Who Owns the Past? : The Politics of Time in a 'Model' Bulgarian Village

Kaneff, Deema

ISBN 10: 1571815341 / ISBN 13: 9781571815347

Published by Berghahn Books, 2004

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 1783558-n

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Who Owns the Past? : The Politics of Time in a 'Model' Bulgarian Village
• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1571815341
• ISBN 13: 9781571815347
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

In the decades since the collapse of socialism in eastern Europe, time has been a central resource under negotiation. Focusing on a local community that was considered a "model" in the socialist period, the author explores a variety of state-sponsored and unofficial pasts - history, folklore, and tradition - and shows how they "fit" together in everyday life. During the socialist period, the past was a central dimension of local politics and village identity. Post-socialist development has demanded a revaluation of temporality - as well as public and private space. This has led to fundamental changes in social life and political relations, reduced local resources, threatened village identity and transformed political activity through the emergence of new political elites.

While the full implications of this process are still being played out, this study underlines some of the fundamental processes prevalent across eastern Europe that help explain widespread ambiguity vis-B-vis post-socialist reform.

About the Author

Deema Kaneff is reader in Social Anthropology at the Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies at the University of Birmighnam.