Paper short abstract:

The paper examines how the meaning of rubbish on the coast of Dhermi/Drimades, southern Albania is related to the reconstruction of social and spatial boundaries and vice versa. It illustrates how the owners of tourist facilities and the tourists discuss the rubbish as contested.

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses how the meaning of rubbish on the coast of Dhermi (official name) Drimades (local name) in Himara Municipality of Southern Albania is related to construction and reconstruction of social and spatial boundaries and vice versa. Firstly in 1997, after the fall of the pyramid schemes and the loss of the state control in the post-communist Albania and later on after the year 2000, when the national coastal road to Dhermi/Drimades was rebuilt, tourist facilities on the coastal plain of Dhermi/Drimades enlarged in number. First owners of these tourist facilities, such as small hotels, apartments and restaurants, were mainly newcomers from Vlora and Tirana who bought the land that used to belong to the state in the period of communism (1945-1990). Later, after 2000, the returnees from Greece, whose parents originate from Dhermi/Drimades, joined these endeavours and built their tourist facilities on the land which belonged to their ancestors. Nowadays, with the growing number of tourists coming to the coast of Dhermi/Drimades, coinciding with the absence of communal service, the dumpsites along the main road and in the clearings are rising in numbers and rubbish is becoming an important issue in general. This paper illustrates how the owners of tourist facilities and the tourists, represented by emigrants originating from Dhermi/Drimades and other places throughout Albania, as well as others coming from Vlora and Tirana or rarely from different parts of Europe, discuss the rubbish as contested. In their representations, they negotiate who is responsible for the rubbish. During these negotiations the local owners and the emigrants originating from the Dhermi/Drimades construct and reconstruct the social and spatial boundaries and their sense of belonging.

E-paper: this Paper will not be presented, but read in advance and discussed