Two Homelands

Migrations and Historical Development Paths—A Comparative Project Between Switzerland and Slovenia: Introduction to the Thematic Section

2025-08-25T15:07:35+02:00

Switzerland and Slovenia are characterized by different historical developments that have shaped their urban and industrial development, social characteristics, and identity dynamics. However, they share some geographical similarities: they all encompass mountainous regions, have a widespread integrated peasant economy, and have experienced significant cross-border migration and mobility events. Influenced by the different historical roles of the border, the migration practices that developed between the 18th and the first half of the 20th century had a significant impact on the specificities of the economic and social development of the border areas of the two countries.

The Economic and Social Impacts of Colonial Emigration on Neuchâtel During the “Long 19th Century”

2025-08-25T15:19:04+02:00

The Swiss Canton of Neuchâtel was able to develop and become one of the country’s economic poles—particularly in the export of watches—thanks to the movement of emigrants to Europe and European immigrants to Switzerland. At the same time, missionaries, explorers, and businessmen left Neuchâtel to travel to the colonial world. Historiography has never linked these two migratory phenomena. This article aims to fill this gap. On the one side, it will provide an overview of the existing historiography. On the other, through some case studies, it will propose evidence and new research approaches. The result will be an invitation to de-Europeanize the history of Neuchâtel in order to inscribe it into the global history of the colonial era.

Long-Term Migration and Remittances in the Alpine District of Gornji Grad: Human Agency Amid Environmental and Social Constraints

2025-08-25T15:31:34+02:00

This article examines emigration from the Alpine district of Gornji Grad between the late 19th century and the early 20th century, focusing on the interplay between environmental constraints and human agency. It analyzes how hereditary and marriage customs, timber cutting and rafting, and migration functioned as adaptive responses to environmental limitations and as agents for economic diversification. The study also explores the reciprocal effects of migration through financial and social remittances.

The Altruistic and Redistributive Effects of Emigration: Legacies and Benefices in Italian Switzerland (18th–19th Century)

2025-08-25T15:39:46+02:00

The article looks at the effects of emigration through altruistic and redistributive uses of remittances sent and earnings brought back home by emigrants. Through case studies of altruistic and redistributive mechanisms, it explores the roles of family strategies and processes of commonization through the public administration of legacies and benefices, focusing on testamentary legacies and ecclesiastical benefices created by emigrants in their places of origin in Italian Switzerland during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Return Migration and Real Estate Projects: Philanthropy or Speculation? The Examples of Le Locle and Locarno (Switzerland), From the Mid-19th Century to the 1910s

2025-08-25T15:45:43+02:00

The migration experiences of the past often generated financial flows linked to remittances or capital repatriation, whose main market was the private construction sector. It usually consisted of the construction of dwellings intended to complete the conservative project of the return to the homeland and represent the success of the personal career. The article draws on two real estate projects realized in two Swiss towns to show how, for two figures with a migration background from the mid-19th century onwards, the construction sector represented an entrepreneurial strategy based on a different balance between philanthropic idealism and speculative logic.

An Analysis of Immigration to Slovenia From (and Through) Countries of the Former SFRY With the Use of the Eclectic Model of International Migration

2025-08-25T21:17:11+02:00

The article presents an analysis of immigration to Slovenia from (and through) the countries of the former SFRY. The framework of the analysis is an eclectic migration theory model, which synthesizes and upgrades existing migration theories. At the center of the model, the author places the world-systems theory, which is upgraded with findings of other key migration theories. Through the analysis of statistical data and interviews/conversations with experts and practitioners in Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as through the participation in the group for the preparation of the Slovenian Immigration Strategy, the author verifies the findings of the eclectic theoretical model on the case of immigration to Slovenia from (and through) the former SFRY.

A Conceptual Framework for Multi-Way Integration (MUWI) With a Focus on Residents’ Multiple Identities and Intersectionalities

2025-08-25T21:34:03+02:00

Conceptual frameworks on integration have moved from one to two-way integration, focusing on all residents in integration processes. This paper advocates a conceptual framework for “multi-way integration” (MUWI), which focuses explicitly on residents’ multiple identities and intersectionality to enhance connectivity and mutual understanding between all residents. The discussion also addresses factors impacting this connectivity, including social structures, social mechanisms, artifacts, and environments. The above dimensions and interconnections are not only relevant for researching integration processes but also for developing effective integration strategies.

Seeking Care in the Neighboring Country: An Institutional Analysis of Transnational Care for Older People Between Slovenia and Croatia

2025-08-25T21:41:18+02:00

Using the concepts of care gap, transnationalization of care, and retirement migration—and based on interviews with stakeholders and an institutional analysis of care provision for older people in Slovenia and Croatia—the article examines retirement care migration between the two countries. It shows that the marketization of care in Croatia matches the care gap in public provision in Slovenia, which establishes “precarious hybrid transnational care.” Older people use two strategies—citizenship rights and the market—to access cheaper residential care across the border, though of lower quality than in Slovenia. The study shows that transnational care can arise out of specific national institutional configurations of care.

Representations and Configurations of Multiculturalism in Louis Adamič’s The Native’s Return

2025-08-25T21:49:56+02:00

In his work The Native’s Return (1934), Louis Adamič navigates the complexities of multiculturalism, drawing on his experiences in both the polyethnic United States and the multinational Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The article explores Adamič’s multicultural awareness in his writings on Yugoslavia’s customs, social relations, culture, and politics. This analysis will provide insightful perspectives on Adamič’s representation of Yugoslavia in the American public sphere and how his American experience influenced his views on Yugoslav cultural and political situations.

“You Find Out What’s Possible”: Economic Opportunities and Strategies of Slovenian Citizens Living in the People’s Republic of China

2025-08-25T21:57:29+02:00

The article focuses on the Slovenian citizens in China in the 21st century. The authors consider their small numbers and national non-recognition as a distinctiveness in the fast-developing field of research on immigration in China. They discuss the immigration of Slovenian citizens through contrasting engagements with the Chinese economy and propose the analytical categories of “managers” and “entrepreneurs.” They link the former to the local emplacement based on the Slovenian companies’ production units in China and the drive for national groupness, and the latter to the search for niche opportunities in the huge Chinese market. The authors also address this temporality of the migration process and detail the interplay between macroeconomic factors and the individual decisions of its protagonists.

Migration and Identity Processes of Slovenians in Argentina: A Literature Review

2025-08-25T22:07:51+02:00

This review analyzes and compares scholarship on Slovenian migration to Argentina, highlighting disparities between Slovenian and Argentine academic approaches. While Slovenian researchers have examined identity, politics, and transnational ties in-depth, Argentine contributions are limited. The study includes works by migrants and descendants, showing how community narratives shape collective memory. It concludes that the literature is rich but marked by national biases, calling for more interdisciplinary, integrative research.

Potomke, potomci slovenskih izseljenk, izseljencev ter ohranjanje slovenskega jezika in kulture v Bosni in Hercegovini: Uvod v tematski sklop

2025-08-26T05:32:01+02:00

V bilateralnem projektu »Potomci slovenskih izseljencev ter ohranjanje slovenskega jezika v Bosni in Hercegovini / Potomci slovenačkih iseljenika i očuvanje slovenačkog jezika u Bosni i Hercegovini« (BI-BA/21-23-018) sta sodelovala Filološka fakulteta Univerze v Banjaluki (vodja Biljana Babić) ter Inštitut za slovensko izseljenstvo in migracije ZRC SAZU (vodja Marijanca Ajša Vižintin). Pričujoči tematski sklop je eden od rezultatov znanstvenoraziskovalnega in terenskega dela, ki je potekalo v času trajanja projekta (1. 7. 2021–30. 6. 2023), ter dveh mednarodnih konferenc (Vižintin et al., 2021; Kern et al., 2023), ki sta potekali 10. 12. 2021 na Univerzi v Banjaluki in 10. 5. 2023 na ZRC SAZU v Ljubljani. Projekt sta financirala Ministrstvo za znanstveni in tehnološki razvoj, visoko šolstvo in informacijsko družbo, Vlada Republike Srbske, Bosna in Hercegovina, ter ARRS, Javna agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije (zdaj ARIS, Javna agencija za znanstvenoraziskovalno in inovacijsko dejavnost Republike Slovenije).
Cilj projektnega sodelovanja je bil ugotoviti, katere oblike sodelovanja potekajo med organizacijami v Bosni in Hercegovini (slovenska društva, dopolnilni pouk slovenskega jezika in kulture, lektorati na univerzah), evidentirati dvo- in večjezične monografske knjižne izdaje (v slovenščini, srbščini) ter v splošnih in univerzitetnih knjižnicah pregledati periodične publikacije, ki so obravnavale s Slovenkami, Slovenci povezana besedila v času medvojne in povojne Jugoslavije. V ta namen so raziskovalke, raziskovalci tako v Bosni in Hercegovini kot v Sloveniji opravljali terensko delo (polstrukturirani intervjuji z odgovornimi ali s sodelujočimi v omenjenih organizacijah) in pregledovali gradiva po knjižnicah.

Political-Geographical Factors of Selectivity of Internal (Inter-Republic) Migrations in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1991) as an Example of Pseudo-Voluntary Migrations, With an Emphasis on Bosnia and Herzegovina

2025-08-26T05:41:35+02:00

Internal migrations were relatively strong during the pre–World War II Yugoslav Kingdom; however, in socialist Yugoslavia, they significantly intensified and changed in direction and structure. Three periods of the inter-republic migrations can be roughly discerned: a) the period of pan-Yugoslav consolidation (1945–1956); b) the period of pan-Yugoslav enthusiasm (1956–1974); and c) the period of supranational disintegration (1974–1991). The so-called pseudo-voluntary migration marks each of them. The article explains the basis, structure, and causality of intra-Yugoslav migrations as well as the selectivity of migration based on ethnicity, with a special emphasis on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Learning the Slovenian Language and Preserving Slovenian Culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina

2025-08-26T05:47:55+02:00

Relations between the Republic of Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are close, also due to the rich history of migration between the two countries. This article focuses on the collaborative aspect between various institutions and organizations involved in teaching the Slovenian language and/or preserving Slovenian culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Particular attention is paid to the inclusion of higher education, as the teaching of Slovenian at this level came to a halt for nearly two decades following the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Encounters With Colonial Bosnia: Slovenian Views Between European Superiority and (South-)Slavic Familiarity

2025-08-26T05:59:13+02:00

The article examines the Slovenian literary thematization of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Immigrants, including Slovenians, played various roles in Bosnia that were, in many ways, similar to those played by Western Europeans in non-European colonies. Typical colonial practices such as segregation and the hierarchization of cultures were lucidly identified and criticized by some authors. In confronting the Other, writers perceived themselves as a part of a superior European civilization, in which, to the exclusion of the “savage Asian Turk,” the (South-)Slavic imaginary could also be inscribed. Some authors expressed this element of (South-)Slavic inclusiveness through a specific (South-)Slavic familiarity.

Slovenia and Slovenian Motifs in the Calendar SPKD Prosvjeta (1905–1947)

2025-08-26T06:06:15+02:00

During Austro-Hungarian rule—and later in the first unified South Slavic state—periodical publications in Bosnia and Herzegovina served as a popular means for enlightening all strata of the population. One of those publications, the Calendar of the Serbian Educational and Cultural Society (SPKD) Prosvjeta, featured a variety of texts, ranging from literary contributions to expert articles on health, agriculture, geography, pedagogy, and other topics. These texts served as testimonies not only about the Serbian community but also about others. The study analyzes the headlines and news related to Slovenia and Slovenian motifs published in the Calendar between 1905 and 1947.

Demographic Characteristics of Tuzla Slovenians and Their Organization

2025-08-26T06:14:22+02:00

The article explores the history of the Slovenian settlement in the Tuzla Canton area of Bosnia and Herzegovina, dating back to the Austro-Hungarian period. It analyzes census data from 1910 to 2013, highlighting the impact of the Bosnian War on demographic changes. In 1993, due to humanitarian needs, the Slovene Community Association was established, bringing together 660 families and comprising nearly 1,700 members. Due to post-war emigration, only 51 individuals declared themselves as Slovenians in the 2013 census.