Janko Prunk
Encyclopedia
Janko Prunk (born December 30, 1942) is a Slovenia
n historian of modern history
. He has published articles and monographs on analytical politology, modern history, the genesis of modern political formations, and the history of social and political philosophy
in Slovenia. He has also written on the history of political movement
s in Slovenia from the end of 19th century until World War II, especially about Slovene Christian socialism
and the history of Slovenian national questions.
(part of the municipality of Sevnica
), in central Slovenia, which was then the German-occupied Lower Styria
. Prunk started going to primary school in his birth place. After fourth grade, he shifted to the school in nearby Radeče
. He continued his secondary education at Gymnasium
in Celje
. Graduating from history and sociology
at the University of Ljubljana
in 1966. He was recruited
into Yugoslav People's Army
in Sisak
, Socialist Republic of Croatia
in the years 1966/67. He obtained his Master's degree
from University of Ljubljana in 1972. In 1976, he obtained his PhD
with a thesis on the relationship between the Slovenian Christian Socialist movement and the Communist Party of Slovenia within the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
, which was still a controversial topic at that time. In 1984 and 1988, Prunk was awarded scholarships by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
, which enabled him to continue his studies in Cologne
and Freiburg
. Later, he worked as a researcher at the University of Freiburg
. From 1966 to 1995, he collaborated with the Institute for modern history in Ljubljana. He is now a professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences
of the University of Ljubljana.
Prunk is a member of Institute of European History in Mainz
, and a senior fellow of the Center for European Integration Studies
in Bonn
.
, Prunk joined the Democratic Opposition of Slovenia
after the democratization of Slovenia. He was an active member of the Slovenian Democratic Party
(known as Slovenian Social Democratic Party between 1989 and 2003). Between 1992 and 1993, Prunk served as Minister for Slovenes outside Slovenia and National Minorities in Slovenia in the first coalition cabinet of Janez Drnovšek
.
After 1994, Prunk withdrew from politics for over a decade. Before the parliamentary elections of 2004
, he campaigned for the Slovenian Democratic Party. In 2005, he was appointed by the Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel
, as president of the Slovene-Croatian Historical Commission, formed by the Government of the two countries, to shed light on the history of the relations between them. Between 2004 and 2008, he served as chairman of the Slovenian Democratic Party's internal Committee for Education Policies. He resigned in 2008 because of disagreements over the Government's policy favoring private universities
. After the split with the party, he became very critical of the then Prime Minister Janez Janša
, whom he accused of being a "liberal with an authoritative touch, who aspires at becoming a Slovenian Piłsudski".
After the parliamentary elections of 2008, Prunk explained his disappointment with the Slovenian Democratic Party as a consequence of its neo-liberal turn. In Prunk's opinion, the party turned its back to the ideals of welfare state
held by its founding father Jože Pučnik
. Prunk also criticised the charismatic type of leadership of the party's president Janez Janša, stating that the party would most probably collapse if Janša resigned.
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 historian of modern history
Modern history
Modern history, or the modern era, describes the historical timeline after the Middle Ages. Modern history can be further broken down into the early modern period and the late modern period after the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution...
. He has published articles and monographs on analytical politology, modern history, the genesis of modern political formations, and the history of social and political philosophy
Political philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
in Slovenia. He has also written on the history of political movement
Political movement
A political movement is a social movement in the area of politics. A political movement may be organized around a single issue or set of issues, or around a set of shared concerns of a social group...
s in Slovenia from the end of 19th century until World War II, especially about Slovene Christian socialism
Christian socialism
Christian socialism generally refers to those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and socialist and who see these two philosophies as being interrelated. This category can include Liberation theology and the doctrine of the social gospel...
and the history of Slovenian national questions.
Education
Prunk was born in the small settlement of Loka pri Zidanem MostuLoka pri Zidanem Mostu
Loka pri Zidanem Mostu is a village on the left bank of the Sava River in the Municipality of Sevnica in central Slovenia. The area is part of the historical region of Lower Styria. The municipality is now included in the Lower Sava statistical region....
(part of the municipality of Sevnica
Sevnica
Sevnica is a town and a municipality in central Slovenia.The town itself is situated on the left bank of the Sava River, and is one of the three major settlements in the Lower Sava Valley. The municipality is now included in the Lower Sava statistical region...
), in central Slovenia, which was then the German-occupied Lower Styria
Lower Styria
Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...
. Prunk started going to primary school in his birth place. After fourth grade, he shifted to the school in nearby Radeče
Radece
Radeče is small town and a municipality in the Lower Sava Valley in eastern Slovenia. It is located in the Sava Hills on the right bank of the Sava River at the confluence with Sopota Creek. It is part of the traditional province of Lower Carniola...
. He continued his secondary education at Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Celje
Celje
Celje is a typical Central European town and the third largest town in Slovenia. It is a regional center of Lower Styria and the administrative seat of the Urban Municipality of Celje . The town of Celje is located under Upper Celje Castle at the confluence of the Savinja, Ložnica, and Voglajna...
. Graduating from history and sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
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 1966. He was recruited
Army recruit
Recruit or army recruit is a term often colloquially used to refer to the lowest military rank in various armed services. It usually implies that the soldier so labeled has not yet completed basic training....
into Yugoslav People's Army
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
in Sisak
Sisak
Sisak is a city in central Croatia. The city's population in 2011 was 33,049, with a total of 49,699 in the administrative region and it is also the administrative centre of the Sisak-Moslavina county...
, Socialist Republic of Croatia
Socialist Republic of Croatia
Socialist Republic of Croatia was a sovereign constituent country of the second Yugoslavia. It came to existence during World War II, becoming a socialist state after the war, and was also renamed four times in its existence . It was the second largest republic in Yugoslavia by territory and...
in the years 1966/67. He obtained his Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
from University of Ljubljana in 1972. In 1976, he obtained his PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
with a thesis on the relationship between the Slovenian Christian Socialist movement and the Communist Party of Slovenia within the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
On 26 April 1941 in Ljubljana the Anti-Imperialist Front was established. It was to promote "an international massive movement" to "liberate the Slovenian nation" whose "hope and example was the Soviet Union"...
, which was still a controversial topic at that time. In 1984 and 1988, Prunk was awarded scholarships by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is a foundation set-up by the government of the Federal Republic and funded by the German Foreign Office, the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and others for the promotion of international co-operation...
, which enabled him to continue his studies in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
and Freiburg
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...
. Later, he worked as a researcher at the University of Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
. From 1966 to 1995, he collaborated with the Institute for modern history in Ljubljana. He is now a professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
of the University of Ljubljana.
Prunk is a member of Institute of European History in Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, and a senior fellow of the Center for European Integration Studies
Center for European Integration Studies
The Center for European Integration Studies is an interdisciplinary research and training institute at the University of Bonn/Germany, based in its Faculty of Arts and its Faculty of Law and Economics. ZEI has participated in research, policy advice, and dialogue between science and practice since...
in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
.
Politics
Prunk has been actively involved in politics. As an early admirer of Jože PučnikJože Pucnik
Jože Pučnik was a Slovenian public intellectual, sociologist and politician. During the Communist regime of Josip Broz Tito, Pučnik was one of the most outspoken Slovenian critics of dictatorship and lack of civil liberties in former Yugoslavia. He was imprisoned for a total of 7 years, and later...
, Prunk joined the Democratic Opposition of Slovenia
Democratic Opposition of Slovenia
Democratic Opposition of Slovenia, also known as the DEMOS coalition was a coalition of democratic political parties, created by an agreement between the Slovenian Democratic Union, the Social Democrat Alliance of Slovenia, the Slovene Christian Democrats, the Farmers' Alliance and the Greens of...
after the democratization of Slovenia. He was an active member of the Slovenian Democratic Party
Slovenian Democratic Party
The Slovenian Democratic Party , known until 2003 as the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia is a Slovenian centre-right liberal conservative and Christian democratic party...
(known as Slovenian Social Democratic Party between 1989 and 2003). Between 1992 and 1993, Prunk served as Minister for Slovenes outside Slovenia and National Minorities in Slovenia in the first coalition cabinet of Janez Drnovšek
Janez Drnovšek
Janez Drnovšek was a Slovenian liberal politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia , Prime Minister of Slovenia and President of Slovenia . He was born in Celje, Slovenia, then the Socialist Republic of Slovenia...
.
After 1994, Prunk withdrew from politics for over a decade. Before the parliamentary elections of 2004
Slovenian parliamentary election, 2004
-Delegation of Socialni demokrati [United List of Social Democrats]:-Delegation of Liberalna demokracija Slovenije [Liberal Democracy of Slovenia]:-Delegation of Nova Slovenija [New Slovenia]:...
, he campaigned for the Slovenian Democratic Party. In 2005, he was appointed by the Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel
Dimitrij Rupel
Dimitrij Rupel is a Slovenian politician.- Biography :Rupel was born in Ljubljana, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, into a bourgeois family of former anti-fascist political emigrants from the Julian March .After receiving a bachelor's degree in comparative literature and...
, as president of the Slovene-Croatian Historical Commission, formed by the Government of the two countries, to shed light on the history of the relations between them. Between 2004 and 2008, he served as chairman of the Slovenian Democratic Party's internal Committee for Education Policies. He resigned in 2008 because of disagreements over the Government's policy favoring private universities
Private university
Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are...
. After the split with the party, he became very critical of the then Prime Minister 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...
, whom he accused of being a "liberal with an authoritative touch, who aspires at becoming a Slovenian Piłsudski".
After the parliamentary elections of 2008, Prunk explained his disappointment with the Slovenian Democratic Party as a consequence of its neo-liberal turn. In Prunk's opinion, the party turned its back to the ideals of welfare state
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
held by its founding father Jože Pučnik
Jože Pucnik
Jože Pučnik was a Slovenian public intellectual, sociologist and politician. During the Communist regime of Josip Broz Tito, Pučnik was one of the most outspoken Slovenian critics of dictatorship and lack of civil liberties in former Yugoslavia. He was imprisoned for a total of 7 years, and later...
. Prunk also criticised the charismatic type of leadership of the party's president Janez Janša, stating that the party would most probably collapse if Janša resigned.