Suchergebnisse

Since the creation of the Bulgarian state in 1878, departure for the heart of the Ottoman Empire and, later, Turkey has for the Turcophone populations of Bulgaria represented a horizon of the thinkable and sometimes the possible. The result of these successive migrations has been a multitude of different ways of being a Bulgarian-origin Turk in Turkey. These various modes of belonging are here examined as they are constituted through a practice of sites that is also a practice of filiation and time. By examining the roots travel of Bulgarian Turks living in the Turkish megalopolis of Bursa and Istanbul, this article encourages a reconsideration of the sometimes too marked opposition between notions of "departure" and "return." These do not reflect the variety of meanings attributed to voyages -- whether dreamt or accomplished, matters of routine or exceptional events -- by those who take part in them. The article next suggests the extent to which ways of reinvesting (or not) ancestral land correlates with social trajectories that mediate the question of filiation through that of affirmations of affiliation with the country of residence. Finally, it shows how origin voyages, which are often considered as windows on the spatiality of identifications, constitute temporal objects, not solely by virtue of their inscription in the length of the voyage and that of the stay but also by the invitation they represent to revisit pasts that have been selectively reread. In so doing, they constitute vectors for reordering the individual, familial and collective temporalities by means of which changing accounts of belonging are elaborated. Adapted from the source document.

Since the fall of communism, a vast body of literature has been devoted to the transfers to the east of international norms, rules & standards in public policy. Rather than view this process via the study of export rationales (alternately seen as virtuous or asymmetrical) or import rationales (supposedly passive or zealous), this article examines the concrete mechanisms through which "social problems," policies are devised & remodeled as the various local, regional & transnational actors take them up. Starting with a study of the role of NGOs in the construction of minority issues in Bulgaria, it highlights the multiple ways in which the categories & international priorities are shaped by Bulgarian leaders that have learned to use the international repertoire to position themselves on a competitive domestic market. The analysis also underscores the fragile, porous nature of borders between what is presented as pertaining to export or import due to the multipositionality of agents that are both "local" & integrated into transnational networks, even involved in formulating recommendations for so-called "export" institutions. In place of the "export/import" pair, it might be heuristic to substitute the notion of circulating themes & mechanism, while investigating their integration into local histories. Adapted from the source document.

A taka's victory in the June 2005 legislative elections came as a surprise. This nationalist coalition borrows its platform both from the extreme right (anti-Turk & anti-Roma sentiments) & the extreme left (anti-Americanism, nostalgia for an authoritarian socialist state) while cultivating a degree of anti-Semitism. Two months earlier, Bulgaria had signed its Accession Treaty to the European Union. With a steady growth rate, rising foreign investment & the gradual catching-up of the new middle class' incomes, the country seemed about to complete its post-communist "transition." What does the emergence of a radical political group signify this late in the course of change? Volen Siderov's party scores first of all translate the rejection of a political class accused of defending individual interests at the expense of the common good. This success also reflects the tensions caused by the brutal post-communist transformations & the disorientation that has accompanied them. Last of all, they indicate frustrations with respect to an international community (the IMF, the United States & the European Union) that has obliged the country to enact unpopular measures in the name of standards that it often disregards itself. It would be unwise to turn a deaf ear to the questions raised by Ataka. Notwithstanding Siderov's electoral gains, these issues are due to remain in the public space for a certain time. Adapted from the source document.

During the first years of the Bulgarian transition to democracy, all indicators seemed to point towards an impending explosion of interethnic hatred. Located at the crossroads of Islam and Christianity, this predominantly Orthodox country harbors a 13.1% strong Muslim minority, which was subjected to forcible assimilation under communist rule. The assimilation policy reached a climax in 1984–1985, when around 800,000 Bulgarian Turks were forced to renounce their Turkish-Arabic names in favor of Slavic patronyms within the framework of the so-called "Revival Process," a campaign that aimed at precipitating the unification of the Bulgarian nation. Far from achieving the intended result, the authorities' move not only fostered a reassertion of distinct ethnic and religious identification among the Turks, but also succeeded in durably upsetting intercommunitarian relationships. Significantly, the Communist Party's announcement on 29 December 1989 that it would restore Muslim rights met with sharp resistance in mixed areas, where large-scale Bulgarian protests rapidly gathered momentum. Against this background, in 1990–1991, few analysts would have predicted that Bulgaria could avoid religious conflict, especially as the country was faced with growing regional instability and a belated shift to a market economy—two conditions often said to be conducive to the exacerbation of ethnic tensions.