(Re)forming the view of the socialist past: politics of memory and primary education in post-socialist Slovenia (1991–2004)

Project Code: Z6-70208

Project description:

The project analyzes the historical development of post-socialist politics of memory in Slovenia, with a focus on its relationship with primary education – an institutional setting with long-term influence on attitudes toward the past. The research is structured around three case studies: (1) parliament, MPs, and other state actors; (2) the government and its bodies relevant to education, including the Ministry of Education, the Education Inspectorate, and the National Education Institute of Slovenia; and (3) the supranational context, mainly EU integration, and its relationship to memory politics and education policy. Focusing on the period between Slovenia’s independence in 1991 and its accession to the EU and NATO in 2004, the project approaches the post-socialist state as an actor facilitating exchanges of policies and practices across state, transnational, and local levels.

Project aims:

1. To reconstruct how post-socialist memory politics were articulated, debated, and institutionalized within Slovenia’s parliament, government, and related state bodies between 1991 and 2004.
2. To examine how state policies concerning the socialist past intersected with primary education, including their implementation, negotiation, and adaptation through institutional procedures, expert guidance, and everyday practices.
3. To identify continuities and discontinuities between socialist and post-socialist educational and memory practices, and to analyze how these developments were shaped by state-building, democratization, and European integration.

Documents:

• Data Management Plan (slo)
• Communication Strategy (slo)