The heritage of political violence among Slovenian elites and its mobilisation during the period of regime change (1988-1995)

The paper deals with bad memories on experienced political violence among members of Slovenian elites, who were active during the regime change in Slovenia (1988-1995), when this country transformed from an ex-Yugoslavia region to an independent state. Although elite members are definitely the persons who may exercise force and coercive power upon others and not the other way around, it is interesting to see, how the old and new elite members were utilizing possible past violent acts over themselves or their families, exercised by different regimes from the past. Data are based on a special survey among Slovenian elite members in 1995. Results show relatively high spread of unpleasant memories among elite members (4 out of 10 have such recollections), though concerning different events from the past. Significant differences concern mobility type of elite members during 1988-95 and their specific sector engagement. First, old elite members, who left positions after1988, were significantly higher exposed to violent maltreatment than werethe othersby their withdrawals, a lot of social and political tensions were relaxed, contributing to a peaceful regime change. Second, (old and new) members of cultural elite still carry with them a lot of bad memories on past maltreatments, much more than the members of political and business elites. This issue might still be a factor in a further political mobilisation