Rastko Močnik (born 27 August 1944) is a Slovenian sociologist,

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk th ...

literary theorist Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mora ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

. Together with

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...

and Mladen Dolar, he is considered one of the co-founders of the

Ljubljana school of psychoanalysis Ljubljana school of psychoanalysis ( or ), also known as the Ljubljana Lacanian School (), is a popular name for a school of thought centred on the Society for Theoretical Psychoanalysis based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Philosophers related to Scho ...

.Jadžić, Miloš & Miljković, Dušan & Veselinović, Ana (eds.). (2012). ''Kriza, odgovori, levica: Prilozi za jedan kritički diskurs'', Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Southeastern Europe:

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, p. 327 (in Serbian)

Early life and education

He was born as Josip Rastko Močnik in a middle-class family in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

. He studied sociology and history of literature at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

, graduating in 1968 under the supervision of Dušan Pirjevec. During his student years, he was active in several avant-garde literary movements. In 1964, he became the last co-editor (together with the poet

Tomaž Šalamun Tomaž Šalamun (July 4, 1941 – December 27, 2014) was a Slovenian poet who was a leading figure of postwar neo-avant-garde poetry in Central EuropeColm Tóibín (2004The comet's trail The Guardian, Guardian and an internationally acclaimed Absu ...

) of the alternative journal '' Perspektive'', before it was closed down by the Yugoslav government. Between 1968 and 1970 he worked as a journalist at the journal ''

Delo ''Delo'' () is a business oriented online media in Ukraine, belonging to ekonomika+ media holding. ''Delo'' was the first daily in Ukraine, publishing its real print circulation (13.000 - 15.000) and trying to introduce Western editorial and b ...

''. He later studied at the

École des hautes études en sciences sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (, EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conj ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he obtained a PhD in philosophy under the supervision of

Algirdas Julien Greimas Algirdas Julien Greimas (; born ; 9 March 1917 – 27 February 1992) was a Lithuanian literary scientist who wrote most of his body of work in French while living in France. Greimas is known among other things for the Semiotic square, Greimas S ...

Work life and politics

After returning to Ljubljana, he became the editor of the alternative journal '' Problemi''. During this period, he started a close collaboration with Marxist philosophers

and Mladen Dolar. Since 1984, Močnik is professor of sociology at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana. Močnik was among the first Slovene theorists who introduced

structuralism Structuralism is an intellectual current and methodological approach, primarily in the social sciences, that interprets elements of human culture by way of their relationship to a broader system. It works to uncover the structural patterns t ...

and the theories of

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

philosopher

Louis Althusser Louis Pierre Althusser (, ; ; 16 October 1918 – 22 October 1990) was a French Marxist philosopher who studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy. Althusser was a long-time member an ...

in Slovenian academia. He has written on several subjects including theory of

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

, theoretical

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...

semiotics Semiotics ( ) is the systematic study of sign processes and the communication of meaning. In semiotics, a sign is defined as anything that communicates intentional and unintentional meaning or feelings to the sign's interpreter. Semiosis is a ...

, linguistics and

epistemology Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

and

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

. He has also translated works of

Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, ; ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Sigmund Freud, Freud", Lacan gave The Seminars of Jacques Lacan, year ...

Émile Durkheim David Émile Durkheim (; or ; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917) was a French Sociology, sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern soci ...

and

Marcel Mauss Marcel Israël Mauss (; 10 May 1872 – 10 February 1950) was a French sociologist and anthropologist known as the "father of French ethnology". The nephew of Émile Durkheim, Mauss, in his academic work, crossed the boundaries between sociolo ...

into Slovene. Močnik has also been active in several civil and political movements in Slovenia. In the early 1980s, he was one of the most outspoken opponents of a high school education reform, carried out by the

League of Communists of Slovenia The League of Communists of Slovenia (, ZKS; ) was the Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. It was established in April 1937 as the Communist Party of Slovenia and was ...

, in which the classical grammar schools (the so-called gymnasium) were abolished as a supposed remainder of old bourgeois elitism. In 1982, he also wrote a petition against such reform, together with editor

Braco Rotar Braco may refer to: Places * Braco, Perth and Kinross, a village in Scotland * Braco Airfield, an airstrip in Jamaica People * Braco (faith healer) (born 1967), self-styled healer from Croatia * Baron Braco, a title in the Peerage of Irel ...

, social theorist Neda Pagon and jurist

Matevž Krivic Matevž (puréed beans with Pork rind, cracklings) is a Slovenia, Slovene national dish. The dish is typical of central Slovenia, especially of the Gottschee, Kočevje region. It is made of beans and potatoes. Its origins come from the 19th centu ...

. The petition was signed by over 600 intellectuals, and was one of the first wide and openly critical

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.Socialist Slovenia. Between 1988 and 1990, he served on the board of the

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. It was founded in Ljubljana on 31 May 1988, after the Counter-Intelligen ...

, the main civil society organization in Slovenia during the process of democratization. In the early 1990s, he opposed the dissolution of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, was critical of the

DEMOS coalition Democratic Opposition of Slovenia, also known as DEMOS (in Slovenian: ''Demokratična opozicija Slovenije''), was a coalition of centre-right political parties created by an agreement between the Slovenian Democratic Union, the Social Democrat ...

and Slovenian independence. In 1990, Močnik was elected president of a small extra-parliamentary party, called Social Democratic Union (''Socialdemokratska unija'', SDU), which was linked to

Ante Marković Ante Marković ( sh-Cyrl, Анте Марковић, ; 25 November 1924 – 28 November 2011) was a Croatian and Yugoslav politician, businessman and engineer. He is most notable for having served as the last Prime Minister of Yugoslavia from 1 ...

's Union of Reform Forces. The party failed to win any significant popular support, and remained outside of the Slovenian Parliament. After its dissolution in the early 1990s, Močnik left party politics, but continued to participate in the public debate. He was one of the few Slovenian public intellectuals who opposed the unilateral declaration of Slovenian independence. In the late 1990s, he opposed the Slovenian entry in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. He has also been highly critical of the

Bologna process file:Bologna-Prozess-Logo.svg, 96px, alt=Logo with stylized stars, Logo file:Bologna zone.svg, alt=Map of Europe, encompassing the entire Bologna zone, 256px, Bologna zone The Bologna Process is a series of ministerial meetings and agreements b ...

. Močnik also writes weekly columns in the Slovene leftist journal ''

Mladina ''Mladina'' (English: Youth) is a Slovenian weekly political and current affairs magazine. Since the 1920s, when it was first published, it has become a voice of protest against those in power. Today, ''Mladinas weekly issues are distributed ...

'' and is a member of the advisory board of the regional left-wing magazine '' Novi Plamen''. In 2017, Močnik has signed the Declaration on the Common Language of the

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

Bosniaks The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

and

Montenegrins Montenegrins (, or ) are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Montenegrins are mostly Orthodox Christians; however, the population also includes ...

Controversies

Močnik's ambiguous positions in the years 1989–1991, when he was critical of Slovenia's independence from Yugoslavia, was criticized by many at the time, and has remained one of the frequent political reproaches against him, including from the conservative ex Prime Minister

Janez Janša Ivan Janša (; born 17 September 1958), better known as Janez Janša (), is a Slovenian politician who served three times as a prime minister of Slovenia, a position he had held from 2004 to 2008, from 2012 to 2013, and from 2020 to 2022. Since ...

. In 2008, his article "Slovene historians on the Destruction of Yugoslav Federation" published in a special issue of the review '' Borec'' under the name ''Oddogodenje zgodovine – primer Jugoslavije ("The Uneventment of History - The Case of Yugoslavia") together with contributions by the "new generation" of Slovenian historians and young foreign researchers such as Ozren Pupovac, Alberto Toscano and Geoffroy Geraud-Legros, became highly polemical as he criticized some trends on

historical revisionism In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) scholarly views or narratives regarding a historical event, timespa ...

in contemporary Slovenian historiography. In the article, Močnik accused three of the most prominent contemporary Slovene historians, Peter Vodopivec,

Jože Pirjevec Jože Pirjevec (born 1 June 1940), registered at birth Giuseppe Pierazzi because of the Italianization policy under the Fascist regime, is a Slovene– Italian historian and a prominent diplomatic historian of the west Balkans region, as well as ...

and

Božo Repe Božo () is a South Slavic masculine given name, cognate of the English Theo, and, similarly, a popular abbreviation of the name - Božidar, English Theodore. Notable people with the name include: * Božo Bakota (1950–2015), Croatian footbal ...

, all of whom are considered to be close to left wing or left liberal positions, of

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

bias.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mocnik, Rastko Slovenian sociologists 20th-century Slovenian philosophers Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana Slovenian translators French–Slovene translators Health professionals from Ljubljana Slovenian psychoanalysts 1944 births Living people University of Ljubljana alumni Signatories of the Declaration on the Common Language Politicians from Ljubljana 21st-century Slovenian philosophers