Autarchy through Connectivity: The Railway Grid as Bulgaria's National Space, 1878–1908
Autarchy through Connectivity: The Railway Grid as Bulgaria's National Space, 1878–1908

Summary/Abstract: The Principality was formative for Bulgarian developmentality, that is, the discourse rulers and subjects utilize to negotiate the “promise of infrastructure,” the prospect of happiness through transport connectivity. This discourse concentrated on autarchization (eliminating foreign capitalists from the rail sector as an impediment to national bliss), popularization (influencing decision-making to serve regional connectivity), and unsuccessful external colonization (seeking to connect “unredeemed” Bulgaria). While autarchization in particular developed a centripetal dynamic through negative integration, the “promise of infrastructure” also reinforced centrifugal tendencies in Bulgarian society based on class, region, ethnicity, and ideology.

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