The Language of Here

Tukaj smo/We Are Here (2021) is a collectively authored book written by “a small community of people living in Slovenia” (p. 4), most of them refugees. Its authors hail from countries including Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Algeria, Eritrea, and Palestine, and the book is written in four languages: Slovenian, English, Arabic, and Farsi. It is a project of care: a “newspaper” that shares first-hand experiences of racism, exclusion, and the fight for recognition, aimed both at “refugees [...] [to] help them see that they are not alone in their struggles” and at “Slovenians, to help them understand the problems we face” (Tukaj smo, 2021, p. 4). In its dedication to the millions suffering at Europe’s borders, as well as to “all the bastards who have contributed their curse to migrants” (p. 4), Tukaj smo is also a statement: a refusal of erasure, and a call to see and name political violence. Its defiant title gains added meaning when we take into account that the publication of these stories was supported by Ambasada Rog, a solidarity initiative which early last year lost its longstanding premises after the forced eviction of Ljubljana’s autonomous social centre Tovarna Rog, and which has since reopened in a new location. To obtain a copy of the book one can contact Ambasada Rog (or else find it in the library of the Department of Educational Sciences at the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Arts).