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Paper short abstract

Drawing on interviews and observations of recent Bulgarian protests, this paper argues that mistrust is a relational practice and its effects can be constructive or deconstructive, determined by the social roles and experiences of those practicing mistrust.

Paper long abstract

In the most recent wave of anti-government protests in Bulgaria, many public conversations focused on the relationship between protesters and the police and often pointed at a deep social mistrust toward the latter. Instructions on how to interact with the police and what to do if police violence occurs, previously limited to small activist circles, entered the mainstream discourse and were disseminated by opposition politicians, political influencers, and law firms. Taking new forms and scales, mistrust thus led to new organizational practices and volunteer efforts, proving to be a constructive social force. On the other hand, interviews with victims of police violence highlight mistrust as a deconstructive force, changing people’s attitudes toward the police and undermining the already fragile authority of political institutions and the police in particular.

In this paper, I offer a comparison in the forms of mistrust as practiced by government opposition, protest organizers and volunteers, and victims of police violence. My main argument is that mistrust, as practiced by opposition politicians and protest organizers can be a mobilizing and constructive force, but it can have the opposite effects on those who experience police violence. This analysis stems from an understanding of mistrust as a relational and directed practice and draws on observations, interviews, and text analyses, gathered in the context of an ongoing research project on police violence in Bulgaria from 2020 onward. The analytical framework I employ builds on existing anthropological literature on social mistrust, the state, and violent experiences.