There is KR, Republic of Kosovo, not KR, Kranj! Catastrophe! (Atje është KR, Kosova Republikë, jo KR, Kranj! Katastrofë!) An anthropological study of identity, community, and mediation

Rrahmani, Besjana (author), Lipovec Čebron, Uršula (mentor)

This thesis examines the experiences of Albanian migrants, primarily from Kosovo, as they navigate Slovenian society, and explores how the local community in Slovenia responds to their presence. The fieldwork material was collected mainly in Kranj (as the primary ethnographic fieldwork) and Ljubljana (as secondary ethnographic fieldwork). The role of intercultural mediators, who serve as facilitators between Albanians from Kosovo and Slovenian individuals, is central to this study. The author sheds extra light on real-life examples and on how members of the local community interact with these intercultural mediators, their interactions with local institutions, and the challenges they encounter in their line of work. Despite being a relatively new and emerging profession in Slovenia, intercultural mediation holds its own significance and is essential to this study, as it broadens our scope and understanding of more complex problems such as unemployment, language and cultural barriers, racism, the assimilation process, and gender stereotypes. The purpose of the thesis is to highlight the inconveniences that arise in the process of integration and institutional support by focusing on the problematic issues in these areas. More importantly, it aims to offer new insights into how to reshape society’s beliefs in order to bridge this cultural divide.

• Language: English
• Keywords: intercultural mediation, Kranj, Albanian migrants, social exclusion, local institutions
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Year: 2025
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-170705
• Publication date in RUL: 13.07.2025

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Obstaja KR, Republika Kosovo, ni KR, Kranj! Katastrofa! Antropološka študija identitete, skupnosti in posredovanja

Abstract

Diplomsko delo obravnava izkušnje albanskih migrantov, predvsem s Kosova, pri njihovem krmarjenju po slovenski družbi in raziskuje, kako se lokalna skupnost v Sloveniji odziva na njihovo prisotnost. Terensko gradivo je bilo zbrano predvsem v Kranju (kot primarno etnografsko terensko delo) in Ljubljani (kot sekundarno etnografsko terensko delo). Vloga medkulturnih mediatorjev, ki so posredniki med Albanci s Kosova in slovenskimi posamezniki, je v tej študiji osrednjega pomena. Avtorica dodatno osvetljuje primere iz resničnega življenja in kako pripadniki lokalne skupnosti sodelujejo s temi medkulturnimi mediatorji, kakšne so njihove interakcije z lokalnimi institucijami in s kakšnimi izzivi se srečujejo pri svojem delu. Kljub temu, da je medkulturna mediacija v Sloveniji relativno nov in nastajajoč poklic, ima svoj pomen, ki je bistven za to študijo, saj nam odpira prostor in razumevanje kompleksnejših problemov, kot so: brezposelnost, jezikovne in kulturne ovire, rasizem, proces asimilacije in spolni stereotipi. Namen diplomske naloge je poudariti nevšečnosti, ki se pojavljajo v procesu vključevanja in institucionalne podpore, s poudarkom na problematičnih vprašanjih na teh področjih. Še pomembneje pa je ponuditi nova spoznanja o tem, kako preoblikovati družbena prepričanja, da bi premostili ta kulturni prepad.

• Keywords: medkulturna mediacija, Kranj, albanski migranti, socialna izključenost, lokalne institucije.