Freedom of speech and press; its restriction in Slovenia (1945-1991)

Project Code: J6-0946

SICRIS

The purpose of the project is systematic research into the concept of freedom of speech and the press in the period of Socialism and historical reconstruction of the system of political censorship in Slovenia from the creation of Socialist Yugoslavia in 1945 to its collapse. The focus of the research will be on forms and methods of political censorship in the fields of culture, science and the media. The proposed theme has not to date been systematically studied, so the project will fill a major gap in knowledge and understanding of Slovene history in the period of Socialism. The research will embrace the relation of Slovene (Yugoslav) authorities to freedom of speech and the press on both normative and declarative levels, as well as on the actual level, and at the same time comparative analyses will be carried out on the basis of relevant literature. Because of the lack of research into the proposed theme, the central and most extensive part of the project will be systematic analysis of cases of political censorship, through which, taking account of the wider historical context, light will be shed on the actual level of freedom of expression and forms of its restriction in Slovenia through the entire period of Socialism. The level of freedom of speech and press, namely, over a prolonged time period, also oscillates within authoritarian and totalitarian systems, and it is not possible to identify elements, which caused raising and lowering of the threshold of tolerance of the Communist authorities, without taking into account the wider historical circumstances. The research work will be based on contemporary historical and sociological scientific methods, and predominantly on critical analysis and interpretation of historical sources, in particular archive material. The results of the research will be brought together in scientific texts, which will be of direct use both in historiography and for numerous other scientific fields.