May 6, 2011
History teaches that people – individuals, tribes, nations – have always migrated, often driven by wars, often looking for a better life, in order to meet with their families, but also out of curiosity and joy, wishing to see foreign parts or to enjoy more freedom. But only with the establishment of national states in the first half of the 19th century have common language, history and culture – the common origin and long-lasting territorial co-habitation – become an important factor in the treatment of the population. The state started to count, record and classify those who belong “to us” and those who do not. When we proudly talk about the wealth and diversity of our cultural heritage and our many local and regional identities, we tend to forget that these have been created partly also through acceptance and integration of the influences of “the others”, those who came to live with us and those who left their home-country to live elsewhere and then perhaps returned home – changed by their lives in foreign lands.
Where do we come from? Where do our fathers and grandfathers come from? What residues have they left in us?
Do we have contacts with non-Slovenes? What kind of contacts?
What have we learnt and accepted from them?
What bothers us? What it difficult for us to accept? Do we feel threatened? Are we (in)tolerant? Why?
What are the obstacles in building good relations with other ethnic groups within our society and what activities foster our cooperation and integration (language, values, religion, customs)?
These are the issues we will reflect on and discuss at the 3rd DANET panel in Ljubljana.
Mia Torrens on
