Management through spiritual self-help discourse in post-socialist Slovenia

From the 1990s, during and after the post-communist transitions in Eastern Europe, different self-help texts advancing spiritual or personal well-being continue to be a highly popular discourse in Slovenia. In this article we examine the appropriation of self-help discourse in one of Slovenia's most influential management magazines, Manager. On the basis of a critical discourse analysis of Manager's articles, we argue that the magazine predominantly uses spiritual self-help vocabulary and accordingly transforms definitions of basic business vocabulary. It offers a spiritual self-growth discourse as a solution to any current management or social problems and in doing so supports the (neo)liberal capitalism. This discourse attempts to advise managers as to how to adapt to the new competitive business environment. It furthermore promotes the belief that solely spiritual self-growth will help managers and their business partners to resist political and economic barriers and assure the business success in times of global corporate `survival'

'I want to leave Slovenia for a sunny, relaxed and open Australia': imagining Australia in Slovenia

This article deals with the imagery of 'Australia' in contemporary Slovenia. In an analysis of both Slovene media texts and interviews with 32 Slovenes who want to immigrate to Australia, we explore a constructed image of Australia. We closely consider the symbolic imagery that shapes our informants' discourses about Australia in order to focus on sociocultural elements of migration, where the imagination plays a key role. We suggest that a closer examination of Slovene informants' narratives about Australia will reveal more important contemporary global migration factors and the power of media in affecting potential migrants' migration decisions. The article assesses the image of Australia in Slovenia, with the overall objective of demonstrating the urgency of critically rethinking the sense of belonging to both motherland and host country. We suggest that images and stereotypes of Australia are not just invented, but are also actively encouraged and negotiated within Slovene society