Abstract. The article presents an attempt to make sense of Adolf Bibič's oeuvre as a whole. It reveals his broader intellectual (and also political) project along with his coherent and systematic analysis of what may also be understood as the 'possibilities' of political science. We claim that Bibič's various analyses and interventions actually pivot on the question of the future or, even better, the role and position of political science in it. We name this aspect of Bibič's oeuvre the 'political science of the future', which necessarily returns to the history of political ideas and political history to even be able to understand the current political relations and their contradictions. The ambition and capacity of the 'political science of the future' is not merely an explanation of what exists since, as Bibič states, political science is the key science for facing the challenges of the future and, accordingly, vital for our existence – political and physical. Keywords: Adolf Bibič, political science, future, state, democracy, citizenship.
The democratisation and economic growth of the Asian Tigers, specifically South Korea and Taiwan, brought structural changes to the academic systems of these countries, particularly in the fields of political science and international relations. The article aims to provide a comprehensive and hybrid view on the regularity of political science in the academic environments (university systems) of East Asian countries with a focus on South Korea and Taiwan through the observational analysis method and a historical-sociological mechanism. The findings are summarised, where it is argued that the pentagonal democratic citizenship system (legal, political, cultural, social, economic) as well as the establishing of structural and updated political-economic relations with the main powers in the international system are the two crtitcial factors that have contributed to the adjustment of political science in East Asian countries, including South Korea and Taiwan. The article concludes that, along with the international and domestic developments in South Korea and Taiwan, political science underwent structural changes and is becoming more regulated and structured. Keywords: South Korea, Taiwan, political science, democracy, institution
The Slovenian constitution guarantees local self-government to all inhabitants and local self-government can be executed in municipalities and other local communities. Although municipalities are foundational units of local self-government, they experience some very basic problems since the re-establishment in the middle of 1990s; those problems are closely connected with inadequate exercise of subsidiarity and connection principles from in 1996 ratified European charter of local self-government. Slovenia has larger number of undersized municipalities that report problems with normative overload and their administrative incapacity. According to the findings of empirical study presented in the paper, the latter is often the case in municipalities smaller than 5000 inhabitants. The authors are also analysing inadequately defined scope of municipal jurisdiction; Slovenian municipalities are currently responsible for local affairs that affect only municipal inhabitants, and that narrow scope of jurisdiction is in many cases causing problems in managing the municipality, especially in cases of smaller municipalities.
The article reconsiders the problematics of the "Deleuzian heritage" & especially the role played by the Deleuzian concept of deterritorialization in the conceptual framework of the Empire by Hardt & Negri. The concept of deterritorialization has a very special place in Deleuze's theory for it simultaneously makes possible & impossible his analysis of capitalism as well as his theory of the political & democracy. Finally, some consequences following from the ambiguities of this concept in Deleuze are shown for the theoretical edifice of the Empire. Adapted from the source document.
The author starts with the relationship between Badiou's otherwise severe critique of democracy & Lefort's theory of democracy. Though accused of not being democratic, Badiou's theory in a certain sense presupposes democracy & even deepens it, yet not the democracy of today, the democracy of consensus, but a democracy that is not based on exclusion. Through the comparison of Badious's & Deleuze's critiques of representation, the author shows some consequences of Badiou's starting-point that "people think" for the conceptualization of the community, equality, & universality. Adapted from the source document.
Abstract. In this article, we argue that social sciences generally and political science in particular are faced with a peculiar epistemological challenge while researching the state in the 21st century. Namely, the state has often been either naturalised, seen as a static and ahistorical entity resistant to changes in the environment, or naïvely rejected as a form of political organisation that is with neoliberal globalisation withering away. In either instance, the processes of redefining and redistributing of the state, and hence its de-/reterritorialising and rescaling, have largely gone unnoticed. Our analysis reassesses the hegemonic theories of state and shows that in the mainstream of political science research on the state is still anchored to the (geographical) assumptions that limit or even define the state and its exercise of power to a geographically demarcated and fixed territory. Drawing on recent approaches to space, scale and territory, this article calls for a heterodox and pluralist methodology in further research on state as well as non-state spaces. Keywords: the state, non-state spaces, globalisation, territory, political geography
Abstract. The article analyses the innovative Marxist conceptualisation of politics proposed by the Slovenian political scientist Adolf Bibič. The latter built on the contributions of Heglo-Marxists and Gramsci to political theory. At the core of his theory, he placed the question of the political power–class exploitation relationship. He distinguished political politics from self-managing politics, and problematised the dominant Western understandings of politics as well as the theories of elitism and pluralism. Moving away from such theories and dogmatic Marxist notions about the withering away of politics, he formulated his project of humanising politics beyond class exploitation and capitalist relations of production. This project assumed a necessary transformation of political practice in terms of the dialectical process of the socialisation of politics and the politicisation of society. Keywords: Adolf Bibič, politics, political science, class relations, economic exploitation.
V pričujoči raziskavi smo preučili strukturo, dejavnike in posledice politične kulture in državljanske participacije v postjugoslovanskih družbah. Uporabljenih je bilo več virov kvantitativnih podatkov, med drugim raziskava 2.178 študentov družboslovja v osmih postjugoslovanskih entitetah (M starost = 19,8 leta, SD = 1,89) ; reprezentativni vzorci Evropske raziskave vrednot (2008) ; pretekli valovi Svetovne raziskave vrednot (1995/8) in podatki raziskave jugoslovanske mladine (Jupio, 1986). Analiza na agregatni ravni je pokazala, da so v socioekonomsko manj razvitih okoljih (Kosovo, BiH in NJR Makedonija) v večji meri prisotni elementi podložniške politične kulture (Almond in Verba, 1963), v okviru katere so se kot ključni elementi na individualni ravni izkazali avtoritarnost, splošni tradicionalizem, tradicionalni pogled na spolne vloge in nacionalizem. Medentitetne razlike na merah ekonomske kulture (ekonomski egalitarizem in državni paternalizem) so povečini majhne in statistično neznačilne, saj vse entitete na obeh indikatorjih dosegajo visoke povprečne vrednosti. V skladu s predvidevanji dopolnjene modernizacijske teorije je demokratična politična kultura bolj koherentna v socioekonomsko bolj razvitih postjugoslovanskih državah, v nasprotju s teorijo pa manj razvite države dosegajo višje povprečne ravni državljanske participacije. Starost in socioekonomski status sta se izkazala za najmočnejša sociodemografska dejavnika politične kulture in državljanske participacije. Višje stopnje učinkovite demokracije (Inglehart in Welzel, 2007) dosegajo socioekonomsko bolj razvite države, ki izkazujejo tudi najvišje stopnje demokratične politične kulture. Longitudinalna analiza ni pokazala enotne smeri političnokulturnih sprememb ; slednje so v zadnjih dveh desetletjih bile v smeri večanja tako demokratičnih kot tudi nekaterih podložniških orientacij (npr. avtoritarnosti). Avtorji sklenejo, da proces demokratične konsolidacije, tako političnokulturne kot tudi institucionalne, v večini postjugoslovanskih družb še ni končan. Na koncu so predstavljene implikacije raziskave. ; The present study examined structures, determinants and consequences of political culture and citizen participation in post-Yugoslav societies. Several empirical data sources were employed, among others a survey of 2,178 social science students in eight post-Yugoslav entities (M age = 19.8 years, SD = 1.89) ; representative samples from European Values Study (2008), earlier waves of World Values Survey (1995/8) and a study of Yugoslav youth Jupio carried out in 1985. The aggregate level results indicated that socio-economically less developed entities (Kosovo, BiH, and FYR Macedonia) scored higher on subject political culture (Almond and Verba, 1963), which was at the individual level found to be characterized by its four core components: authoritarianism, general traditionalism, traditional gender roles attitudes, and nationalism. Between-country differences on measures of economic cultural orientations (economic egalitarianism and state paternalism) were largely minor or insignificant, since all entities scored high on both measures. As predicted by revised modernization theory democratic political culture was found to be more coherent in socioeconomically more developed post-Yugoslav countries. Inconsistent with modernization approach results demonstrated higher levels of citizen participation in less well-off countries. Age and socioeconomic status proved to be the most potent sociodemographic predictors of political culture and citizen participation. Finally, democracy was found to be more effective (Inglehart and Welzel, 2007) in socioeconomically more developed countries, which also scored highest on measures of democratic political culture. Longitudinal analysis did not uniformly confirm substantive political culture changes with changes in the last two decades taking place in both democratic as well as authoritarian direction. Authors conclude that the process of democratic consolidation, both political-cultural as well as institutional, is far from over in the majority of post-Yugoslav entities. Implications of the results are discussed.
This article provides an overview of censorship and book bans in Austria between 1751 and 1848. It is based on the catalogues and lists of banned manuscripts and books and the available censorship regulations and censors' protocols; moreover, the most important persons involved in censorship such as Gerard van Swieten, Count Sedlnitzky, and Metternich are introduced, and their impact on the book trade is shown. From an instrument encouraging Enlightenment and defending morality during the reign of Maria Teresa and Joseph II, censorship became a major factor of political repression after the French Revolution. The focus moved from the protection of Catholicism against Protestant "heresy" and superstition to the defense of monarchy against liberalism and nationalism. The aim of enlightening the citizens and promoting their happiness pursued during the second half of the eighteenth century was replaced by the will to maintain the "peace" of the state and suppress any ideas that confounded its interests. ; Razprava preučuje cenzuro in prepovedi knjig v Avstriji med letoma 1751 in 1848. Temelji na katalogih in seznamih prepovedanih rokopisov in knjig ter razpoložljivih predpisih o cenzuri in cenzorskih protokolih; poleg tega so predstavljene najpomembnejše osebe, vpletene v cenzuro, kot so Gerard van Swieten, grof Sedlnitzky in Metternich, in prikazan njihov vpliv na knjižni trg. Od instrumenta, ki je spodbujal razsvetljenske ideje in branil moralo, kar je bilo značilno za vladavino Marije Terezije in Jožefa II., je cenzura po francoski revoluciji postala glavni dejavnik politične represije. Težišče se je premaknilo z zaščite katolištva pred protestantsko herezijo« in vraževerjem k obrambi monarhije pred liberalizmom in nacionalizmom. Cilj razsvetljenja državljanov in spodbujanje njihove sreče, ki ga je zasledovala cenzura v drugi polovici 18. stoletja, sta nadomestila volja po ohranjanju »miru« države in za-tiranje vseh idej, ki so bile v navzkrižju z njenimi interesi.
Temporary or permanent, local or international, voluntary or forced, legal or illegal, registered or unregistered migrations of individuals, whole communities or individual groups are an important factor in constructing and modifying (modern) societies. The extent of international migrations is truly immense. At the time of the preparation of this publication more than 200 million people have been involved in migrations in a single year according to the United Nations. Furthermore, three times more wish to migrate, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa towards some of the most economically developed areas of the world according to the estimates by the Gallup Institute (Esipova, 2011). Some authors, although aware that it is not a new phenomenon, talk about the era of migration (Castles, Miller, 2009) or the globalization of migration (Friedman, 2004). The global dimensions of migration are definitely influenced also by the increasingly visible features of modern societies like constantly changing conditions, instability, fluidity, uncertainty etc. (Beck, 2009; Bauman, 2002).The extent, direction, type of migrations and their consequences are affected by many social and natural factors in the areas of emigration and immigration. In addition, researchers from many scientific disciplines who study migrations have raised a wide range of research questions (Boyle, 2009, 96), use a variety of methodological approaches and look for different interpretations in various spatial, temporal and contextual frameworks. The migrations are a complex, multi-layered, variable, contextual process that takes place at several levels. Because of this, research on migrations has become an increasingly interdisciplinary field, since the topics and problems are so complex that they cannot be grasped solely and exclusively from the perspective of a single discipline or theory. Therefore, we are witnessing a profusion of different "faces of migration", which is reflected and at the same time also contributed to by this thematic issue of the journal Ars & Humanitas.While mobility or migration are not new phenomena, as people have moved and migrated throughout the history of mankind, only recently, in the last few decades, has theoretical and research focus on them intensified considerably. In the last two decades a number of research projects, university programs and courses, research institutes, scientific conferences, seminars, magazines, books and other publications, involving research, academia as well as politics and various civil society organizations have emerged. This shows the recent exceptional interest in the issue of migration, both in terms of knowledge of the processes involved, their mapping in the history of mankind, as well as the theoretical development of migration studies and daily management of this politically sensitive issue.Migration affects many entities on many different levels: the individuals, their families and entire communities at the local level in the emigrant societies as well as in the receiving societies. The migration is changing not only the lives of individuals but whole communities and societies, as well as social relations; it is also shifting the cultural patterns and bringing important social transformations (Castles 2010). This of course raises a number of questions, problems and issues ranging from human rights violations to literary achievements. Some of these are addressed by the authors in this thematic issue.The title "Many faces of migration", connecting contributions in this special issue, is borrowed from the already mentioned Gallup Institute's report on global migration (Esipova, 2011). The guiding principle in the selection of the contributions has been their diversity, reflected also in the list of disciplines represented by the authors: sociology, geography, ethnology and cultural anthropology, history, art history, modern Mediterranean studies, gender studies and media studies. Such an approach necessarily leads not only to a diverse, but at least seemingly also incompatible, perhaps even opposing views "on a given topic. However, we did not want to silence the voices of "other" disciplines, but within the reviewing procedures actually invited scientists from the fields represented by the contributors to this volume. The wealth of the selected contributions lies therefore not only in their coherence and complementarity, but also in the diversity of views, stories and interpretations.The paper of Zora Žbontar deals with the attitudes towards foreigners in ancient Greece, where the hospitality to strangers was considered so worthy a virtue that everyone was expected to "demonstrate hospitality and protection to any foreigner who has knocked on their door". The contrast between the hospitality of ancient Greece and the modern emergence of xenophobia and ways of dealing with migration issues in economically developed countries is especially challenging. "In an open gesture of hospitality to strangers the ancient Greeks showed their civilization".Although the aforementioned research by the United Nations and Gallup Institute support some traditional stereotypes of the main global flows of migrants, and the areas about which the potential migrants "dream", Bojan Baskar stresses the coexistence of different migratory desires, migration flows and their interpretations. In his paper he specifically focuses on overcoming and relativising stereotypes as well as theories of immobile and non-enterprising (Alpine) mountain populations and migrations.The different strategies of the crossing borders adopted by migrant women are studied by Mirjana Morokvasic. She marks them as true social innovators, inventing different ways of transnational life resulting in a bottom-up contribution to the integrative processes across Europe. Some of their innovations go as far as to shift diverse real and symbolic boundaries of belonging to a nation, gender, profession.Elaine Burroughs and Zoë O'Reilly highlight the close relations between the otherwise well-established terminology used in statistics and science to label immigrants in Ireland and elsewhere in EU, and the negative representations of certain types of migrants in politics and the public. The discussion focusses particularly on asylum seekers and illegal immigrants who come from outside the EU. The use of language can quickly become a political means of exclusion, therefore the authors propose the development and use of more considerate and balanced migration terminology.Damir Josipovič proposes a change of the focal point for identifying and interpreting the well-studied migrations in the former Yugoslavia. The author suggests changing the dualistic view of these migrations to an integrated, holistic view. Instead of a simplified understanding of these migrations as either international or domestic, voluntary or forced, he proposes a concept of pseudo-voluntary migrations.Maja Korać-Sanderson's contribution highlights an interesting phenomenon in the shift in the traditional patterns of gender roles. The conclusions are derived from the study of the family life of Chinese traders in transitional Serbia. While many studies suggest that child care in recent decades in immigrant societies is generally performed by immigrants, her study reveals that in Serbia, the Chinese merchants entrust the care of their children mostly to local middle class women. The author finds this switch of roles in the "division of labour" in the child care favourable for both parties involved.Francesco Della Puppa focuses on a specific part of the mosaic of contemporary migrations in the Mediterranean: the Bangladeshi immigrant community in the highly industrialized North East of Italy. The results of his in-depth qualitative study reveal the factors that shape this segment of the Bangladeshi diaspora, the experiences of migrants and the effects of migration on their social and biographical trajectories.John A. Schembri and Maria Attard present a snippet of a more typical Mediterranean migration process - immigration to Malta. The authors highlight the reduction in migration between Malta and the United Kingdom, while there is an increase in immigration to Malta from the rest of Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Amongst the various impacts of immigration to Malta the extraordinary concentration of immigrant populations is emphasized, since the population density of Malta far exceeds that of nearly all other European countries.Miha Kozorog studies the link between migration and constructing their places of their origin. On the basis of Ardener's theory the author expresses "remoteness" of the emigratory Slavia Friulana in terms of topology, in relation to other places, rather than in topography. "Remoteness" is formed in relation to the "outside world", to those who speak of "remote areas" from the privileged centres. The example of an artistic event, which organizers aim "to open a place like this to the outside world", "to encourage the production of more cosmopolitan place", shows only the temporary effect of such event on the reduction of the "remoteness".Jani Kozina presents a study of the basic temporal and spatial characteristics of migration "of people in creative occupations" in Slovenia. The definition of this specific segment of the population and approach to study its migrations are principally based on the work of Richard Florida. The author observes that people with creative occupations in Slovenia are very immobile and in this respect quite similar to other professional groups in Slovenia, but also to the people in creative professions in the Southern and Eastern Europe, which are considered to be among the least mobile in Europe. Detailed analyses show that the people in creative occupations from the more developed regions generally migrate more intensely and are also more willing to relocate.Mojca Pajnik and Veronika Bajt study the experiences of migrant women with the access to the labour market in Slovenia. Existing laws and policies push the migrants into a position where, if they want to get to work, have to accept less demanding work. In doing so, the migrant women are targets of stereotyped reactions and practices of discrimination on the basis of sex, age, attributed ethnic and religious affiliation, or some other circumstances, particularly the fact of being migrants. At the same time the latter results in the absence of any protection from the state.Migration studies often assume that the target countries are "modern" and countries of origin "traditional". Anıl Al- Rebholz argues that such a dichotomous conceptualization of modern and traditional further promotes stereotypical, essentialist and homogenizing images of Muslim women in the "western world". On the basis of biographical narratives of young Kurdish and Moroccan women as well as the relationships between mothers and daughters, the author illustrates a variety of strategies of empowerment of young women in the context of transnational migration.A specific face of migration is highlighted in the text of Svenka Savić, namely the face of artistic migration between Slovenia and Serbia after the Second World War. The author explains how more than thirty artists from Slovenia, with their pioneering work in three ensembles (opera, ballet and theatre), significantly contributed to the development of the performing arts in the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad.We believe that in the present thematic issue we have succeeded in capturing an important part of the modern European research dynamic in the field of migration. In addition to well-known scholars in this field several young authors at the beginning their research careers have been shortlisted for the publication. We are glad of their success as it bodes a vibrancy of this research area in the future. At the same time, we were pleased to receive responses to the invitation from representatives of so many disciplines, and that the number of papers received significantly exceeded the maximum volume of the journal. Recognising and understanding of the many faces of migration are important steps towards the comprehensive knowledge needed to successfully meet the challenges of migration issues today and even more so in the future. It is therefore of utmost importance that researchers find ways of transferring their academic knowledge into practice – to all levels of education, the media, the wider public and, of course, the decision makers in local, national and international institutions. The call also applies to all authors in this issue of the journal. ; Začasne ali stalne, lokalne ali mednarodne, prostovoljne ali prisilne, legalne ali ilegalne, registrirane ali neregistrirane migracije posameznic in posameznikov, celih družbenih skupnosti ali posameznih skupin predstavljajo pomemben dejavnik v konstruiranju in spreminjanju (sodobnih) družb. Razsežnosti mednarodnih migracij so resnično ogromne, saj je bilo vanje v času nastajanja te publikacije po ocenah Združenih narodov v enem letu vključenih več kot 200 milijonov ljudi. Po ocenah Gallupovega inštituta pa se jih še trikrat toliko želi preseliti, največ iz podsaharske Afrike ter proti nekaterim gospodarsko najbolj razvitim območjem sveta (Esipova, 2011). Nekateri avtorji zato, čeprav ob zavedanju, da ne gre za nov fenomen, govorijo o dobi migracij (Castles, Miller, 2009) ali o globalizaciji migracij (Friedman, 2004). Zagotovo je na globalne razsežnosti migracij vplivalo tudi to, da so vse bolj vidne značilnosti sodobnih družb nenehno spreminjanje razmer, nestabilnost, fluidnost, negotovost ipd. (Beck, 2009; Bauman, 2002).Na obseg, smeri in vrste migracij ter na njihove posledice vplivajo številni družbeni in naravni dejavniki, tako na območjih odseljevanja kot tudi na območjih priselitev. Poleg tega si raziskovalke in raziskovalci iz številnih znanstvenih disciplin, ki proučujejo migracije, v raziskavah zastavljajo »neverjetno raznovrstna« vprašanja (Boyle, 2009, 96), uporabljajo različne metodološke pristope in iščejo različne interpretacije, in sicer v različnih prostorskih, časovnih in vsebinskih okvirih. Vse bolj prihaja do izraza, da so migracije kompleksen, večplasten, spremenljiv in kontekstualen proces, ki poteka na več ravneh. Prav zaradi tega spoznanja je raziskovanje migracij postajalo vse bolj interdisciplinarno polje, saj so teme in problemi tako kompleksni, da jih ni mogoče zagrabiti zgolj in izključno iz perspektive ene same znanosti ali teorije. Zato smo priča pravemu bogastvu »obrazov migracij«, ki ga odraža ter obenem k njemu tudi prispeva pričujoča tematska številka revije Ars & Humanitas.Čeprav mobilnost oziroma migracije niso nov pojav, saj so se ljudje selili in preseljevali skozi celotno zgodovino človeštva, pa se šele v zadnjem času, v zadnjih nekaj desetletjih, z njimi resno teoretsko in raziskovalno ukvarjamo. V zadnjih dveh desetletjih so se pojavili številni raziskovalni projekti, univerzitetni programi in predmeti, raziskovalni inštituti, znanstvene konference, posveti, revije, knjige in druge publikacije, pri katerih sodelujejo tako raziskovalna in akademska sfera kot tudi politika in različne civilnodružbene organizacije. To priča o v zadnjem času izjemnem zanimanju za vprašanje migracij, tako kar zadeva poznavanje samih procesov in njihovo mapiranje v zgodovini človeštva kot tudi teoretski razvoj migracijskih študij in vsakodnevno urejanje tega politično občutljivega vprašanja.Migracije zadevajo številne subjekte na številnih ravneh: posameznice in posameznike, njihove družine ter celotne skupnosti tako na lokalni ravni v družbi emigracije kakor tudi na vseh teh ravneh v imigrantski družbi. Z migracijami se spreminjajo ne samo življenja posameznikov in posameznic, ampak se spreminjajo celotne skupnosti oziroma družbe in družbeni odnosi, zamikajo se kulturni vzorci, prihaja do pomembnih družbenih transformacij (Castles, 2010). Ob tem se seveda odpirajo številne teme, problemi in vprašanja, ki se gibljejo v širokem razponu od kršenja človekovih pravic do literarnih presežkov. Nekaterih od njih se dotikajo tudi prispevki v pričujoči tematski številki.Povezovalni naslov prispevkov v tej tematski številki revije, »Številni obrazi migracij«, smo si sposodili iz že omenjenega poročila Gallupovega inštituta o globalnih selitvah (Esipova, 2011). Temeljno vsebinsko vodilo pri izbiri prispevkov je bila raznovrstnost, kar nakazuje tudi pregled znanstvenih disciplin, iz katerih prihajajo avtorji: sociologija, geografija, etnologija in kulturna antropologija, zgodovina, umetnostna zgodovina, sodobne sredozemske študije, študiji spola in medijski študiji. Tak pristop nujno pripelje ne le do raznolikih, ampak tudi do vsaj navidezno neskladnih, morda celo nasprotnih pogledov na obravnavane tematike. Vendar nismo želeli utišati glasov iz »drugih« znanstvenih disciplin, temveč smo raje v recenzentske postopke povabili znanstvenike s področij, s katerih so tudi avtorji. Bogastvo zbranih prispevkov torej ni v njihovi medsebojni skladnosti in potrjevanju, temveč prav v mnogoterosti pogledov, zgodb in interpretacij.Prispevek Zore Žbontar obravnava odnos do tujcev v antični Grčiji, kjer je bilo gostoljubje do tujcev tako častivredna vrlina, da je vsak moral »izkazati gostoljubje in zaščititi kateregakoli tujca, ki je potrkal na vrata«. Zlasti je izzivalen kontrast med gostoljubjem v antični Grčiji in sodobnim pojavljanjem ksenofobije ter načini soočanja z migracijsko problematiko v gospodarsko razvitih državah. »Antični Grki so v odprti gesti gostoljubja do tujcev prepoznali svojo civiliziranost.«Čeprav omenjene raziskave Združenih narodov in Gallupovega inštituta podpirajo nekatere uveljavljene stereotipe o glavnih globalnih tokovih migrantov ter o območjih, o katerih »sanjajo« potencialni migranti, Bojan Baskar opozarja na sočasen obstoj tudi drugačnih migracijskih želja, tokov migracij in njihovih interpretacij. Posebej se osredotoči na preseganje in relativizacijo stereotipov in teorij o nemobilnem in nepodjetnem (alpskem) hribovskem prebivalstvu in migracijah.O tem, kako različne strategije pri prehajanju, prestopanju in prečkanju meja razvijejo migrantke, piše Mirjana Morokvasic. Označi jih kot prave socialne inovatorke, ki izumijo različne načine transnacionalnega življenja in tako od spodaj navzgor prispevajo k integrativnim procesom po vsej Evropi. V svoji inovativnosti gredo nekatere tako daleč, da premikajo različne, tako realne kot simbolne meje pripadanja naciji, spolu in poklicu.Elaine Burroughs in Zoë O'Reilly izpostavita tesno povezanost med sicer uveljavljeno terminologijo, s katero v statistiki in tudi znanosti označujejo imigrante na Irskem in širše v EU, ter negativnimi reprezentacijami nekaterih tipov migrantov v politiki in javnosti. Razpravo navežeta zlasti na iskalce azila in nezakonite priseljence, ki pridejo iz držav zunaj EU. Raba jezika lahko hitro postane politični način izključevanja, zato predlagata razvoj in uporabo obzirnejše in pravičnejše migracijske terminologije.Za spremembo izhodišča opredeljevanja in interpretacije sicer dobro proučenih selitev v nekdanji Jugoslaviji se zavzame Damir Josipovič. Predlaga zamenjavo dualističnega pogleda na te migracije s celostnim. Namesto njihovega poenostavljenega razumevanja kot mednarodnih in notranjih ali prostovoljnih in prisilnih migracij pa se zavzema za koncept psevdoprostovoljnih migracij.Na zanimiv fenomen zamikanja ustaljenih vzorcev spolnih vlog opozori tekst Maje Korać-Sanderson, katere zaključki izhajajo iz študije družinskega življenja kitajskih trgovcev v tranzicijski Srbiji. Medtem ko številne študije ugotavljajo, da skrbstveno delo v zadnjih desetletjih v imigrantskih družbah v glavnem opravljajo migrantke, njena študija ugotavlja, da v Srbiji kitajske trgovke skrb za svoje otroke večinoma zaupajo lokalnim ženskam srednjega razreda. Ta obrat vlog pri »delitvi dela« v skrbstveni sferi, ugotavlja avtorica, je v prid obema vpletenima stranema.Specifičen del mozaika sodobnih migracij v Sredozemlju, bangladeške skupnosti imigrantov na visoko industrializiranem severovzhodu Italije, razkriva Francesco Della Puppa. Izsledki poglobljenega kvalitativnega proučevanja odstirajo dejavnike, ki oblikujejo ta segment bangladeške diaspore, izkušnje migrantov ter učinke selitve na njihove družbene in biografske trajektorije.Izsek iz bolj tipičnih sredozemskih migracijskih procesov na primeru priseljevanja na Malto predstavita John A. Schembri in Maria Attard. Ugotavljata zmanjševanje števila selitev med Malto in Veliko Britanijo ob hkratnem povečevanju priseljevanja iz ostalih držav Evrope in podsaharske Afrike. Med učinki priseljevanja na Malto izpostavita izredno zgoščenost priseljenega prebivalstva, ki presega gostote celotnih prebivalstev v nekaterih evropskih državah.Miha Kozorog obravnava povezavo med migracijami in konstruiranjem krajev, iz katerih te migracije izvirajo. S pomočjo Ardenerjeve teorije »odročnost« izrazito emigracijske Benečije izrazi ne toliko v topografskem kot v topološkem smislu, v razmerju do drugih krajev. »Odročnost« nastaja v razmerju z »zunanjim svetom«, s tistimi, ki govorijo o »odročnih krajih« iz privilegiranih središč. Na primeru umetniškega dogodka, s katerim želijo organizatorji »odpreti tak kraj zunanjemu svetu« in »spodbuditi produkcijo bolj svetovljanskega kraja«, pokaže zgolj začasnost učinka tega dogodka na zmanjšanje »odročnosti«.O temeljnih časovnih in prostorskih značilnostih selitev »prebivalcev z ustvarjalnim poklicem« v Sloveniji piše Jani Kozina. Pri opredeljevanju tega specifičnega dela prebivalstva in pristopa k proučevanju njegovega migriranja se opre zlasti na dela Richarda Floride. Ugotavlja, da so prebivalci z ustvarjalnim poklicem v Sloveniji prostorsko zelo nemobilni in po tem kriteriju precej podobni ostalim poklicnim skupinam v Sloveniji, obenem pa tudi prebivalcem z ustvarjalnimi poklici v južni in vzhodni Evropi, za katere velja, da so med najmanj mobilnimi v Evropi. Podrobnejše analize pokažejo, da se ustvarjalci bolj razvitih regij načeloma intenzivneje selijo in so tudi v večji meri pripravljeni na selitev.O izkušnjah migrantk pri dostopu do trga delovne sile v Sloveniji govori članek Mojce Pajnik in Veronike Bajt. Obstoječa zakonodaja in posamezne politike namreč migrantke potiskajo v položaj, ko, če hočejo priti do zaposlitve, pristajajo na manj zahtevna dela. Pri tem so tarče stereotipnih reakcij in praks diskriminiranja tako na podlagi spola kot tudi starosti, pripisane etnične in religiozne pripadnosti ali kakšne druge okoliščine, še posebej dejstva, da so migrantke. Obenem pa prav zadnje vpliva na to, da s strani države niso deležne nikakršne zaščite.Migracijske študije pogosto domnevajo, da so ciljne države »moderne«, države izvora pa »tradicionalne«. Razprava Anıl Al-Rebholz ugotavlja, da takšna dihotomija pojmovanja modernega in tradicionalnega dodatno spodbuja stereotipne, esencialistične in homogenizirajoče predstave o muslimanskih ženskah v »zahodnem svetu«. Na podlagi biografskih pripovedi mlade Maročanke in Kurdinje ter razmerij med materami in hčerami prikaže raznolike strategije opolnomočenja mladih žensk v transnacionalnem migracijskem kontekstu.Specifični obraz migracij prinaša tekst Svenke Savić, namreč obraz umetniških migracij med Slovenijo in Srbijo po drugi svetovni vojni. Avtorica v njem ugotavlja, da je v treh ansamblih (opernem, gledališkem in baletnem) več kot trideset umetnic in umetnikov iz Slovenije s svojim pionirskim delom pomembno zaznamovalo razvoj gledališke umetnosti v Srbskem narodnem gledališču v Novem Sadu.Verjamemo, da nam je uspelo v pričujočo tematsko številko ujeti pomemben del sodobnega evropskega raziskovalskega utripa s področja migracij. Poleg uveljavljenih znanstvenikov s tega področja se je v ožji izbor prispevkov uvrstilo tudi več mladih avtoric in avtorjev, ki začenjajo raziskovalne kariere. Njihov uspeh nas veseli, saj obeta živahnost tega raziskovalnega področja tudi v bodoče. Obenem nas veseli, da so se vabilu odzvali predstavniki tako številnih znanstvenih disciplin ter da je število prispevkov, ki smo jih prejeli, znatno presegalo največji možni obseg revije. Spoznavanje in razumevanje številnih obrazov migracij sta pomembna koraka proti celovitemu znanju, potrebnemu za uspešno soočanje z izzivi migracijske problematike danes in, kot kaže, še posebej v prihodnosti. Zato je izjemnega pomena, da raziskovalci najdemo načine prenosa svojih znanstvenih spoznanj v prakso – na vse ravni izobraževanja, v medije, širše strokovne javnosti ter seveda tudi odločevalcem v lokalnih, državnih in mednarodnih ustanovah. Poziv velja tudi vsem avtorjem prispevkov v tej številke revije.