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This book explores the multiple effects of globalization on urban and rural communities, providing anthropological case studies from postsocialist Bulgaria. As globalization has been studied largely in urban contexts, the aim of this volume is to shift attention to the under-examined countryside and analyse how transnational links are transforming relations between cities, towns and villages. The volume also challenges undifferentiated notions of ‘the countryside’, calling for an awareness of rural economic and social disparities which are often only associated with urban environments. The work focuses on how the ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ have been reconfigured following the end of socialism and the advent of globalization, in socioeconomic, as well as political, ideological and cultural terms.
In most countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the fall of communism meant individuals could acquire land. Based on fieldwork between 1990 and 2001, the author explores the importance of land and land ownership in one Transylvanian community.
The collapse of communist systems in South East Europe resulted in a landscape to be newly arranged. Diverse forces compete to capture the popular energies released by the embrace of old and new identities. Deficits of modernization in a post communist nexus have deepened cultural asymmetries and challenge EU integration in new ways. Drives to rule of the “strong hand”, feod-like patron-client relations, “self-orientalization” as result of dilettante “social engineering” and unrealistic cultural politics increase the entropy of transition. Plamen K. Georgiev discusses the most controversial issues of a possible accession of Turkey into EU and its impact on a number of collective identities as Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, Croatia, vulnerable to Islamic fundamentalism, but also new breeds of nationalisms. This comparative study prompts apt ideas for EU coordinated national politics, fostering its cultural homogeneity and integrity in a global world of rising risks and new responsibilities.
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This fascinating collection analyzes the impact of Western consumer culture on local cultures and consumption in Southeast Europe and East Asia. Cultural, historical, economic and sociopolitical contexts are examined regarding buying behaviors, usage and customization practices and consumer activism, specifically in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania as cultures continue to evolve in the post-socialist era, and in China and Japan as a continuation of movements toward modernity and progress. Surprising and thought-provoking contrasts stand out as consumers balance the global with the local in terms of clothing, technology, luxury items, and food. All chapters feature a wealth of empirical and c...
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