Sustainable development through morphogenetic analysis: The case of Slovenia

This article addresses Slovenia as a case of a post -communist country in terms of its sustainable development. It deploys an in -depth historical analysis and extensive empirical data while exploring Slovenian society through the analytical lens of morpho-static/morphogenetic approach (Archer 2017). The focus is on (1) the country’s structural and cultural settings in each selected period in order to explore whether there has been a mutual reinforcement of the levels of both, contributing to the sustainable development; (2) ways in which agents respond to such changes reinforcing or changing the structural settings. The selection of quantitative structural indicators of sustainable development is based on the indicators of sustainable development that have a direct reference to the Sustainable Development Agenda of the United Nations 2030 and also adopted by the current Strategy of Development of Slovenia. The selection of survey data was based on their connection with the same sustainability issues and their availability for a longer period, particularly close to the time points of the cycles observed. The findings show that in terms of contributing to sustainable development, the presence of morphogenesis in the selected cycles turns out to be rather limited, and there is a severe lack of political reflexivity (cf. Al -Amoudi 2017) among actors

Sociology - Slovenia

Analysis of the pre-1989 situation; Redefinition of the discipline since 1990; Core theoretical and methodological orientations; Quantitative and qualitative methods; Thematic orientation and funding; Public space and academic debates; Views on further development

Vom Bewußtsein zum Benehmen: individuelle, soziale und ökologische Verantwortung der slowenischen Jugend

Individualization trends encouraging young people to focus on their achievements seem to contradict the need for socially and environmentally sustainable behavior, and this requires additional empirical testing. The purpose of this paper is to present and provide basic testing of an original model of responsible behavior. The model is inspired by the theory of planned behavior distinguishing between consciousness, intentions, and behavior. The presented model applies these to an individual as well as to social and environmental responsibility while taking into account the social, technological, and natural environments. The research is based on the presumption that it is crucial to connect the individual dimension of responsibility with the environmental and social dimensions to achieve environmental and social sustainability at the micro-level. Data for the preliminary testing of the model was collected from an online social survey among Slovenian youth and analyzed through partial correlations and path analysis. The results show that individual responsibility is strongly connected to social and environmental responsibilities, but only in terms of behavior, and not values and intentions. Responsibility is also strongly connected to the social and technological environment, especially to the ways how young people are using digital technology.Trendovi individualizacije koji potiču mlade da se usredotoče na svoje postignuća su naizgled nesumjerljivi s potrebom za društvenim i ekološkim održivim ponašanjem, te je nužno provesti empirijska istraživanja kojima bi se ova teza provjerila. Svrha ovog rada je provesti osnovno testiranje originalno oblikovanog modela odgovornog ponašanja i predstaviti rezultate. Model je nadahnut teorijom planiranog ponašanja koja razlikuje svijest, namjeru i ponašanje. Model koji predstavljamo primjenjuje navedene koncepte na pojedinačnu i društvenu ekološku odgovornost, uzimajući u obzir socijalni, tehnološki i prirodni kontekst. Istraživanje se temelji na pretpostavci da je važno povezati individualnu dimenziju odgovornosti s ekološkom i socijalnom dimenzijom kako bi se postigla ekološka i socijalna održivost na mikro razini. Podaci za preliminarno testiranje modela prikupljeni su online anketnim istraživanjem među slovenskom omladinom, a rezultati su analizirani pomoću parcijalnih korelacija i tehnike analize puta. Rezultati pokazuju da je individualna odgovornost snažno povezana s društvenom i ekološkom odgovornosti, ali samo kod ponašanja, ne i vrijednosti i namjera. Odgovornost je također čvrsto povezana sa socijalnim i tehnološkim kontekstom, posebno s načinima na koji mladi koriste digitalnu tehnologiju.Die Individualisierungstrends, die junge Leute dazu anregen, sich auf die eigenen Errungenschaften zu fokussieren, scheinen mit dem Bedürfnis nach einem sozial und ökologisch nachhaltigen Benehmen inkompatibel zu sein, es ist also notwendig, empirische Forschung durchzuführen, die diese These überprüfen sollte. Der Zweck dieser Arbeit iste es, eine grundlegende Prüfung des originell gebildeten Modells des verantwortlichen Benehmens durchzuführen und die Ergebnisse zu präsentieren. Das Modell ist von der Theorie des geplanten Benehmens inspiriert, die das Bewußtsein, die Absicht und das Benehmen unterscheidet. Das hier vorgestellte Modell wendet die genannten Konzepte an individuelle und sozialökologische Verantwortung an und zieht dabei den sozialen, technologischen und natürlichen Kontext in Betracht. Die Forschung beruht auf der Annahme, dass es wichtig ist, die individuelle Dimension der Verantwortung mit der ökologischen und sozialen zu verbinden, um eine ökologische und soziale Nachhaltigkeit auf der Mikroebene zu behalten. Die Daten für eine vorübergehende Prüfung des Modells wurden durch eine online-Umfrage der slowenischen Jugend gesammelt und die Resultate mit Hilfe der partiellen Korrelationen und Techniken der Weganalyse analysiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die individuelle Verantwortung stark mit der sozialen und ökologischen Verantwortung verbunden ist, aber nur beim Benehmen und nicht bei Werten und Absichten. Die Verantwortung ist auch fest mit dem sozialen und technologischen Kontext verbunden, insbesondere mit der Art und Weise, wie junge Leute mit der digitalen Technologie umgehen

National Development Generates National Identities

The purpose of the article is to test the relationship between national identities and modernisation. We test the hypotheses that not all forms of identity are equally compatible with modernisation as measured by Human Development Index. The less developed societies are characterised by strong ascribed national identities based on birth, territory and religion, but also by strong voluntarist identities based on civic features selected and/or achieved by an individual. While the former decreases with further modernisation, the latter may either decrease or remain at high levels and coexist with instrumental supranational identifications, typical for the most developed countries. The results, which are also confirmed by multilevel regression models, thus demonstrate that increasing modernisation in terms of development contributes to the shifts from classical, especially ascribed, identities towards instrumental identifications. These findings are particularly relevant in the turbulent times increasingly dominated by the hardly predictable effects of the recent mass migrations

Gesellschaftliche Wandel und Transition im Licht der Gesellschaftswissenschaften: Das Beispiel Slowenien

Autori se bave pitanjem kako su se društvene znanosti, tj. sociologija, politologija i ekonomija u Sloveniji u devedesetim godinama XX. stoljeća svojim istraživačkim radom odazivale na izazove povezane s uspostavljanjem predstavnič ke demokracije, tržišne ekonomije i vlastite državnosti. Otkrivaju vrlo temeljitu pokrivenost nekih istraživačkih područ ja i istodobno skromniji istraživački odziv na neke druge relevantne dvojbe i izazove (npr. stratifikaciju, strukture političkih stranaka, sudstvo itd.). Otvorenost ka međunarodnom istraživanju je prilično velika, iako bi morala, s obzirom na malobrojnost slovenskoga društva i njegova znanstvenog zajedništva, biti još veća.The authors deal with the issue, how social sciences, i.e. sociology, political science and economics, reflected in their research the challenges in Slovenia of the 1990s, related to the establishment of representative democracy, market economy and statehood. They note a very high level of research interest and substantial results in some areas, while some other relevant topics (e.g. stratification, the structures of political parties, judiciary, etc.) are quite modest. There is a high level of openness to the international research community, though it should be even greater, especially due to the small size of the Slovene society and its scientific community.Die Verfasser beschäftigen sich in ihrer Arbeit mit der Frage, inwiefern die Gesellschaftswissenschaften, d.h. inwiefern die Forschungstätigkeit im Bereich von Soziologie, Politologie und Ökonomie in den 90er Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts in Slowenien den Herausforderungen, die mit der Einführung von Repräsentativdemokratie, Marktwirtschaft und Eigenstaatlichkeit einhergingen, gerecht werden konnte. Es erweist sich, dass bestimmte Forschungsgebiete sehr gründlich abgedeckt waren; wiederum andere relevante Fragen (z.B. Stratifizierung, Struktur politischer Parteien, Gerichtsbarkeit) stießen bei den Wissenschaftlern auf ein geringes Interesse. In Slowenien ist eine recht große Offenheit für die internationale Forschung zu beobachten, doch müsste dieses Interesse noch größer sein, da die slowenische Gesellschaft und ihre wissenschaftliche Gemeinde nicht sehr umfangreich sind

The Strength of Pro-European Consensus Among Slovenian Political Elites

In this article, the authors analyse attitudes of Slovenian political elites towards EU and the process of European integration on general in the period of crisis. Namely, during the EU accession period, there was a strong consensus among political elites and in general public on desirability of country's integration into European institutional framework. However, the 2008 crisis that strongly affected Slovenian economy and society brought the rise of negative attitudes towards EU and other Western supra-national political entities. The main thesis is that the Europeanness of Slovenian political elites is rather ambivalent since its attitudes are diverging and often inconsistent

Meta-reflexivity for resilience against disinformation

The rise of digital media contributes to fake news and disinformation being circulated on a larger scale and pace. The central aim of the work is to consider the potentials of individuals to actively respond to disinformation and fake news. In that regard, the authors rely on Archer’s theoretical framework of reflexivity and its modes. It is argued that a specific mode of reflexivity, namely meta-reflexivity, can enable people to take a critical distance towards media messaging. The method involves the Reflexivity Measurement Tool (RMT) to provide an approximate assessment of one’s reflexivity in terms of quantitative scores. The survey has been conducted in Slovenia on a representative national sample and path analysis is applied to identify the relationship between demographic features, media exposure, reflexivity and fact-checking. The results show how age and education affect media preferences, in terms of how frequently an individual is exposed to a particular type of media. Younger people, women and persons with tertiary education are more meta-reflexive, which contributes to their active response to disinformation. It is concluded that meta-reflexivity is essential but not sufficient to produce an active response of individuals to disinformation. Need for professional fact-checking-services and media education is discussed

Terrorist attacks sharpen the binary perception of "Us" vs. "Them"

Terrorist attacks not only harm citizens but also shift their attention, which has long-lasting impacts on public opinion and government policies. Yet measuring the changes in public attention beyond media coverage has been methodologically challenging. Here we approach this problem by starting from Wikipedia's r\'epertoire of 5.8 million articles and a sample of 15 recent terrorist attacks. We deploy a complex exclusion procedure to identify topics and themes that consistently received a significant increase in attention due to these incidents. Examining their contents reveals a clear picture: terrorist attacks foster establishing a sharp boundary between "Us" (the target society) and "Them" (the terrorist as the enemy). In the midst of this, one seeks to construct identities of both sides. This triggers curiosity to learn more about "Them" and soul-search for a clearer understanding of "Us". This systematic analysis of public reactions to disruptive events could help mitigate their societal consequences.Comment: Peer-reviewed; Publishe

Rast kompleksnosti kot smer evolucije?

Avtor poudarja, da je sta bila že Spencer in Durkheim, še bolj očitno pa Weber in Parsons, skeptična do nekaterih predpostavk o družbeni evoluciji kot nujnem napredku in/ali kot uresničevanju določenega načrta. Čeprav so človeški akterji in družbeni sistemi zmožni načrtovanja, njihovo načrtovanje niti ne nasprotuje niti ne spreminja splošne logike evolucije, ki temelji na "slepi" variaciji in selekciji. Dolgoročno lahko ta logika, kljub nekaterim izjemam, na splošno vodi k preživetju sistemov z boljšo adaptabilnostjo. Kompleksnost lahko prispeva k večji adaptabilnosti, še posebno če upoštevamo rast kompleksnosti okolja in Ashbyjev zakon potrebne raznovrstnosti.The author emphasises that Spencer and Durheim, and even more clearly Weber and Parsons, have already been sceptical about some assumptions which understand societal evolution as the inevitable progress or the fulfilment of a certain plan. Though human actors and social systems are capable of planning, their planning neither contradicts nor changes the general logic of the evolution based on "blind" variation and selection. Despite some exceptions this logic may, in the long run, generally lead to the survival of the systems with the superior adaptability. Complexity may contribute to greater adaptability, especially if the growth of environmental complexity and Ashby\u27s law of requisite variety are taken into account

Slovenian Pulse 4/2010

The study focuses on perception of person's own material conditions and satisfaction with it relatively to evaluation of material conditions of Slovenia in general, assessment of Slovenian society class structure on the basis of self-classification in social classes. Perception of economic crisis with its fears and suspense can be analysed related to the distribution of economic crisis perception in the social structure framework, to political party preferences and to some other topical questions.The study focuses on perception of person's own material conditions and satisfaction with it relatively to evaluation of material conditions of Slovenia in general, assessment of Slovenian society class structure on the basis of self-classification in social classes. Perception of economic crisis with its fears and suspense can be analysed related to the distribution of economic crisis perception in the social structure framework, to political party preferences and to some other topical questions