Youth Culture and Attitudes of Young People towards “Europe“ in Bulgaria Today Cover Image
  • Price 4.90 €

Jugendkultur und Einstellungen Jugendlicher zu „Europa“ im heutigen Bulgarien
Youth Culture and Attitudes of Young People towards “Europe“ in Bulgaria Today

Author(s): Katerina Gehl
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Südosteuropa Gesellschaft e.V.

Summary/Abstract: Trying for a place at a Western university is seen as an imperative by ambitious Bulgarians. Nowadays more in terms of lifestyle, ten years ago as a must. Returnees were labeled as losers then. Currently, five years after becoming an EU member, most of young Bulgarians at home and abroad appear to be very self-assured. Patriotic slogans have become fashionable. In spite of the catastrophic situation concerning the Bulgarian educational system and in defiance of an employment market that has no attractive offers for highly skilled persons, more and more young Bulgarians decide to stay in their homeland. Qualitative researches show that many of them don’t find it so uncomely in Bulgaria after all. They consider EU citizenship as legitimacy for behaviors and values stigmatized as “Balkanic” beforehand. Therefore they choose a way of life that assures professional success by having the “right” networks and connections. Conformism and consumption dominate the contemporary Bulgarian youth culture.

  • Issue Year: 2012
  • Issue No: 02
  • Page Range: 32-45
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: German