Mass graves and exhumations in Slovenia: Agency of the dead, their remains and the materiality of mass graves

Abstract

There are several hundred mass graves in Slovenia, most of which are remnants of the Second World War and its aftermath, particularly the extrajudicial mass executions that took place after the war. The article explores anthropological perspectives on the issue of mass graves, focusing on how individuals in different contexts, especially those involved in mass grave research and exhumations, experience the dead, their remains, and the materiality and spatiality of mass graves. Specifically, the article discusses how the agency of the dead can be understood in the contexts of mass graves research as well as how exhumations influence individuals, social actions and transformations of the social status of the dead. It employs the concept of relational or distributed agency that operates across the network of actors (relatives, locals, people involved in research, exhumation, and commemoration), places of mass graves and the materiality of human remains. When mass graves are exhumed, human remains are transformed from inert objects into relevant actors in social and political life with the capacity to affect the individuals and catalyze social processes.