Миграция и трансформиране на локалната общност (Сравнение между две рурални общности в България)
Migration and the Transformation of the Local Community: Comparative Discussion of Two Rural Communities in Bulgaria

Summary/Abstract: The paper seeks to outline some transformations in the structure of local communities, induced by in- and outgoing international migration. The discussion draws upon anthropological fieldwork observations carried out in two rural communities – the town of Zavet, near Isperih, Northeastern Bulgaria, and the village of Hotnitza, near Veliko Turnovo. The former case presents a form of outgoing migration rather typical for certain kinds of settlements in Bulgaria. In Zavet, it has started as ethnic and political emigration in 1989 to continue as predominantly economic migration to Turkey and to countries in Western Europe in the following decades. The case of Hotnitza presents a phenomenon which has intensified in Bulgaria in the last few years and is related with the country’s accession to EU – the inflow of EU citizens (predominantly British). The paper will focus, first of all, on the impact of migration on local economic strategies. Furthermore, it will discuss the changes in the very understanding of the community at the local level, as well as will reflect upon structural changes, deriving from the processes of transformation of the communities at issues from rural into transnational ones.

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