Outclassed by Former Outcasts: Petty Trading in Varna

Abstract

People caught in circumstances of social upheaval differ in the ways in which they adjust to instability and change. Occasionally individuals at less privileged socioeconomic levels engage in socially devalued practices such as the small‐scale trading enterprises that have been degraded ideologically during 45 years of communist rule in Bulgaria. In this article we explore the ways in which people adjust to change by examining ethnographically the practice of trader tourism in Bulgaria. We argue that such an examination supports a rethinking of the concept of boundaries, if boundaries are fluid sets of constraints that individuals negotiate when reacting to monumental stress. Specifically, we consider the reactions of population groups within Bulgaria to the post‐1989 economic crisis. We also suggest that members of each group react in group‐specific strategies of temporary inclusion, permanent inclusion, and exclusion, [economic anthropology, survival strategies, markets and trader tourism, capitalism con. communism, Roma/Indo‐Roma/Gypsies, Eastern Europe/Balkan/Bulgaria, transition/boundaries]

Folkloristic, Ethnography, or Anthropology: Bulgarian Ethnology at the Crossroads

“…Almost absent during the state socialist period, research on social change has become one of the most exciting new trends. It is oriented to new social forces and the contrast between and transformation of old and new constructions of political identity (Ivanova 1999), as well as to specific actors in the transition period: businessmen and entrepreneurs (Aleksandrov 2001); tourist-traders and the development of smuggling and/or the black market (Konstantinov, Kressel, and Thuen 1998); and such byproducts of the post-socialist transition as "fighters" and "bodyguards, " both varieties of thugs (Ivanova 1999:88-102). This new research also seeks to shape a more general idea of a society in transition, starting from basic anthropological concepts: kinship, social structure, solidarity, clientele and patronage, political parties, etc.…”

Petty commodities, serious business: the governance of fashion jewellery chains between China and Ghana

“…Whereas GVC/GPN research tends to focus on successful economic integration (Bair and Werner 2011), research on informal transborder trade takes rupture as its starting point. Informal trade was a common response to the 'uncertain transitions' (Burawoy and Verdery 1999) produced by the collapse of Soviet-bloc regimes (Konstantinov et al 1998) and the structural adjustment programmes implemented across Africa (Meagher 2003). The disruptions depleted livelihoods and forced people to look for new sources of revenue, while simultaneously expanding opportunities for transborder trade.…”

Introduction

“…Th ese early fl ows were oft en organized as tourist groups equipped with group visas and assisted by travel guides, who also functioned as intermediaries between the "tourists" and customs offi cials. For the whole Black Sea region, Turkey, and Istanbul in particular, became a main destination of "trader tourism" (see Hann and Hann 1992;Konstantinov 1996;Konstantinov et al 1998). Th e Soviets, who had little money to invest in the cross-border trade with Turkey, created their fi rst profi ts by selling Soviet ironware (nails, spades, irons, etc.)…”

“…7. Konstantinov, Kressel, and Th uen (1998) write about Bulgarian traders who had to reconcile themselves to interacting with Roma on shopping trips and trading with Turks, their historical oppressors. 8.…”