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Paper short abstract:

The paper compares perceptions of insecurity in a city and a village in Bulgaria. Tourism creates 85% of jobs in the city (Velingrad); low income is a source of insecurity. Half of the village workforce works in the city but due to higher cohesion, low incomes do not generate insecurity.

Paper long abstract:

In the context of deepening inequality between regions in Bulgaria, economic insecurity is often present in the mountainous regions of the country. This paper compares perceptions of insecurity in two neighboring mountain settlements in the Western Rhodopes: a small city and a village. Over 60 mineral springs flow through their territories. Balneal tourism creates 85% of jobs in the city (Velingrad) and has radically transformed it over the last two decades. A major problem for local people (and for businesses too) is the low income of those employed in tourism. About half of the workforce of the neighboring village (Draginovo) works in the tourist companies in the town. However, low incomes are not perceived in the village as a source of insecurity. Low income is only a component, albeit an important one, in the "moral economy" of the households in Draginovo. The social environment, characterized by informality, family and kinship relations, contribute to the maintenance of traditional economic practices such as household farms. The latter supplement family incomes, including thanks to kinship solidarity. Conversely, trends towards the atomization of social life in the city of Velingrad and the neo-liberalism of labor relations there create a negative moral environment that reinforces insecurity and social distrust. Higher degrees of connectivity and interdependence in the village are factors in social reproduction and the vitality of the local community.