Anthropologists as Scientists, Journalists, or Enemies of the State: The “Erased ” in Slovenia

Abstract

Članek obravnava izbrane probleme pri raziskovanju »izbrisanih« v Sloveniji. Sama tema je vplivala na način raziskave, ki je prešla na polje politično angažirane in sodelovalne antropologije. Uporabna antropologija, ki je vedno tudi vidik politične antropologije, na najrazličnejše načine vpliva na svet, v katerem preučujemo ljudi, in na ljudi, ki jih preučujemo. Najprej zaradi tega, ker nekatere fenomene postavimo v javnost, omogočamo komunikacijo med nami, raziskovalci, in neznanstveno skupnostjo. Poleg tega politično angažirani akcijski antropologi ne zbirajo le gradiva, temveč ga tudi ustvarjajo. Naposled to lahko pripelje do konkretnih sprememb glede na prejšnje stanje, kar se je dejansko zgodilo pri zakonskem položaju »izbrisanih«.

***

This article deals with some issues encountered while studying the phenomenon of people removed from the Slovenian register of permanent residents (known as the “erased”). The topic influenced the research, which  thus entered the domain of politically engaged and collaborative anthropology. Applied anthropology, which always represents a form of political anthropology, influences where we and the people we study live in a variety of ways. First of all, by making some issues public, communication between the general public and the researchers is enabled. Furthermore, politically engaged and activist anthropologists not only collect but also create data. In the end, all of this may result in some concrete changes in the existing status quo, which has been the case with the legislative status of the “erased.”