Gregor Tomc
Encyclopedia
Gregor Tomc also known as Grega Tomc (born 3 February 1952) is a Slovenia
n sociologist, musician
and activist. In the late 1970s and 1980s, he was the founder and member of the famous Slovenian punk rock
band Pankrti
.
, Slovenia, then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
. He is the younger half-brother of the famous columnist and historian Alenka Puhar
. Their mother Helena Puhar was a renowned pedagogue and a partisan veteran from Kranj
, who was a grandnephew of the famous photographer Janez Puhar
, inventor of glass photography
.
Tomc spent his high school years in New York City
, where he became a fan of Bob Dylan
and developed an interest in rock'n'roll music. He studied sociology at the University of Ljubljana
. In 1977 he founded, together with his friend Pero Lovšin
, the punk rock
band Pankrti
. He wrote almost all the lyrics of the group and for ten years he worked as their unofficial manager. Under the impression of the Helsinki Accords
, he founded the association People for a Free Society in order to promote the notion of personal freedoms in the socialist society in Slovenia.
In 1982, he became a researcher in the Institute for Sociology of the University of Ljubljana, where he was the co-worker of the famous philosopher Slavoj Žižek
. Together with fellow sociologists Frane Adam and Pavle Gantar, he formed a working group within the Institute for the study of contemporary subculture movements in Slovenia and Yugoslavia. He wrote in many Slovenian alternative and critical magazines, such as Problemi, Nova revija
and Mladina
. During the Slovenian Spring (1988–1990), Tomc was active in many political and civil society
organizations participating in the democratization
process in Slovenia, most notably the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights
. In 1987, he was one of the 16 co-authors of the manifesto called "Contributions for a Slovenian National Program" published in the famous 57th issue of the journal Nova revija. In 1989, he was among the co-founders of the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia, but never actively participated in it. In the first free elections in 1990, Tomc unsuccessfully ran for the Slovenian Parliament
as an independent candidate.
Since the 1990s, he has been working as a lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana. During all this period, he wrote essays and columns on contemporary political and social issues. Between 2004 and 2008, Tomc was an outspoken critic of the cultural policies of the centre-right Slovenian government led by Janez Janša
. He entered active politics during the municipal elections of 2006, when he was elected to the Ljubljana city council
on the List of Zoran Janković. He is currently an advisor for culture to the mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Janković.
.
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n sociologist, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and activist. In the late 1970s and 1980s, he was the founder and member of the famous Slovenian punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Pankrti
Pankrti
Pankrti were a punk rock band from Ljubljana, Slovenia, active in the late 1970s and during the 1980s. They were known for provocative and politically engaged songs and billed themselves "The First Punk Band Behind The Iron Curtain"...
.
Biography
Tomc was born in LjubljanaLjubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, Slovenia, then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
. He is the younger half-brother of the famous columnist and historian Alenka Puhar
Alenka Puhar
Alenka Puhar is a Slovenian journalist, author, translator, and historian. She is known for her columns in the Slovenian journal Delo, for her writings on the dissident movements in Socialist Slovenia and Yugoslavia, as well as for her book "The Primary Text of Life" , a combination of...
. Their mother Helena Puhar was a renowned pedagogue and a partisan veteran from Kranj
Kranj
' is the third largest municipality and fourth largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 54,500 . It is located approximately 20 km north-west of Ljubljana...
, who was a grandnephew of the famous photographer Janez Puhar
Janez Puhar
Janez Avguštin Puhar was a Slovene priest, photographer, painter, and poet. He invented a process for making photographs on glass in 1841; it was recognized on June 17, 1852 in Paris by the Académie Nationale Agricole, Manufacturière et Commerciale.The "Janez Puhar Photo Society Kranj" is the...
, inventor of glass photography
Collodion process
The collodion process is an early photographic process. It was introduced in the 1850s and by the end of that decade it had almost entirely replaced the first practical photographic process, the daguerreotype. During the 1880s the collodion process, in turn, was largely replaced by gelatin dry...
.
Tomc spent his high school years in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he became a fan of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and developed an interest in rock'n'roll music. He studied sociology at the University of Ljubljana
University of Ljubljana
The University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. With 64,000 enrolled graduate and postgraduate students, it is among the largest universities in Europe.-Beginnings:...
. In 1977 he founded, together with his friend Pero Lovšin
Pero Lovšin
Peter Lovšin, known also as Pero Lovšin , is a Slovenian musician, songwriter and singer, best known as a frontman of the Slovene punk rock group Pankrti...
, the punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Pankrti
Pankrti
Pankrti were a punk rock band from Ljubljana, Slovenia, active in the late 1970s and during the 1980s. They were known for provocative and politically engaged songs and billed themselves "The First Punk Band Behind The Iron Curtain"...
. He wrote almost all the lyrics of the group and for ten years he worked as their unofficial manager. Under the impression of the Helsinki Accords
Helsinki Accords
thumb|300px|[[Erich Honecker]] and [[Helmut Schmidt]] in Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki 1975....
, he founded the association People for a Free Society in order to promote the notion of personal freedoms in the socialist society in Slovenia.
In 1982, he became a researcher in the Institute for Sociology of the University of Ljubljana, where he was the co-worker of the famous philosopher Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, critical theorist working in the traditions of Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. He has made contributions to political theory, film theory, and theoretical psychoanalysis....
. Together with fellow sociologists Frane Adam and Pavle Gantar, he formed a working group within the Institute for the study of contemporary subculture movements in Slovenia and Yugoslavia. He wrote in many Slovenian alternative and critical magazines, such as Problemi, Nova revija
Nova revija
Nova revija is a Slovenian publishing house and cultural institute that developed from the literary journal with the same name.- The magazine :...
and Mladina
Mladina
Mladina is a Slovenian weekly left-wing current affairs magazine. It was first published in the 1920s as the youth magazine of the Slovenian Communist Party...
. During the Slovenian Spring (1988–1990), Tomc was active in many political and civil society
Civil society
Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...
organizations participating in the democratization
Democratization
Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic...
process in Slovenia, most notably the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights
Committee for the Defence of Human Rights
The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights was a civil society organization in Slovenia, which functioned during the so-called Slovenian Spring between 1988 and 1990....
. In 1987, he was one of the 16 co-authors of the manifesto called "Contributions for a Slovenian National Program" published in the famous 57th issue of the journal Nova revija. In 1989, he was among the co-founders of the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia, but never actively participated in it. In the first free elections in 1990, Tomc unsuccessfully ran for the Slovenian Parliament
Slovenian Parliament
The Slovenian Parliament is the informal designation of the general representative body of the Slovenian nation and the legislative body of the Republic of Slovenia....
as an independent candidate.
Since the 1990s, he has been working as a lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana. During all this period, he wrote essays and columns on contemporary political and social issues. Between 2004 and 2008, Tomc was an outspoken critic of the cultural policies of the centre-right Slovenian government led by Janez Janša
Janez Janša
Janez Janša is a Slovenian politician who was Prime Minister of Slovenia from November 2004 to November 2008. He has also been President of the Slovenian Democratic Party since 1993...
. He entered active politics during the municipal elections of 2006, when he was elected to the Ljubljana city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
on the List of Zoran Janković. He is currently an advisor for culture to the mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Janković.
Work
Gregor Tomc was, together with Frane Adam, one of the first Slovenian and Yugoslav sociologist to study the phenomena of contemporary social movements, with an emphasis of youth subcultures. He later turned to the study of cognitive psychologyCognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology is a subdiscipline of psychology exploring internal mental processes.It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems.Cognitive psychology differs from previous psychological approaches in two key ways....
.
Major works
- Od Poljske do Pol Pota ("From PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
to Pol PotPol PotSaloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
". Maribor, 1983); - Druga Slovenija: zgodovina mladinskih gibanj na Slovenskem v 20. stoletju ("The Other Slovenia: History of Youth Movements in the Slovene LandsSlovene LandsSlovene Lands or Slovenian Lands is the historical denomination for the whole of the Slovene-inhabited territories in Central Europe. It more or less corresponds to modern Slovenia and the adjacent territories in Italy, Austria and Hungary in which autochthonous Slovene minorities live.-...
in the 20th Century". Ljubljana, 1989); - Profano : kultura v modernem svetu ("Profane : Culture in the Modern World". Ljubljana, 1994);
- Small Societies in Transition: the Case of Slovenia: Transformation Processes in a Small Post-Socialist Society (co-editor with Frane Adam. Ljubljana, 1994);
- Šesti čut : družbeni svet v kognitivni znanosti ("The Sixth Sense: The Social World in Cognitive Science". Ljubljana, 2000);
- Mentalna mašina : možgani kot organski motor na duševni pogon ("Mental Machine: the Brains as an Organic Engine on Mental Fuel". Ljubljana, 2005).