Polona Sitar | University of Primorska (original) (raw)

Papers by Polona Sitar

Research paper thumbnail of The Politics of Menstruation: Inclusion of Transgender and Nonbinary People in the Red Tent Menstrual Movement

Transgender Studies Quarterly, 2024

Menstrual blood is still regarded as embarrassing and taboo in many places all over the world. Th... more Menstrual blood is still regarded as embarrassing and taboo in many places all over the world. This article focuses on the study of the Red Tent as an example of feminist-spiritual menstrual activism established in 2007 in the US because it represents an important form of breaking the menstrual taboo. Although contemporary spiritualities present themselves as nonhierarchical and gender equal, spirituality and well-being in the women's circles is predominantly practiced by cisgender, heterosexual, and white middle-class women, excluding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and others (LGBTQ+). Constructs around the sacredness of female experiences (menstruation, menopause) are problematic for transgender women who do not share these experiences, and a lack of diversity may perpetuate systematic inequities and discrimination. This article discusses whether the Red Tent in Slovenia is open to include transgender and nonbinary people. By creating alternative domains of representation in which nonnormative bodies can exist, we disrupt the sex/gender system and dismantle normative femininity and masculinity. The article argues that in this way the Red Tent has the potential to subvert the dominant ideology of gender binary construction by providing alternative models for the embodiment of gender to challenge traditional conservative gender essentialisms in society. The methodology employed consists of ethnographic fieldwork, which was performed in the Red Tent gatherings and semistructured in-depth interviews with participants who host or participate in them. Because a part of the scope of the research “lives” in the cyber world, the ethnographic research methodology was integrated with the phenomena and data obtained from the internet in the form of netnography.

Research paper thumbnail of The Use of Stereotypical Images of Africa in Fundraising Campaigns

European Scientific Journal, Apr 30, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of MENSTRUALNI TABU, OSEBNO OPOLNOMOČENJE IN POLITIČNI POTENCIAL FEMINISTIČNO-SPIRITUALNEGA AKTIVIZMA NA PRIMERU DRUŽBENEGA GIBANJA RDEČI ŠOTOR

Glasnik SED, 2023

This paper focuses on the study of the Red Tent menstrual social movement as an example of femini... more This paper focuses on the study of the Red Tent menstrual
social movement as an example of feminist-spiritualist menstrual
activism. It studies its role in abolishing the menstrual taboo
and questions the hegemony of an essentialised gender binary.
It also studies its wider socio-political potential, which exceeds
merely personal empowerment. In the context of the growing interest
on the part of secular feminism for the political potential
of religion and spirituality, it assumes that in the modern postsecular
society, feminism must also grapple with the possibility of
political subjectivities expressed through spiritual practices.

Research paper thumbnail of Memorylands: Heritage and Identity in Europe Today, by Macdonald Sharon, 2013. London: Routledge; ISBN 978-0-415-45333-2 hardback £80 & US$130; ISBN 978-0-415-45334-9 paperback £24.99 & US$39.95; xiv + 293 pp., 43 figs

Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of “The Right Step towards a Woman’s Satisfaction?”: Washing Machine as a New Piece of Technology and the Construction of the Role of Women as Housewives in Socialist Slovenia

Research paper thumbnail of Female trouble: menstrual hygiene, shame and socialism

Journal of Gender Studies, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of Analiza diskurza o spolu in razredu na primeru resničnostnega šova Ljubezen na seniku

Družboslovne Razprave, 2013

Pričujoči članek temelji na analizi romantičnega resničnostnega šova ljube- zen na seniku. čeprav... more Pričujoči članek temelji na analizi romantičnega resničnostnega šova ljube- zen na seniku. čeprav se zdijo klasični miti o romantični ljubezni osrednjega pomena, avtorica podari prednost razumevanju tega, s kakšnimi diskurzi šov uprizarja spol in razred, na podlagi česar poskuša razumeti, s kakšnimi diskurzi se v šovu ljubezen na seniku konstruira identiteta ženske spodnjega družbenega razreda. Takšni diskurzi so pomembni, ker zgodbe, ki jih lahko gledalci spremljajo v okviru resničnostnega šova, niso več samo del zasebne domene, ampak postanejo del diskurza, ki oblikuje odločitve o javni politiki in demokratični civilni družbi. Avtorica išče vzroke za visoko gledanost šova tudi v takratni slovenski družbeni klimi, na katero je imel velik vpliv ideološki vzpon tradicionalne in konservativne desnice.

Research paper thumbnail of Workers becoming tourists and consumers: social history of tourism in socialist Slovenia and Yugoslavia

Journal of Tourism History, 2020

This article outlines how citizens of socialist Slovenia spent their leisure time, where and when... more This article outlines how citizens of socialist Slovenia spent their leisure time, where and when they went on holidays, and what role consumption played during those times. It is based on the argument that tourism as a form of modern leisure is associated with consumption, wherefore consumerism and tourism are interconnected phenomena. While also arguing that labour and leisure are entwined, the article studies the mutually constructive relationship between work and leisure through the perspective of holidays and the consumption of goods and services in the form of trade-union tourism and cross-border shopping. As regards the tourism sector development process, this article also fills a gap in our understanding of the intersection between domestic and commercial tourism. This contribution to the social history of tourism in Yugoslav socialism is based on both archival sources and oral history, with semi-structured interviews conducted with interlocutors.

Research paper thumbnail of Political Boundaries, Consumption and Cultural Capital: Cross-Border Shopping in Post-socialist Slovenia

The contribution deals with a cultural memory and a tourism in the case of cross-border shopping ... more The contribution deals with a cultural memory and a tourism in the case of cross-border shopping in Slovenia, a former socialist republic of Yugoslavia. It points out the special position that Slovenia had with its geographical location while sharing borders with Austria and Italia by analysing narratives of informants, born before WW2. The contribution examines cross-border shopping to “Western” capitalistic countries i n the period between mid-1960s and late 1980s, since in the mid-1960s Yugoslavia opened up towards the West, and in the period after the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991. The contribution makes an important distinction between “shopping tourism” and “leisure tourism”, since Yugoslav citizens travelled abroad in large numbers for both recreation and shopping. The article places reasons for cross-border shopping into a wider context of socialist economy. Also, a detailed description of shopping practices with an emphasis on gender division is given and the dis...

Research paper thumbnail of Stiletto Socialism

Aspasia

This article explores how women interpreted everyday clothing practices and decoration of their b... more This article explores how women interpreted everyday clothing practices and decoration of their body and how they positioned themselves in different social milieus during the period of socialist Slovenia (1945–1991). The new socialist middle class in Slovenia and Yugoslavia was defined by participation in a lifestyle, created and expressed through consumption and behaviors that turned everyday life into a symbolic display of taste and cultural distinction. This article shows the ways women engaged in self-expression and negotiated dressing up. It analyzes the self-emancipation of women as they challenged the boundaries of social hierarchies on the basis of self-transformations, pointing out the active role that women had in their self-positioning in social categories.

Research paper thumbnail of »Ne le kruh, tudi vrtnice!«

Research paper thumbnail of Stiletto Socialism: Social Class, Dressing Up, and Women's Self-Positioning in Socialist Slovenia

Aspasia: The International Yearbook of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern European Women's and Gender History., 2020

This article explores how women interpreted everyday clothing practices and decoration of their ... more This article explores how women interpreted everyday clothing practices and decoration
of their body and how they positioned themselves in diff erent social milieus
during the period of socialist Slovenia (1945–1991). The new socialist middle class in
Slovenia and Yugoslavia was defi ned by participation in a lifestyle, created and expressed through consumption and behaviors that turned everyday life into a symbolic
display of taste and cultural distinction. This article shows the ways women engaged
in self-expression and negotiated dressing up. It analyzes the self-emancipation of
women as they challenged the boundaries of social hierarchies on the basis of selftransformations, pointing out the active role that women had in their self-positioning
in social categories.

Research paper thumbnail of Female trouble: menstrual hygiene, shame and socialism

Journal of Gender Studies, 2018

Drawing on semi-structured interviews, and an analysis of advertisements for menstrual hygiene pr... more Drawing on semi-structured interviews, and an analysis of advertisements for menstrual hygiene products in socialist Slovenia and wider Yugoslavia, this article seeks to contribute to the scholarship on menstruation. There are tensions in the public language of the socialist system, how women perceive menstruation and the messages conveyed through these advertisements. The choices made by women in relation to their views of these products assist in evaluating the emancipatory potential they are imagined to have, as well as the shame still widely associated with menstruation itself.

Research paper thumbnail of Neoliberalna politika in konstruiranje znanstvene odličnosti v slovenskem prostoru

The article focuses on the processes of the construction of academic excellence and highlights fo... more The article focuses on the processes of the construction of academic excellence and highlights formal and informal criteria in the recruitment and selection procedures in Slovenia. The problems triggered by the neoliberalization of academia have also gradually impacted academic labour and profoundly changed the local and wider social context in which research takes place. In academia, the neoliberal social paradigms are reflected in the enforcement of academic capitalism, which is transforming universities and research institutions into enterprises in which executives are increasingly concerned solely with managerial and bureaucratic tasks, particularly with obtaining funding for research, and with the supervision of the academic excellence of their staff and research groups.
Neoliberal logic has been introduced to the construction of academic excellence, as well, which is based on the global academic system grounded in Western norms of meritocracy. The main formal criteria for excellence have become inherently connected with productivity, citation indexes, internationally cited publications etc. The measurement of the internationally comparable quality of researchers, research groups, research institutions and universities has brought about a shift in emphasis from the quality of research to the quantity of published articles in high-impact journals. Furthermore, the crisis-related reforms of 2012 have profoundly reduced funding for research in Slovenia, and the struggle to obtain European projects has become a fundamental task for researchers. Due to patriarchal social structures, which inherently design the criteria of scientific excellence in accordance with the masculine habitus, women are doing a lot of unpaid work and are therefore unable to meet the criteria of academic excellence, in particular in international networking and for long absences abroad. The research focus of this article is therefore on the study of how gender inequalities are embedded in the process of the construction of academic excellence. This contribution shows that the construction of excellence is not a one- dimensional process, because it includes a number of dilemmas, such as research culture, systemic conditions of researching and social and health consequences, especially among the most vulnerable groups – women and researchers at the beginning of their academic careers.

Research paper thumbnail of Metina lista: zapisi mladih raziskovalcev in raziskovalk z različnih področij znanosti

Research paper thumbnail of Cockta, pijača moje mladosti, in sedaj, pijača moje starosti

Legendarna zgodba o sladki temnorjavi pijači z brbotajočimi mehurčki se je začela leta 1952, ko j... more Legendarna zgodba o sladki temnorjavi pijači z brbotajočimi mehurčki se je začela leta 1952, ko je direktor ljubljanskega podjetja Slovenijavino Ivan Deu na ladji iz Amerike v kovčku prinesel stekleničko Coca-Cole. V njegovem podjetju so še istega leta razvili formulo za gazirano brezalkoholno pijačo, katere vonj danes v naš spomin prikliče neko drugo državo in čas. Cocktino ime izhaja iz angleške besede cocktail, ki si ga je leta 1953 izmislil Emerik Zelinka, »oče« te pijače, in ponazarja mešanico naravnih sestavin, uporabljenih pri njeni izdelavi. V nekdanji Jugoslaviji so že v prvem letu napolnili več kot milijon stekleničk, in prodaja je strmo naraščala, tudi v tujini, zato Cockta predstavlja enega izmed prvih jugoslovanskih izvoznih artiklov in simbolov potrošniške revolucije. V tem prispevku bomo skušali ugotoviti, kakšno življenje Cockta kot blagovna znamka živi danes, pri čemer nas bo bolj kot njena socialistična preteklost zanimala njena postsocialistična sedanjost, ki jo bomo prikazali skozi dve pripovedi o oživljanju in dojemanju Cockte v novih kontekstih. Prvi zajema marketinško perspektivo, skozi katero je lepo razvidna kontinuiteta Cockte kot blagovne znamke, katere preteklost je danes v oglaševalskih kampanjah uporabljena za ustvarjanje novih dobičkov, druga pripoved pa predstavlja Cockto skozi perspektivo ljubiteljskega zbirateljstva slovenskih blagovnih znamk. Tako bomo dobili vsaj delni vpogled v odnos, ki ga v postsocialistični sedanjosti gojimo do dediščine naše nedavne preteklosti.

Research paper thumbnail of Political Boundaries, Consumption and Cultural Capital: Cross-Border Shopping in Post-Socialist Slovenia

The contribution deals with cultural memory and tourism in the case of cross-border shopping in S... more The contribution deals with cultural memory and tourism in the case of cross-border shopping in Slovenia, a former socialist republic of Yugoslavia. It points out the special position that Slovenia had with its geographical location, sharing borders with Austria and Italy by analyzing narratives of informants, born before and immediately after WW2. The contribution examines cross-border shopping to 'Western' capitalistic countries in the period between mid-1960s and late 1980s and the period after the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991. The contribution will examine an important distinction between shopping tourism and leisure tourism, since Yugoslav citizens travelled abroad in large numbers for both recreation and shopping. The article places reasons for cross-border shopping into a wider context of socialist economy. A detailed description of shopping practices with an emphasis on gender division is also given. The paper will contribute to the discussion of the perception of individuals on cross-border shopping in the context of political implications of the historical changes and processes of de-and re-bordering in post-socialist Yugoslavia.

Research paper thumbnail of “Tist občutek, ko dobiš prvo plačo - zdej si boš lahka pa sama kej kupla“: Podobe vsakdanjega življenja slovenskih žensk po letu 1945 skozi vidike zaposlitve in potrošnje

Prispevek se osredotoča na razumevanje sprememb, ki jih ženskam prinese zaposlitev za polni delov... more Prispevek se osredotoča na razumevanje sprememb, ki jih ženskam prinese zaposlitev za polni delovni čas v obdobju socializma na Slovenskem. Nova identiteta zaposlenih žensk se je navzven manifestirala tudi v drugačni, bolj urejeni zunanji podobi, finančna neodvisnost pa je botrovala temu, da so ženske iskale raznolike prostočasne aktivnosti tudi izven doma in načine kultiviranja ženskosti skozi potrošnjo. V prispevku bomo poskusili razumeti, kaj je ženskam pomenil lastni zaslužek, kako so z njim upravljale in kako se je njihova zunanja podoba spremenila z zaposlitvijo. Prispevek temelji na analizi terenskega dela in intervjujev z upokojenimi sogovornicami, ki so svoje aktivno življenje preživele v obdobju socializma, s čimer želi prispevati dodaten diskurz k že obstoječemu političnemu in ekonomskemu uradnemu zgodovinskemu diskurzu.

Research paper thumbnail of “The Right Step towards a Woman's Satisfaction?”: Washing Machine as a New Piece of Technology and the Construction of the role of Women as Housewives in Socialist Slovenia

This article discusses political implications of the fact that the technological development and ... more This article discusses political implications of the fact that the technological development and consumption in socialism are nowadays shown as a failed project of the socialist production. This generates a view that the Yugoslav socialism was never a part of modernity. The paper also argues that, unlike in the case of non-mechanical hand washing, the washing machine as a new piece of technology enabled the participation of men in doing laundry for the first time because of the stereotypical relationship between men and technology. The article also discusses ambiguities in understanding, using and relocating the time saved by using a washing machine (which promised the reduction of time) used for housework.

Research paper thumbnail of Analiza diskurza o spolu in razredu na primeru resničnostnega šova Ljubezen na seniku

Družboslovne razprave

Pričujoči članek temelji na analizi romantičnega resničnostnega šova Ljubezen na seniku. Čeprav s... more Pričujoči članek temelji na analizi romantičnega resničnostnega šova Ljubezen na seniku. Čeprav se zdijo klasični miti o romantični ljubezni osrednjega pomena, avtorica podari prednost razumevanju tega, s kakšnimi diskurzi šov uprizarja spol in razred, na podlagi česar poskuša razumeti, s kakšnimi diskurzi se v šovu Ljubezen na seniku konstruira identiteta ženske spodnjega družbenega razreda. Takšni diskurzi so pomembni, ker zgodbe, ki jih lahko gledalci spremljajo v okviru resničnostnega šova, niso več samo del zasebne domene, ampak postanejo del diskurza, ki oblikuje odločitve o javni politiki in demokratični civilni družbi. Avtorica išče vzroke za visoko gledanost šova tudi v trenutni slovenski družbeni klimi, na katero ima velik vpliv ideološki vzpon tradicionalne in konservativne desnice.

Research paper thumbnail of The Politics of Menstruation: Inclusion of Transgender and Nonbinary People in the Red Tent Menstrual Movement

Transgender Studies Quarterly, 2024

Menstrual blood is still regarded as embarrassing and taboo in many places all over the world. Th... more Menstrual blood is still regarded as embarrassing and taboo in many places all over the world. This article focuses on the study of the Red Tent as an example of feminist-spiritual menstrual activism established in 2007 in the US because it represents an important form of breaking the menstrual taboo. Although contemporary spiritualities present themselves as nonhierarchical and gender equal, spirituality and well-being in the women's circles is predominantly practiced by cisgender, heterosexual, and white middle-class women, excluding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and others (LGBTQ+). Constructs around the sacredness of female experiences (menstruation, menopause) are problematic for transgender women who do not share these experiences, and a lack of diversity may perpetuate systematic inequities and discrimination. This article discusses whether the Red Tent in Slovenia is open to include transgender and nonbinary people. By creating alternative domains of representation in which nonnormative bodies can exist, we disrupt the sex/gender system and dismantle normative femininity and masculinity. The article argues that in this way the Red Tent has the potential to subvert the dominant ideology of gender binary construction by providing alternative models for the embodiment of gender to challenge traditional conservative gender essentialisms in society. The methodology employed consists of ethnographic fieldwork, which was performed in the Red Tent gatherings and semistructured in-depth interviews with participants who host or participate in them. Because a part of the scope of the research “lives” in the cyber world, the ethnographic research methodology was integrated with the phenomena and data obtained from the internet in the form of netnography.

Research paper thumbnail of The Use of Stereotypical Images of Africa in Fundraising Campaigns

European Scientific Journal, Apr 30, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of MENSTRUALNI TABU, OSEBNO OPOLNOMOČENJE IN POLITIČNI POTENCIAL FEMINISTIČNO-SPIRITUALNEGA AKTIVIZMA NA PRIMERU DRUŽBENEGA GIBANJA RDEČI ŠOTOR

Glasnik SED, 2023

This paper focuses on the study of the Red Tent menstrual social movement as an example of femini... more This paper focuses on the study of the Red Tent menstrual
social movement as an example of feminist-spiritualist menstrual
activism. It studies its role in abolishing the menstrual taboo
and questions the hegemony of an essentialised gender binary.
It also studies its wider socio-political potential, which exceeds
merely personal empowerment. In the context of the growing interest
on the part of secular feminism for the political potential
of religion and spirituality, it assumes that in the modern postsecular
society, feminism must also grapple with the possibility of
political subjectivities expressed through spiritual practices.

Research paper thumbnail of Memorylands: Heritage and Identity in Europe Today, by Macdonald Sharon, 2013. London: Routledge; ISBN 978-0-415-45333-2 hardback £80 & US$130; ISBN 978-0-415-45334-9 paperback £24.99 & US$39.95; xiv + 293 pp., 43 figs

Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of “The Right Step towards a Woman’s Satisfaction?”: Washing Machine as a New Piece of Technology and the Construction of the Role of Women as Housewives in Socialist Slovenia

Research paper thumbnail of Female trouble: menstrual hygiene, shame and socialism

Journal of Gender Studies, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of Analiza diskurza o spolu in razredu na primeru resničnostnega šova Ljubezen na seniku

Družboslovne Razprave, 2013

Pričujoči članek temelji na analizi romantičnega resničnostnega šova ljube- zen na seniku. čeprav... more Pričujoči članek temelji na analizi romantičnega resničnostnega šova ljube- zen na seniku. čeprav se zdijo klasični miti o romantični ljubezni osrednjega pomena, avtorica podari prednost razumevanju tega, s kakšnimi diskurzi šov uprizarja spol in razred, na podlagi česar poskuša razumeti, s kakšnimi diskurzi se v šovu ljubezen na seniku konstruira identiteta ženske spodnjega družbenega razreda. Takšni diskurzi so pomembni, ker zgodbe, ki jih lahko gledalci spremljajo v okviru resničnostnega šova, niso več samo del zasebne domene, ampak postanejo del diskurza, ki oblikuje odločitve o javni politiki in demokratični civilni družbi. Avtorica išče vzroke za visoko gledanost šova tudi v takratni slovenski družbeni klimi, na katero je imel velik vpliv ideološki vzpon tradicionalne in konservativne desnice.

Research paper thumbnail of Workers becoming tourists and consumers: social history of tourism in socialist Slovenia and Yugoslavia

Journal of Tourism History, 2020

This article outlines how citizens of socialist Slovenia spent their leisure time, where and when... more This article outlines how citizens of socialist Slovenia spent their leisure time, where and when they went on holidays, and what role consumption played during those times. It is based on the argument that tourism as a form of modern leisure is associated with consumption, wherefore consumerism and tourism are interconnected phenomena. While also arguing that labour and leisure are entwined, the article studies the mutually constructive relationship between work and leisure through the perspective of holidays and the consumption of goods and services in the form of trade-union tourism and cross-border shopping. As regards the tourism sector development process, this article also fills a gap in our understanding of the intersection between domestic and commercial tourism. This contribution to the social history of tourism in Yugoslav socialism is based on both archival sources and oral history, with semi-structured interviews conducted with interlocutors.

Research paper thumbnail of Political Boundaries, Consumption and Cultural Capital: Cross-Border Shopping in Post-socialist Slovenia

The contribution deals with a cultural memory and a tourism in the case of cross-border shopping ... more The contribution deals with a cultural memory and a tourism in the case of cross-border shopping in Slovenia, a former socialist republic of Yugoslavia. It points out the special position that Slovenia had with its geographical location while sharing borders with Austria and Italia by analysing narratives of informants, born before WW2. The contribution examines cross-border shopping to “Western” capitalistic countries i n the period between mid-1960s and late 1980s, since in the mid-1960s Yugoslavia opened up towards the West, and in the period after the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991. The contribution makes an important distinction between “shopping tourism” and “leisure tourism”, since Yugoslav citizens travelled abroad in large numbers for both recreation and shopping. The article places reasons for cross-border shopping into a wider context of socialist economy. Also, a detailed description of shopping practices with an emphasis on gender division is given and the dis...

Research paper thumbnail of Stiletto Socialism

Aspasia

This article explores how women interpreted everyday clothing practices and decoration of their b... more This article explores how women interpreted everyday clothing practices and decoration of their body and how they positioned themselves in different social milieus during the period of socialist Slovenia (1945–1991). The new socialist middle class in Slovenia and Yugoslavia was defined by participation in a lifestyle, created and expressed through consumption and behaviors that turned everyday life into a symbolic display of taste and cultural distinction. This article shows the ways women engaged in self-expression and negotiated dressing up. It analyzes the self-emancipation of women as they challenged the boundaries of social hierarchies on the basis of self-transformations, pointing out the active role that women had in their self-positioning in social categories.

Research paper thumbnail of »Ne le kruh, tudi vrtnice!«

Research paper thumbnail of Stiletto Socialism: Social Class, Dressing Up, and Women's Self-Positioning in Socialist Slovenia

Aspasia: The International Yearbook of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern European Women's and Gender History., 2020

This article explores how women interpreted everyday clothing practices and decoration of their ... more This article explores how women interpreted everyday clothing practices and decoration
of their body and how they positioned themselves in diff erent social milieus
during the period of socialist Slovenia (1945–1991). The new socialist middle class in
Slovenia and Yugoslavia was defi ned by participation in a lifestyle, created and expressed through consumption and behaviors that turned everyday life into a symbolic
display of taste and cultural distinction. This article shows the ways women engaged
in self-expression and negotiated dressing up. It analyzes the self-emancipation of
women as they challenged the boundaries of social hierarchies on the basis of selftransformations, pointing out the active role that women had in their self-positioning
in social categories.

Research paper thumbnail of Female trouble: menstrual hygiene, shame and socialism

Journal of Gender Studies, 2018

Drawing on semi-structured interviews, and an analysis of advertisements for menstrual hygiene pr... more Drawing on semi-structured interviews, and an analysis of advertisements for menstrual hygiene products in socialist Slovenia and wider Yugoslavia, this article seeks to contribute to the scholarship on menstruation. There are tensions in the public language of the socialist system, how women perceive menstruation and the messages conveyed through these advertisements. The choices made by women in relation to their views of these products assist in evaluating the emancipatory potential they are imagined to have, as well as the shame still widely associated with menstruation itself.

Research paper thumbnail of Neoliberalna politika in konstruiranje znanstvene odličnosti v slovenskem prostoru

The article focuses on the processes of the construction of academic excellence and highlights fo... more The article focuses on the processes of the construction of academic excellence and highlights formal and informal criteria in the recruitment and selection procedures in Slovenia. The problems triggered by the neoliberalization of academia have also gradually impacted academic labour and profoundly changed the local and wider social context in which research takes place. In academia, the neoliberal social paradigms are reflected in the enforcement of academic capitalism, which is transforming universities and research institutions into enterprises in which executives are increasingly concerned solely with managerial and bureaucratic tasks, particularly with obtaining funding for research, and with the supervision of the academic excellence of their staff and research groups.
Neoliberal logic has been introduced to the construction of academic excellence, as well, which is based on the global academic system grounded in Western norms of meritocracy. The main formal criteria for excellence have become inherently connected with productivity, citation indexes, internationally cited publications etc. The measurement of the internationally comparable quality of researchers, research groups, research institutions and universities has brought about a shift in emphasis from the quality of research to the quantity of published articles in high-impact journals. Furthermore, the crisis-related reforms of 2012 have profoundly reduced funding for research in Slovenia, and the struggle to obtain European projects has become a fundamental task for researchers. Due to patriarchal social structures, which inherently design the criteria of scientific excellence in accordance with the masculine habitus, women are doing a lot of unpaid work and are therefore unable to meet the criteria of academic excellence, in particular in international networking and for long absences abroad. The research focus of this article is therefore on the study of how gender inequalities are embedded in the process of the construction of academic excellence. This contribution shows that the construction of excellence is not a one- dimensional process, because it includes a number of dilemmas, such as research culture, systemic conditions of researching and social and health consequences, especially among the most vulnerable groups – women and researchers at the beginning of their academic careers.

Research paper thumbnail of Metina lista: zapisi mladih raziskovalcev in raziskovalk z različnih področij znanosti

Research paper thumbnail of Cockta, pijača moje mladosti, in sedaj, pijača moje starosti

Legendarna zgodba o sladki temnorjavi pijači z brbotajočimi mehurčki se je začela leta 1952, ko j... more Legendarna zgodba o sladki temnorjavi pijači z brbotajočimi mehurčki se je začela leta 1952, ko je direktor ljubljanskega podjetja Slovenijavino Ivan Deu na ladji iz Amerike v kovčku prinesel stekleničko Coca-Cole. V njegovem podjetju so še istega leta razvili formulo za gazirano brezalkoholno pijačo, katere vonj danes v naš spomin prikliče neko drugo državo in čas. Cocktino ime izhaja iz angleške besede cocktail, ki si ga je leta 1953 izmislil Emerik Zelinka, »oče« te pijače, in ponazarja mešanico naravnih sestavin, uporabljenih pri njeni izdelavi. V nekdanji Jugoslaviji so že v prvem letu napolnili več kot milijon stekleničk, in prodaja je strmo naraščala, tudi v tujini, zato Cockta predstavlja enega izmed prvih jugoslovanskih izvoznih artiklov in simbolov potrošniške revolucije. V tem prispevku bomo skušali ugotoviti, kakšno življenje Cockta kot blagovna znamka živi danes, pri čemer nas bo bolj kot njena socialistična preteklost zanimala njena postsocialistična sedanjost, ki jo bomo prikazali skozi dve pripovedi o oživljanju in dojemanju Cockte v novih kontekstih. Prvi zajema marketinško perspektivo, skozi katero je lepo razvidna kontinuiteta Cockte kot blagovne znamke, katere preteklost je danes v oglaševalskih kampanjah uporabljena za ustvarjanje novih dobičkov, druga pripoved pa predstavlja Cockto skozi perspektivo ljubiteljskega zbirateljstva slovenskih blagovnih znamk. Tako bomo dobili vsaj delni vpogled v odnos, ki ga v postsocialistični sedanjosti gojimo do dediščine naše nedavne preteklosti.

Research paper thumbnail of Political Boundaries, Consumption and Cultural Capital: Cross-Border Shopping in Post-Socialist Slovenia

The contribution deals with cultural memory and tourism in the case of cross-border shopping in S... more The contribution deals with cultural memory and tourism in the case of cross-border shopping in Slovenia, a former socialist republic of Yugoslavia. It points out the special position that Slovenia had with its geographical location, sharing borders with Austria and Italy by analyzing narratives of informants, born before and immediately after WW2. The contribution examines cross-border shopping to 'Western' capitalistic countries in the period between mid-1960s and late 1980s and the period after the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991. The contribution will examine an important distinction between shopping tourism and leisure tourism, since Yugoslav citizens travelled abroad in large numbers for both recreation and shopping. The article places reasons for cross-border shopping into a wider context of socialist economy. A detailed description of shopping practices with an emphasis on gender division is also given. The paper will contribute to the discussion of the perception of individuals on cross-border shopping in the context of political implications of the historical changes and processes of de-and re-bordering in post-socialist Yugoslavia.

Research paper thumbnail of “Tist občutek, ko dobiš prvo plačo - zdej si boš lahka pa sama kej kupla“: Podobe vsakdanjega življenja slovenskih žensk po letu 1945 skozi vidike zaposlitve in potrošnje

Prispevek se osredotoča na razumevanje sprememb, ki jih ženskam prinese zaposlitev za polni delov... more Prispevek se osredotoča na razumevanje sprememb, ki jih ženskam prinese zaposlitev za polni delovni čas v obdobju socializma na Slovenskem. Nova identiteta zaposlenih žensk se je navzven manifestirala tudi v drugačni, bolj urejeni zunanji podobi, finančna neodvisnost pa je botrovala temu, da so ženske iskale raznolike prostočasne aktivnosti tudi izven doma in načine kultiviranja ženskosti skozi potrošnjo. V prispevku bomo poskusili razumeti, kaj je ženskam pomenil lastni zaslužek, kako so z njim upravljale in kako se je njihova zunanja podoba spremenila z zaposlitvijo. Prispevek temelji na analizi terenskega dela in intervjujev z upokojenimi sogovornicami, ki so svoje aktivno življenje preživele v obdobju socializma, s čimer želi prispevati dodaten diskurz k že obstoječemu političnemu in ekonomskemu uradnemu zgodovinskemu diskurzu.

Research paper thumbnail of “The Right Step towards a Woman's Satisfaction?”: Washing Machine as a New Piece of Technology and the Construction of the role of Women as Housewives in Socialist Slovenia

This article discusses political implications of the fact that the technological development and ... more This article discusses political implications of the fact that the technological development and consumption in socialism are nowadays shown as a failed project of the socialist production. This generates a view that the Yugoslav socialism was never a part of modernity. The paper also argues that, unlike in the case of non-mechanical hand washing, the washing machine as a new piece of technology enabled the participation of men in doing laundry for the first time because of the stereotypical relationship between men and technology. The article also discusses ambiguities in understanding, using and relocating the time saved by using a washing machine (which promised the reduction of time) used for housework.

Research paper thumbnail of Analiza diskurza o spolu in razredu na primeru resničnostnega šova Ljubezen na seniku

Družboslovne razprave

Pričujoči članek temelji na analizi romantičnega resničnostnega šova Ljubezen na seniku. Čeprav s... more Pričujoči članek temelji na analizi romantičnega resničnostnega šova Ljubezen na seniku. Čeprav se zdijo klasični miti o romantični ljubezni osrednjega pomena, avtorica podari prednost razumevanju tega, s kakšnimi diskurzi šov uprizarja spol in razred, na podlagi česar poskuša razumeti, s kakšnimi diskurzi se v šovu Ljubezen na seniku konstruira identiteta ženske spodnjega družbenega razreda. Takšni diskurzi so pomembni, ker zgodbe, ki jih lahko gledalci spremljajo v okviru resničnostnega šova, niso več samo del zasebne domene, ampak postanejo del diskurza, ki oblikuje odločitve o javni politiki in demokratični civilni družbi. Avtorica išče vzroke za visoko gledanost šova tudi v trenutni slovenski družbeni klimi, na katero ima velik vpliv ideološki vzpon tradicionalne in konservativne desnice.

Research paper thumbnail of "Ne le kruh, tudi vrtnice!": Potrošnja, tehnološki razvoj in emancipacija žensk v socialistični Sloveniji

“Not just Bread, Roses too!”: Consumption, Technological Development and Emancipation of Women in Socialist Slovenia, 2017

The book contributes new insights to the research in the field of anthropology of (post)socialism... more The book contributes new insights to the research in the field of anthropology of (post)socialism, culture of consumption, gender and memory. It is based on the testimony of interlocutors who offer an insight into the "structure of the feeling" of the socialist era through the practice of consumption, from which on the one hand the complex economic and political dynamics and diverse disciplinary regimes are being reflected and the understanding of power, resistance and emancipation on the other. Author establishes critical distance towards the approach, which discusses socialism as a totalitarianism and shows that socialist policies were not simply dictated from above, but negotiated between the state and its citizens. The female consumer in socialism did not only respond to social barriers and obstacles of history, but she also actively co-created social time. By studying how consumers interpreted and created mutual connections between material objects, moral reputation and (self)respect, the book also shows certain specific elements of Slovenian and Yugoslav development of the European countries after the Second World War.