Ethnic, regional and national identities in the context of European cross border cooperation opportunities: a case study of Italian ethnic community in Slovene Istri
Keywords:
cross border cooperation, identities, Europe, Italian ethnic community, Slovenia, Italy, European UnionAbstract
The article proceeds from the main research question about the effects of EU integration and cross border cooperation initiatives on the border region of Slovene Istria as a whole and Italian ethnic community in particular in terms of its socio-economic and cultural activity and identity issue. The authoress tries to expose the historical review of the cross border cooperation between Slovenia and Italy prior to the EU programmes and afterwards and the activity of the Italian ethnic community in the latter. Within the framework of the former Yugoslavia from the 1960s on and especially with the increasing openness of political borders, the political, economic and geographical position of Slovenia had been growing stronger: first in the framework of the Alps-Adriatic Working Community in the context of Central Europe, then in the context of the Central European Initiative, and finally within the European space as a whole (European Union). On the methodological basis of in-depth interviews conducted among members of the Italian ethnic community in Slovenia (Slovene Istria) and among members of the majority population in the period between August 2005 and May 2006 it can be suggested that the following three general consequences have been the most noteworthy from the 1990s to date: the division of the Italian ethnic community between two independent and autonomous states (Slovenia and Croatia), complicated further by the fact that only one of the two states became an EU member in 2004;economic weakness and dependence of the Italian community on government subsidies;European integration and cross-border cooperation opportunities. Finally, the article concludes with the perceptions of different ethnic, regional and national identities on the case under study within the broader European space with regard to the cross border cooperation incentives.
Downloads
References
Brezigar, Bojan (1996). Between Alps and Adriatic: the Slovenes in the European Union. Brussels: European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages.
Drčar-Murko, Mojca (1996), Some legal aspects of relations between Slovenia and Italy, Journal of international relations, Vol. 3, No. 1–4, p. 70–84.
Giles, Howard, Bourhis, R. Y. & Taylor, D. M. (1977), »Towards a theory of language and ethnic group relations«, Language, Ethnicity and Intergroup Relations, (ed. Howard Giles), London: Academic Press, p. 307–344.
Hall , Stuart (1996), “Introduction: Who Needs ‘Identity’?”, Questions of Cultural Identity, (ed. Stuart Hall , Paul du Gay), London – Thousand Oaks – New Delhi: SAGE Publications, p. 1–17.
Interviews with majority and minority representatives (2005–2006).
Jeglič, Luka (2000). Pravica do politične participacije italijanske manjšine v Sloveniji in na Hrvaškem. Ljubljana: FDV.
Jesih, Boris and Vladimir Klemenčič, Vera Klopčič, Sonja Novak-Lukanovič, Albina Nećak-Lük, Janez Stergar, Peter Winkler, Mitja Žagar (1994). Ethnic minorities in Slovenia: on the occasion of the 6th European Conference of Border Regions in Ljubljana (13–15 October 1994). Ljubljana: Institute for Ethnic Studies.
Joint Programming Document (2001): Interreg III A / Phare CBC Italy – Slovenia, 2000–2006. December 2001. Available on: www.gov.si/arr, 24. 4. 2005.
K. G. (2005), Tudi teran povezuje, Primorski dnevnik, 2. 8. 2005, p. 2.
Klemenčič, Matjaž and Vladimir Klemenčič (1997), The role of the border region in the Northern Adriatic in Italy, Croatia and Slovenia in the past and in the process of European integration, Annales: Series historia et sociologia, No. 10, p. 285–294.
Klemenčič, Matjaž and Jernej Zupančič (2004), The Effects of the Dissolution of Yugoslavia on the Minority Rights of Hungarian and Italian Minorities in the Post-Yugoslav States, Nationalities Papers, Vol. 32. No. 4, p. 853–896.
Klopčič, Vera and Sonja Novak - Lukanovič (2004). Report on minority education in Slovenia:
RAXEN_CC National Focal Point Slovenia: Analytical Report PHARE RAXEN_CC Minority Education. Vienna: Inštitut za narodnostna vprašanja – European monitoring centre on racism and xenophobia (EUMC), http://eumc.eu.int/eumc/material/pub/RAXEN/4/edu/CC/EDU-Slovenia-final.pdf, 29. 2. 2006.
Komac, Miran (1999). Protection of ethnic communities in the Republic of Slovenia: vademecum. Ljubljana: Institute for Ethnic Studies.
Nečak Luk, Albina and Boris Jesih, Vera Klopčič, Miran Komac, Sonja Novak - Lukanovič, Renata Mejak, Katalin Hirnok Munda, Mojca Medvešek (2001). Medetnični odnosi in narodna identiteta v slovenski Istri. Ljubljana: Institut za narodnostna vprašanja.
N. N. (2004), Rim razdelil sredstva italijanski manjšini, Primorski dnevnik, 25. 11. 2004, p. 3.
Rener, Tatjana (ed.) (2004). Čezmejni programi med Slovenijo in Italijo: z izkušnjami novim izzivom naproti. Štanjel - Ljubljana: Regionalna pisarna – Urad Vlade RS za informiranje.
Rener, Tatjana (2005). Intermediate Report Interreg IIIA. Štanjel: Regionalna pisarna.
Sedmak, Mateja (2004), »Slovenia: An overview«, The ethno-political encyclopaedia of Europe, (ed. K. Cordell, S. Wolff), Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 505–510.
Single Programming Document 2004–2006 (2004), Ljubljana: Government Office for Structural Policies and Regional Development.
Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Available on: http://www.stat.si, 30. 6. 2005.
Šabec, Ksenija (2005), State of the Art Report on the Italian minority in Slovenia. Available on: http://www.eliamep.gr/eliamep/files/EUROREG_collective_ stateofart%20report_25_Oct05.pdf.
Štrukelj, Inka (1993), »Perceived ethnolinguistic vitality: The Italian setting in Istria«, Kleine Nationen und ethnische Minderheiten im umbruch Europa/Small Nations and Ethnic Minorities in an Emerging Europe (ed. Silvo Devetak, Sergej Flere & Gerhard Seewann), München: Slavica Verlag dr. Anton Kovač, p. 228–236.
Zavratnik Zimic, Simona (2001). Secondary-level educational opportunities for the Italian minority in Slovenia: The example of ‘Slovene’ and ‘Italian’ high schools in the Piran/Pirano municipality. Ljubljana: Institute for Ethnic Studies. Available on: http://www.cemes.org/current/LGI/244-eng.htm, 18. 4. 2005.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors guarantee that the work is their own original creation and does not infringe any statutory or common-law copyright or any proprietary right of any third party. In case of claims by third parties, authors commit their self to defend the interests of the publisher, and shall cover any potential costs.
More in: Submission chapter
