90 let Inštituta za narodnostna vprašanja: 1925-2015

The historically grounded need to research the ethnic dimension in society exists in every period and is an indicator of every community’s orientation, understanding, and respect for diversity. The tendency to understand and respect diversity is a constant in the research orientation of the Institute for Ethnic Studies. In the nine decades of existence and development of the Institute for Ethnic Studies and its predecessors, minority and ethnic studies, as a distinctly multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary field, have made an important contribution to the development of Slovenian and international science, especially in the humanities and social sciences.

Throughout all periods, despite various socio-political situations, have been aware that national or ethnic minorities are not static communities, but that various dynamic processes are taking place within them and in their relations with other communities, which change the communities and their position in a given territory over time.

Researchers at the Institute for Ethnic Studies focus their attention on their home country and immediate neighborhood, as well as on Europe and the world. They generate knowledge, including original data and theoretical foundations, that is relevant not only for Slovenia but also for the development of science in general, with their work successfully passing the critical scrutiny of the international professional community and also contributes to the development of concepts and models of minority protection and legal standards for minority rights.

-prof. Sonja Novak Lukanovič, PhD