Paper short abstract:

The paper explores how identity transformation is taking place in a village economy where the EU integration policies have prioritised the development of tourism. As a result, some villagers opened family-run hotels and restaurants, thus establishing themselves as entrepreneurs.

Paper long abstract:

Bulgaria's integration and anticipated membership in the EU in 2007 has resulted in the adoption of new economic policies, which have wide-ranging implications across the country. The purpose of this paper is to explore how identity transformation is taking place in the context of a village economy in the region of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The paper will demonstrate how the shift in the political and economic context shapes the identities of rural inhabitants. State-supported agriculture was terminated with the disestablishment of the collective farms in the beginning of 1990s. The loss of Soviet markets for agricultural produce led to many structural changes in the Bulgarian countryside that has had an impact on rural lifestyles and identities. In the last decade new forms of private farming have replaced collective farming. The integration of the rural economy into the framework of the EU market has prioritized, at least in this region of Bulgaria, the development of village tourism. In line with the new economic opportunities, some villagers have responded to the demands for providing tourist services by opening family run businesses and thus establishing themselves as entrepreneurs. The specific case discussed in the paper is of a family which has opened a restaurant and hotel. This business becomes the source of new identification and modes of living for the family (which was previously involved only in agricultural activities). This family's story is not an exceptional case; a small number of village inhabitants are acquiring skills as entrepreneurs and emerging as new local elite. At the same time new social differentiations with respect to property and wealth are resulting in a growing number of socially disadvantaged villagers. In this way, the issue of "identities in transition" is related to the processes of social and economic, inclusion and exclusion in the Bulgarian countryside.