languages. The impact of new information and communication technologies on language learning and use in bilingual areas and their contribution to the creation of an ideal environment conducive to multilingualism will also be examined. The data obtained shows, among other things, that artificial intelligence is also revolutionising language use and learning. Nonetheless, despite rapid progress, human communication in different languages cannot be replaced by artificial algorithms.
</abstract>

Dilemmas of Public and State Administration: Bilingualism Bonus or Multilingualism without Bonus

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The study aimed to determine the push and pull factors and the impact of the pandemic and the opening of the Austrian labour market for Croatian citizens in 2020 on the migration of Croatian citizens to Austria after Croatia entered the EU. The study was conducted using qualitative methodology, i.e., semi-structured interviews as the main research method. The results showed that, in addition to the influence of economic and personal factors on emigration from Croatia, social migrant networks stood out as a strong pull factor for respondents to migrate to Austria. Nevertheless, some respondents, regardless of family and friends in other countries, migrate to Austria for its better living and working conditions. The pandemic and the opening of the Austrian labour market in 2020 were at one time an obstacle to emigration for some respondents, and their experiences indicate that in the next few years the number of Croats who immigrate to Austria could increase, both due to delayed emigration from Croatia and the migration of Croats from Germany.
</abstract>

Why do Croats Migrate to Austria? Motives for and Experiences of Migration since 2013

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
In this article, we will discuss the case of fair and inclusive schools that are considerate of the specific and unique needs of their pupils and offer quality education for all. We will highlight the most important indicators of inclusive education and focus on research that confirms the importance of the teachers’ willingness to establish good interpersonal relationships with their pupils. In the empirical section, we will introduce the results of our qualitative study. Based on interviews conducted with 20 mothers and 20 primary school pupils in two Slovene Roma settlements, we explored how pupils and their mothers perceive teachers’ attitudes towards Roma children. Our findings were very promising, for they showed that the interviewed pupils and their mothers had a positive experience with the teachers and their pedagogical work with Roma children. However, we should not ignore the few cases that pointed to ethnic discrimination towards Roma pupils.
</abstract>

Teachers’ Attitudes towards Roma Pupils from the Perspective of Roma Pupils and Their Mothers

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Schools with Italian as the medium of instruction in Slovenia are open to all children and young people, regardless of their ethnic affiliation. The article addresses the impact of linguistically diverse classes on the linguistic development of children attending Italian nursery schools. The children’s parents provided basic background information on the child’s language use outside nursery school. The level of the children’s communicative competence in Italian, in terms of listening comprehension and oral production, was measured by means of a standardised test. Although results may not always be statistically relevant due to the small number of participants, they show that the prevailing presence of children that only speak Slovene at home does not hinder the linguistic development of children that only speak Italian at home, and that the Slovene-only cohort clearly benefits from attending Italian nursery school.
</abstract>

Linguistic Development in Italian L1 and L2 in Italian Nursery Schools in Slovenia

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The article presents the views and opinions of the members of the Italian national community regarding the organisation of their institutions and schools and regarding state borders with Italy and Croatia during the Covid-19 epidemic in Slovenia. The main purpose of the study, which took the form of a telephone interview, was to explore the situation of the Italian national community during this period. Given the uncertainty awaiting it in the future, the Italian national community will need to find new ways to get closer to its members.
</abstract>

The Italian National Community in Slovenia during the Covid-19 Epidemic

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The article presents some preliminary considerations and outcomes of a research programme conducted within the project Eduka2. The investigations brought to light the need of a new or – at least – renewed educational model in the multilingual border area between Italy in Slovenia. Both communities (the Slovenian in Italy and the Italian in Slovenia) have already established their own schooling system with the minority language used as the vehicular language in the education processes. Even though this model seems to be the most successful and efficient in ensuring the development of the speakers’ communication competence, many studies have shown its limits – these limits are now confirmed also by the data collected within the project Eduka2. The article presents some open sociolinguistic issues that could have a negative impact on the maintenance of the minority languages, and suggests a possible solution with an upgrade of the existing schooling model.
</abstract>

Minority Languages Between Italy and Slovenia – Why Do We Need a Cross-Border Schooling System

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
On the 30th anniversary of independence of the Republic of Slovenia, the article offers an insight into the basic social and cultural characteristics of the population of young speakers of Slovene in Italy. The authors attempt to define the role that young Slovene speakers in Friuli - Venezia Giulia can play in the common Slovene space and explore their attitudes towards the Republic of Slovenia on an emotional, symbolic and practical level. In doing so, they rely mainly on research conducted over the last fifteen years. They conclude that this population is not fully centred on preserving traditional cultural values and language: it is primarily a population with high human and intellectual potential, which is already an important player in cross-border and other forms of cooperation along the Slovene-Italian border and attaches greater value to multilingualism than to nationality, ethnicity and the development of the Slovene minority in Italy.
</abstract>

Young Slovene Speakers in Italy and Their Attitudes towards the Republic of Slovenia

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Based on a survey conducted among teachers in three schools in Austrian Carinthia where the language of instruction is (also) Slovene, the article examines the impact of remote learning between March and June – i.e. during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic – on a possible deterioration of students’ language skills. The results also bring new data and insight into teachers’ language accommodation. The results confirm the predominance of reading and writing communication with a minimum use of audiovideo technology. The lower input of verbal communication mainly affected students with (strongly) unbalanced linguistic competence in both languages of instruction. Education is an important factor in reducing inequalities in society; thus, as long as remote learning increases inequality, this form of education should be pursued with some reservations.
</abstract>

Dimensions of Remote Learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Minority Language Schools (The Case of Austrian Carinthia)

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
In the settlement area of the Slovene national and linguistic minority in Italy the situations in which Slovene language varieties are used are scarce. The main share of the responsibility for developing effective communication skills in Slovene is therefore transferred to the didactically structured environment. This paper examines the obstacles faced by educational institutions in developing communicative competence in Slovene, the extent to which these obstacles are tackled in the didactic-methodical structure of Slovene lessons conducted at Slovene-language schools in Italy, and the manner in which this is reflected in national examinations, the matura examination, i.e., a school-leaving examination at the end of the upper-secondary school, and the INVALSI examinations for different levels of schooling. The paper outlines the guidelines for conducting communication-based lessons and offers an example of good practice, namely a lesson plan developed within the project EDUKA 2 – Cross-Border Governance of Education.
</abstract>

Communicative Competence in Schools with Slovene as the Language of Instruction in Italy

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated that the “border as method” (Mezzarda &amp; Neilson) is paradigmatically established and proliferates in the borderland of a nation-state. Analysing the prevailing political, media and public discourse and focusing on the border area between Italy and Slovenia, the article illustrates that borders are not located only on the edges of a territory, but also extend inside and outside such. They are part of broader social processes of border internalisation in the management of population movements. During the pandemic, the tendency to strengthen control of the Schengen border and of the border between Italy and Slovenia gained new impetus. The border was invoked in relation to the risk of infection, thus implying adiaphorisation and exclusion (“We are not Italy!”), and also as the locus that – particularly among the Slovene minority and the people living along the border – raised awareness about the need for empathic, cross-border and European integration in the sense of transcending national borders.
</abstract>

Border as Method: Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Border Area between Italy and Slovenia and on the Slovene Minority in Italy

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Treatises and Documents, Journal of Ethnic Studies / Razprave in Gradivo, Revija za narodnostna vprašanja

Treatises and Documents, Journal of Ethnic Studies is an international journal that aims to advance the multidisciplinary study of ethnic and minority issues. It...

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Treatises and Documents, Journal of Ethnic Studies is an international journal that aims to advance the multidisciplinary study of...