Institute for Ethnic Studies

Originating in 1925 as the Minority Institute, the Institute for Ethnic Studies (IES) is a public research institution operating in the field of ethnic studies, which investigates, in an interdisciplinary way, the following issues: Slovene ethnic questions; the status of Slovene ethnic communities in Italy, Austria and Hungary; the status of Slovenes in the successor states of the former Yugoslavia; the status of Slovene emigrants and of ethnic communities (national minorities and other ethnic groups) in Slovenia; the status of migrants in Slovenia; the theory and methodology of the research of ethnic topics; and the forms of ethnic issues (ethnicity, nationalism) in Europe and worldwide. IES is the successor of the Minority Institute, which in the period 1925-1941 functioned in Ljubljana as one of the first research institutions of its kind in the world, mostly dealing with the status of Slovenes in the neighbouring countries and of German and Hungarian minorities in Slovenia. When Slovene territory was occupied, the Institute was liquidated for fear that its materials would fall into the hands of occupiers. However, as early as January 1944, the Scientific Institute was founded in liberated territory within the Executive Committee of the Liberation Front. This institute continued, as the only institution of its kind in Occupied Europe, the work of the Minority Institute. By 1948 the Department for Border Issues had been transformed into the Institute for Ethnic Studies. From 1948 to 1956 the Institute functioned as part of the University of Ljubljana, but since 1956 it has been an independent scientific institution. In 1992 the IES became one of the first public research institutions in Slovenia.

Institute for Ethnic Studies

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