Who Owns the Past?: The Politics of Time in a 'Model' Bulgarian Village (New Directions in Anthropology, 21)

Deema Kaneff

ISBN 10: 1571815341 / ISBN 13: 9781571815347

Published by Berghahn Books, 2004

About this Item

New hardcover in matte case wraps. Text is clean and free of marks or underlining. 8vo. (6.25 x 0.75 x 9.25 inches) Includes B&W photo plates, bibliography, and an index. 230 pp. Fast shipping in a secure book box mailer with tracking. In this study of politics and the past in contemporary Bulgaria, the author examines the complicated ways in which ideologies of the past are used to make claims to power and resources in the present, and are transformed under different political regimes. Drawing on more than a decade of research in the village of Talpa, she shows how during socialism local-centre relations were played out through the skilled 'use' of three pasts (history, folklore and tradition). Through strategic acquiescence to socialist ideology, Talpa achieved officially recognised status of 'model' village, with resulting advantageous access to state controlled resources and privileges. After the fall of communism, postsocialist reforms generated a revaluation of the past, a reconfiguration of local power relations and a breakdown of ties between the state centre and periphery. Once a 'model' village, Talpa now faces economic uncertainty and stagnation. Nevertheless, new strategies for engaging in the postsocialist state are being carved out in the face of both continued 'nostalgia' for socialism and disenchantment with the reforms. Such phenomena are not restricted to rural Bulgaria, but common throughout the east European countryside; this book helps us to understand the processes of continuity and change.

Seller Inventory # 203546

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Who Owns the Past?: The Politics of Time in a 'Model' Bulgarian Village (New Directions in Anthropology, 21)
• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1571815341
• ISBN 13: 9781571815347
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Anthropology: Mythology & Folklore
  • Communism

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.