Assessing ethnic vitality in the border area along the Slovenian-Croatian border: selected settlement areas of minority populations

Composition of the Research Team

The project was carried out by a multidisciplinary team of researchers from three institutions in two countries, led by the Institute for Ethnic Studies (Ljubljana), the leading institution for the study of ethnic issues in Slovenia. With the participation of the Institute’s branch in Lendava (Prekmurje), the University of Primorska (Istria), and the leading Croatian Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies (Zagreb), the project enables and provides a new, broad set of data concerning various aspects of ethnicity. Based on the processing and exchange of data, findings, and analysis results, the scientific and research community gains significantly from a set of comparative data that has been missing since the 2002 census and which is standard practice elsewhere (e.g., Schleswig-Holstein, Friesland, Vojvodina, SW Slovakia, Ruthenia, Wallonia).

Methods and Work Plan

Since the representation of individual minorities varies across different parts of the border region, we have developed a methodological framework to ensure sufficient data collection in the field, so that the sample sizes of the subgroups are sufficiently large, statistically reliable, and suitable for further analysis or comparison. Field data collection will primarily consist of survey questionnaires and interviews, supplemented by focus groups to gain a deeper understanding and compare different perspectives on the issue of regulating legal and political status. Questions regarding the (self-)identification of the local population will not be limited to categorical definitions; but rather the population will be enabled to express their (ethnic, linguistic, religious) affiliations in a complex manner across various situations, and the recording of increasingly widespread multifaceted, composite, and fluid affiliations (self-identification) will be adapted accordingly. The concept of ethnic (ethno-linguistic) vitality, as conceived by Giles, Harwood, Bourhis, and others—and as we have demonstrated in the theoretical section—has been expanded through the contextualization of an understanding of status, demographic, and institutional-support factors, the need for which was already indicated by John Edwards in his monograph *Minority Languages and Group Identity: Cases and Categories (2010: 89–90). In doing so, we will also draw on previous research conducted in comparable border regions: the Slovenian-Italian, Slovenian-Austrian, and Slovenian-Hungarian border areas, as listed in Chapter 2. In the event of restrictive anti-COVID-19 measures, we will conduct direct contact with the local population through alternative means (electronically, by telephone, via video conference, or by other means, should it not be possible to establish appropriate remote methods).

Identification of areas for field research – expert selection of the sample

Since, within the framework of the allocated funds (50,000 – 100,000 EUR for a smaller basic project), it is not possible to cover and simultaneously study the entire Slovenian-Croatian border area; therefore, the project will focus on those sub-areas that have exhibited a higher number or a higher proportion of the minority population over a longer period of time. Based on previous analyses and our knowledge of minority settlement areas, we included seven (7) border sub-areas with 15 micro-locations along the entire border—from Istria in the west to Prekmurje in the east—in the expert selection for field analysis. In addition to the 10 micro-locations on the Slovenian side of the border, we have introduced 4 control sub-areas along the Slovenian border in Croatia and 1 in Italy as control points for cross-validation of the quality of the collected data (Table of sub-areas and micro-locations). In each of these, we will conduct at least 30 surveys to ensure the lower limit of statistical reliability, which amounts to a total of at least 450 (=15×30) surveys. The survey will be supervised and conducted by researchers from the project team based on their region of specialization and the location of their institution to facilitate fieldwork, while the most qualified researcher for each specific section will lead the individual fieldwork. Moving from west to east, the fieldwork will be led by: Sara Brezigar (UP, PEF) in Lower Istria (including a micro-location in Italy as a member of the Slovenian national community in Italy) and Stanko Pelc in Lower Istria (UP, PEF), Romana Bešter (INV) in Upper Obkolpje, Miran Komac (INV) in Bela Krajina, Janez Pirc (INV) in Posavje, Damir Josipovič (INV) in Posotelje and Podravje, and Attila Kovacs (INV, Lendava branch, Prekmurje) in Pomurje. On the Croatian side of the border, which the Slovenian part of the team may not be able to access due to restrictive anti-COVID measures, the research will primarily be conducted by researchers based in Croatia: Barbara Riman (INV, Rijeka branch, Croatia) in Upper Istria and Gorski Kotar; a colleague from the partner and central Croatian institution for ethnic and migration studies (Institute for Migration and Ethnicity), Marina Perič Kašelj (IMIN, Zagreb, Croatia) and Filip Škiljan (IMIN, Zagreb, Croatia), will lead the fieldwork at the micro-locations of Hum na Sutli and Štrigova. The four selected cross-border micro-locations on the Croatian side of the border and one on the Italian side will serve as control points and a research counterpoint for a better understanding and contextualization of the processes on the Slovenian side of the border.

Preliminary analysis and data sources:
The preliminary analysis will include a review and analysis of statistical data for a longer time series (based on official census data conducted prior to (1910 for Istria, 1921, 1931) and after World War II—1948, 1953, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001/2002, 2011—for Croatian control micro-locations, as Slovenia no longer collects comparable data after 2002). Statistical sources include official statistical data held by statistical offices, most of which the project team already possesses. The Croatian part of the research group will obtain from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics data on the ethnic structure at the settlement level from the latest 2011 census, which is currently still protected.
The preliminary analysis will also include a review of the relevant literature and the establishment of a project e-library accessible to research group members in electronic form from remote locations.

The fieldwork component of the analysis can be described using a three-stage approach model

1. 1. two-phase survey implementation:
      1. first phase: identification of suitable interviewees who, in specific “ethnic” situations (according to Luhmann), identify as a minority (snowball method and available informants / interlocutors from previous studies) using a module of socio-demographic questions to enable a comparative analysis of border minority populations
      2. second phase: in-depth semi-structured interviews with individuals exposed to minority experiences;
   2. geographical identification of areas with a traditional minority presence:
      1. analytical cartography: preparation of maps incorporating various elements of minority affiliation in combination with spatial quantitative methods;
   3. focus groups with prominent members of minority groups and other key informants

New data obtained through research and dissemination:

In addition to data on ethnic vitality, the identification of ethnic minorities, and quantitative estimates of their membership, political aspirations, and desires to establish or reorganize their minority status, the research also provide insight into the ethnic landscape of the border region following nearly two decades without official census data on ethnicity. Without field research, it is impossible to make even approximate generalizations about the ethnic structure based on outdated data.