Bordering and Strategic Belonging in Gagauzia

Holsapple, Christiana

doi:10.1080/08865655.2020.1828142

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…As I argue elsewhere (Holsapple 2020), local patterns of experiencing and articulating belonging remain open and ambiguous rather than exclusively nationalistic, with various identity categories often drawn upon simultaneously and situationally. These cases thus illustrate the discrepancies between (provincial) elite or intellectual efforts to articulate the nation and the actual national formation involving "production of the people" (Balibar 1991, 93-94).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The region is exceptionally dependent on remittances, sent home predominantly from Russia and Turkey (Keough 2006, 440;International Organization for Migration 2015, 28), and on foreign donor aid, with the Turkish Agency for International Development and Cooperation (2016, 37;51;56;82) among the most prominent donors. Because of Gagauzia's geographic positionat the crossroads of historic empires and contemporary nation-states (Katchanovski 2005, 877;Kapaló 2011, 3)many locals are in the position to be granted various citizenships (Holsapple 2020). Russia, Bulgaria, and Romania, for instance, all have policies extending citizenship to eligible individuals on the basis of historic territorial or ethnic heritage claims.…”

Section: Background On Gagauziamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ethnopolitical Entrepreneurs as Nation Builders? Heritage and Innovation in Gagauzia

Holsapple

2022

Nationalities Papers

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This article brings to light the lesser-known case of Gagauzia, an autonomous region in Moldova, to examine how global frameworks of authenticity and heritage are drawn upon and performed in three local ethnically centered initiatives. Drawing on data from twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork carried out between 2015 and 2018, this case study provides insight into the ways that notions of nationhood are constructed and perpetuated, with a focus on the role of a specific segment of society, ethnopolitical entrepreneurs. These are neither fully top-down nor bottom-up actors. Focusing on three Gagauzian “firsts” that claim to represent the “last” of disappearing cultural practices and identities, this article interrogates how the given initiatives fuse heritage and innovation to create metacultural discourses that advance notions of Gagauzian ethnic or national particularism. The article gives food for thought about the salience – or not – of elite actors’ articulations of nation, particularly within post-Soviet societies and underscores the array of social actors involved in any nation-building activity. Further, by highlighting the heterogeneity of intersectional, lived experience and articulations of belonging, the article problematizes group-based analysis and methodological nationalism.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Background On Gagauziamentioning

confidence: 99%