Islam in Post-Communist Bulgaria: An Aborted “Clash of Civilizations”?

2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadege Ragaru
Keyword(s):  
Market Economy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Religious Conflict ◽  
Clash Of Civilizations ◽  
Religious Identification ◽  
Ethnic Tensions ◽  
Muslim Minority ◽  
Islam And Christianity ◽  
Assimilation Policy

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.

scholarly journals The Speed of Large-Scale Transformation of Political and Economic Institutions

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-583
Author(s):  
Ružica Šimić Banović ◽  
Martina Basarac Sertić ◽  
Valentina Vučković
Keyword(s):  
Market Economy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Shock Therapy ◽  
The Body ◽  
Economic Indicators ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Scale Transformation ◽  
Member States ◽  
Therapy Approach ◽  
Eu Member States

This article compares the applicability of both the gradual and the shock therapy approach to reform implementation in large-scale change. Using quantitative data, it aims to provide more evidence for the lessons learned from post-socialist transformation. Hence it adds a theoretical and an empirical contribution to the body of literature on great transformations, focusing on their speed and the acceptability of related policy solutions. Despite the predominant inclination towards the gradualist approach to reforms in the initial transition years, economic indicators suggest that the big bang reformers have demonstrated a superior performance over the last (few) decade(s). Still, the approach to (post-)transition processes should be multidimensional and include more than the speed of transformation and key economic indicators. Therefore, a quantitative analysis covers several aspects of socioeconomic change. The analysis of the quality of democracy, market economy, and management performance in post-socialist EU member states indicates that over the last decade the countries that applied the shock therapy approach have performed significantly better in all these areas. This suggests that slow reformers are lagging behind in the development of democratic institutions and a modern market economy, and presumably have insufficient capacities to rapidly catch up with fast reformers. Further research on this topic should tackle the deep roots of socioeconomic development and path-dependent choices (reform speed included), proximity to Western countries, the possible effects of other specific circumstances (such as war), the importance of selected institutions on the performance of post-socialist non-EU member states, and other limitations.

Publics Meet Market Democracy in Central and East Europe, 1991-1993

Slavic Review ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 483-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary E. McIntosh ◽  
Martha Abele Mac Iver ◽  
Daniel G. Abele ◽  
Dina Smeltz
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
East Europe ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Market Democracy

The revolutions of 1989 in central and east Europe raise crucial questions for the social sciences. Is it possible to build democracy and capitalism simultaneously in societies that have no real history of either system? Will democracy really take root and flourish in societies without an existing market economy? Or will the monumental task of creating a market economy strain these new democratic governments to the limit and ultimately lead to an authoritarian backlash? Since the transition to democracy from socialism is unprecedented, history can offer little useful data from which to derive well founded predictions.

scholarly journals Bloody, Intense, and Durable

2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-80
Author(s):  
Tomas Lindgren ◽  
Hannes Sonnenschein
Keyword(s):  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Religious Conflict ◽  
Religious Conflicts ◽  
Negotiated Settlements ◽  
Islam And Christianity ◽  
Current Systems

A growing number of scholars argues that we are witnessing a resurgenceof religion in world politics, accompanied by an increasein religiously inspired conflict. Empirical studies demonstrate thatreligious conflicts are more violent, more intense, more durable, andmore difficult to resolve through negotiated settlements than theirsecular counterparts. In this paper, we argue that these conclusionsare unreliable, because they fail to provide convincing criteria forseparating religious conflicts from non-religious ones. Our mainconcern is with the categorization problem. What characteristics orfactors make a conflict party, conflict issue, or identity religious, andwhat characteristics or factors frame a conflict party, conflict issue,or identity as non-religious? A basic assumption behind much of thisresearch is the contested idea that religion is a universal phenomenonembodied in various forms such as Islam and Christianity. The majorityof scholars simply assume a sharp division between religion andthe secular without problematizing or justifying such a distinction. Inthis article, we argue that religious conflict is an ideologically chargedconcept, and that the study of the religion-conflict nexus reinforcesthe neoliberal status quo and current systems of power.

scholarly journals The strategy of shifting cultivators in West Kalimantan in adapting to the market economy: empirical evidence behind gaps in interdisciplinary communication

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1015-1035
Author(s):  
Prudensius Maring
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Shifting Cultivation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Adaptation Strategy ◽  
Cultivation System ◽  
West Kalimantan ◽  
Village Communities ◽  
Large Scale Land ◽  
Shifting Cultivators

Issues of climate change and expansion of large-scale land acquisition for industrial plantations continue to ravage the shifting cultivation system that 300–500 million subsistence farmer households depend on. In Indonesia, particularly in Kalimantan and Sumatera, village communities continue to practice shifting cultivation amidst the conversion of lands into industrial plantations. The rampant conversion of farmer's land by large scale companies based in the market economy has resulted in the decline of the shifting cultivation system, and compelled them to enter commercial production. I employed qualitative methods, conducting in-depth interviews and observations in West Kalimantan in 2018. Shifting cultivation today is not just for subsistence, but it is also a strategy to maintain claims to land that has been handed over to companies. Concurrently, people have been developing community plantations using industrial commodities such as rubber and oil palm, which still incorporate subsistence features. The changes occurring in villages have led to conflict since land availability has reduced, while the alternative of working for forestry and plantation companies is hampered by their lack of skills and knowledge. Theoretically, this study indicates the need for communication and synergy between the perspectives of political ecology and cultural ecology in order to understand the socio-politico-economic complexities haunting the village community's alterations in subsistence strategies. The practical implications are that land-based village development should open up communication among stakeholders and position village communities as the key beneficiary in the long run.Keywords: Shifting cultivation, land conversion, adaptation strategy, market economy, political ecology, Kalimantan, Indonesia

scholarly journals TOWARDS A JOINT FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY OF CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS IN AFRICA: RESPONSE TO J. D. Y. PEEL

Africa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 628-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgit Meyer
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Clash Of Civilizations ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Islam And Christianity ◽  
The One ◽  
Critical Intervention

The main point of John Peel's intriguing critical intervention is to warn against what he sees as an overemphasis on similarities between Christianity and Islam. Making these religions look all too similar, he argues, may come at the expense of paying due attention to the distinctiveness of each of these religious traditions and hence to their intrinsic differences. He suggests an analogy between the stance taken by ‘somewhat left-wing and anti-establishment discourse’ to equalize Islam and Christianity under the label of fundamentalism on the one hand, and a strand of Africanist work on West Africa that pleads for the close similarities between these two religions to be acknowledged on the other. For the latter, he takes the article ‘Pentecostalism, Islam and culture: new religious movements in West Africa’ by Brian Larkin and myself (2006) as paradigmatic. For my part, it is difficult to see how the use of the notion of fundamentalism in current debates and the position ventured by us converge. I would certainly refrain from using the notion of fundamentalism (even if invoked to balance Huntington's equally problematic notion of the clash of civilizations) as a category that serves to draw out similarities between certain radical movements in Christianity and Islam both past and present – a use I view as highly problematic. The fact that Peel converges the levels of general public debate about political Islam and research regarding Christianity and Islam in African studies makes it quite difficult for me to grasp what his main concern is. Is it a worry about a – in his view – problematic, broader trend of denying actual intrinsic differences between Christianity and Islam, a trend that spills over from critical opinion into current Africanist scholarship, or vice versa? Is it the problem that foregrounding certain formal – and to him ultimately superficial – similarities favours an ahistorical stance with regard to these traditions? Or is it a concern – albeit not explicitly articulated – that the insistence on similarities with regard to Christianity might draw a too positive picture of Islam, pre-empting it from the critique that he considers necessary?

scholarly journals Discussion of Montiel and Belo: Nonviolent Democratic Transitions Within a Peace Psychology Framework

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-11
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Christie
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Military Power ◽  
Human History ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
The Face ◽  
Current Article ◽  
Peace Psychology

AbstractIn addition to being the bloodiest century in human history, the 20th century was distinguished by many large-scale nonviolent movements that successfully toppled oppressive regimes, often in the face of overwhelming military power. Notable examples include: India, South Africa, Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Philippines, Chile, and Serbia (cf. Ackerman & DuVall, 2000; Ackerman & Kruegler, 1994; Zunes, Kurtz, & Asher, 1999). Montiel and Belo's research is unique, identifying human cognitions, emotions, and values that accompanied East Timor's nonviolent transition to democracy. The current article places their work within the larger framework of peace psychology

scholarly journals Non-kin ties as a source of support amongst older adults ‘left behind’ in Poland: a quantitative study on the role of geographic distance

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (06) ◽  
pp. 1255-1280 ◽  
Author(s):  
NINA CONKOVA ◽  
RUSSELL KING
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Geographic Distance ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Eastern European Countries

ABSTRACTIn the transition to democracy and a market economy, the Central and Eastern European countries experienced rapid and fundamental changes. Large-scale emigration flows and pronounced reductions in previously universal welfare systems increased the phenomenon of ‘left behind’ older adults. We examine this phenomenon in the case of Poland, a rather family-oriented society which in recent years sent most emigrants to Western Europe in absolute terms. Employing a support system framework and representative survey data, we enquire into older adults’ support patterns. Our results suggest that older adults in Poland rely predominantly on family support, although this varies greatly across living arrangements. We also find a positive association between distance separating parents and their closest child, and support from at least one non-kin. Yet, our findings reveal differences between practical and emotional support, with the latter being more likely to be provided by non-kin, but with distance mattering to a lesser degree. Parents with very distant child(ren) are few and differ only from parents with very proximate child(ren), a finding prompting the question as to what is the difference between being ‘left behind’ by international and by internal migration. We conclude that the phenomenon of ‘left behind’ in Poland, at least in terms of support, is less a matter of children's migration and more an issue of household and regional context.

When Left Is Right: Party Ideology and Policy in Post-Communist Europe

2009 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARGIT TAVITS ◽  
NATALIA LETKI
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Education Spending ◽  
Partisan Theory ◽  
Party Ideology ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
Leftist Parties

According to the classic partisan theory of spending, leftist parties are expected to increase government spending, and rightist parties are expected to decrease it. We argue that this relationship does not hold in post-Communist countries, where in the context of dual transition to democracy and to a market economy, leftist parties have had stronger incentives and better opportunities to enact tighter budgets, whereas rightist parties were compelled to spend more in order to alleviate economic hardships. We illustrate this theoretical argument with case studies from Hungary and Poland. We then test and find support for our theory by considering the influence of cabinet ideology on total, health, and education spending in thirteen post-Communist democracies from 1989 to 2004. We explore various alternative explanations and provide further narratives to support our causal argument.

scholarly journals CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION IN A CONTEST WITH THE STATE AND NATIONALISM

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ms. Samreen Bari, Ms.Sidra Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Western World ◽  
Common People ◽  
Convergence Process ◽  
Globalized Economy ◽  
The World ◽  
Working Together

What is globalization? It is difficult to define globalization with a single definition although it is a buzz word of this century; this term has mesmerized and fascinated the world significantly. It is considered as the large scale convergence process, it is a multidimensional phenomenon the main agent to activate the merger of economy and culture of the local and distant as a result growing interdependence in all walk of life is eradicating the cultural, social, territorial and religious barriers. The advocates of globalization predict that that through this process poor or developing countries can improve their economies and can raise the standard of living of their common people while the opponents of globalization claim that uncontrolled or free international market economy is benefitting the multinational corporations mostly operated by the entrepreneurs of the western world at the expense of local businesses, local cultures and common people. The advancement of technology and free market economy are working together to create a new globalized and interconnected world. The dynamic and ever-changing technological revolution involving the creation of a computerized network of communication, transportations, and exchange the acceptance of a globalized economy, the enlargement of world capitalist market system is absorbing ever more areas of the world and orbit of production, exchange, and consumption. As the world is experiencing and exploring the massive waves of ideas, norms, values, beliefs and hard products through direct as well as indirect channels not only media but tourists, businessmen, NGO’s, migrants are transferring their ideas, beliefs, and ideas from one part of the world to another.

scholarly journals A Clash of Civilizations? Preferences for Religious Political Leaders in 86 Nations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nate Breznau ◽  
Valerie A. Lykes ◽  
MDR Evans ◽  
Jonathan Kelley
Keyword(s):  
National Level ◽  
Clash Of Civilizations ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Communist State ◽  
Islam And Christianity ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Developed World

Huntington claimed that today’s major conflicts are most likely to erupt between religiously defined ‘civilizations,’ in particular between Christianity and Islam. Using World Values Surveys from 86 nations, we examine differences between Christians and Muslims in preferences for religious political leaders. The results suggest a marked difference between Muslims and Christians in attitudes toward religious politicians, with Muslims more favorable by 20 points out of 100. Adjusting for devoutness and education (at the individual level), and degree of government corruption and status as a formerly Communist state (at the national level) accounts for most of the difference. Little support is found for the clash-of-civilizations hypothesis. Instead we find a clash of individual beliefs—between the devout and the secular—and enduring differences between the more developed and the less developed world accounts for almost all of the difference between Islam and Christianity with regards to preferences for religious political leaders.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document