Research
- Research Programmes
- Research Infrastructure
- Research Projects
- 5xPRO Consortium of Project Management Offices for Strengthening Excellence, Interdisciplinarity and
- Financial Networks in the Shadow of Economic Nationalism: A Comparative Study of the Territories of
- The SPOZNAJ Project
- The Changing Discursive Semantics of EU Representations: Identity, Populism, Propaganda
- Analysis of and Responses to Extremist Narratives (ARENAS)
- Slovenian Verbal Valency: Syntax, Semantics, and Use
- Systems of care and education of children with sensory disabilities in the first and second Yugoslav
- Everyday life and life course of old people living in poverty
- Prospects and Boundaries of International Friendship: Polish-Yugoslav Relations between 1956 and 196
- Sin, Shame, Symptom: suicide and its perceptions in Slovenia (1850–2000)
- Slovenian history on a small scale. Continuity and change in a village community in a long-term pers
- Urban Futures: Imagining and Activating Possibilities in Unsettled Times
- Etnografija tišin(e)
- Cultural-historical aspects of senescence: experiences, representations, identities
- Creating, maintaining, reusing:border commissions as the key for understanding contemporary borders
- Completed Projects
- Visiting Fellowship Program
Creating, Maintaining, Reusing
Border Commissions as the Key for Understanding Contemporary Borders - CREMARE
Code: J6-2574 SICRIS
Sponsor: Javna agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije (ARRS)
Web page: https://cremare.inz.si/
Period: September 1, 2020 - August 31, 2024
Head: dr. Marko Zajc
Partners and researchers involved:
- Iinstitute of Contemporary History: Marko Zajc, Jurij Hadalin, Filip Čuček, Žarko Lazarević, Neja Blaj Hribar, Nataša Henig Miščič, Maja Lukanc, Bojan Godeša, Saša Hajzler.
- Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Anton Melik Geographical Institute: Matija Zorn, Rok Ciglič, Mateja Breg Valjavec, Primož Gašperič, Mauro Hrvatin, Matjaž Geršič, Jure Tičar, Erik Logar, Manca Volk Bahun.
- University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts: Jernej Kosi, Rok Stergar.
- University of Primorska, Faculty of Humanities: Aleksander Panjek, Petra Kavrečič.
About the Project
All borders are historical. The history of any border is not merely an underlying story, but is ingrained in its very structure. The way in which it has been constructed and maintained (why, how, when, where, and who has created it) contributes to the characteristics of contemporary borders. The border commissions that have created and/or maintained a specific border are of vital importance for its detailed understanding. It is not possible to understand the current borders without knowing the work of the border commissions. The repeated strengthening of the borders is one of the greatest challenges in contemporary Europe (securitisation of migrations, border fences, Brexit). If before 2015 the borders within the EU were seen as an anachronism, the 2015 Refugee crisis showed that the specific characteristics of the individual borders were exceedingly important. Only the knowledge of the complex heritage of individual borders allows for a successful and humane management of state borders. Border commissions are a legal tool for political entities to settle their mutual borders on an equal basis. Commission members include officials and experts. Border commissions may also be implemented by the political entities that are not independent. Some border commissions also include the "third factor": the federal authority, representatives of superpowers, etc. It is difficult to define the difference between bilateral joint commissions and multilateral commissions. According to their function, commissions can be divided into the following: a) those that define the border; b) those that maintain the border. In terms of duration, we can divide them as follows: a) permanent (e.g. border commissions addressing border rivers); b) special, "ad hoc" (addressing particular issues/disputes).
Scientific Background:
“Back to the line” / borders as objects
The material and historical aspects of the borders are at the forefront of our research. As objects, borders constitute a part of dynamic border processes (Passi 2012).
“Borders last longer than states”
Political borders can outlive the states that created them. In this sense, borders are more persistent as states.
Phantom borders and administrative legacy
Phantom borders are the former political borders that keep structuring the modern world. Administrative legacy is closely connected to the development of the modern territorial state
Basic research questions (RQ) in the longue durée perspective: Creating borders, Maintaining borders, Reusing borders
Objectives:
Scientific objectives: A better understanding of the manner in which borders as objects can conserve the past and co-create space and time.
Social objectives: 1. The potential influence on the public: overcoming the nationalistic, anachronistic, and deterministic outlooks; a better understanding of the complex processes of boundaries. 2. The potential influence on the practice of border management in the Republic of Slovenia and the EU: the understanding of the legacy of the concrete borders is vital for the management of borders as objects.
