Останали

On November 18th – 21st, 2021 the “Left Behind in Bulgaria” project was presented by the team members at the 53rd Annual ASEEES (Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies) Convention. The research contributions done on the topic so far were presented in the panel “At the Intersection of Cultures: Migrants and the Left-Behind Family Members” on November 19th. Our presentations were delivered both in-person from New Orleans, LA, USA, and online from Sofia, Bulgaria. The multifaceted topics of the paper offered the audience preliminary analysis on the fieldwork done among children of migrant parents, spouses and parents of migrants, media representations and stereotypes among the Bulgarian society on foreign-educated young people.

Panel moderator was Accos. Prof. Mila Maeva, PhD – also the project leader. Discussant was Prof. Elena Marushiakova, PhD from Saint Andrews University, Scotland and IEFSEM – BAS, Bulgaria.

In the context of a globalized world, intensified migration and mobility, and the modern processes of enlightened citizenship, the scientific interest is more concentrated towards the migrant experiences in the destination countries than to their families and communities left-behind in the countries of origin. Our panel which deals with the economic, cultural and social changes which are brought under the influence of the migrants in the home societies / communities.

Assist. Prof. Magdalena Slavkova, PhD, presented her topic ‘Paternal migration and the Gypsy/Roma children in school age’. The paper focused on the impact of parents’ migration on the school experiences of Gypsy/Roma children in Bulgaria and their well-being. For many kids whose father and mother are working in European countries such as Spain, Greece, Germany, or the UK, “home” meant the absence of parents and missing supervision relationships between parents and children. These kids usually stayed behind in the care of close relatives: grandparents or older siblings. This paper was based on ethnographic field research among different Gypsy families. Particularly, the text presented the specific case of Romanian-speaking Rudari, whose model of migration had differed, more or less from that of the other Gypsy groups and that of the Bulgarian population.

In their paper „Spouses Left-behind – Gender Migration Impact upon Separated Families“ Julia Popcheva and Assist. Prof. Behrin Shopova unified fieldwork results in order to reveal the impact of labor migration and mobilities upon separated families and local communities with a focus on social and cultural changes. The comparative study took place in Northwestern Bulgaria where mostly women leave the country and Southwestern Bulgaria – with predominant male migration. The analyses from gender, generational and confessional perspective provided understanding of different economic, social and cultural strategies of Bulgarian families and their sustainability in a dynamic life of constant mobility.

Assist. Prof. Mina Hristova, PhD presented her paper titled “The left-behind: Media Representations, Stereotypes, and Images”. Her research focus was establishing the parallel between the social and media constructed image of the “common people” and the “bearers of political change” Bulgarian migrants. Her paper was based on quantitative data gathered in the context of the Left-behind project and a national representative one carried out by Trend research agency. The main thesis established that while the “common people’s” image is pluralistically constructed in the media, those of the “bearers of political change” was highly positive and even capable to bring accelerated change in the social attitudes and in the political environment in the country.

Assist. Prof. Plamena Stoyanova, PhD presented her paper ‘The impact of migration on the seniors left-behind in Bulgaria’. The study analysed the fate of families whose children left Bulgaria after the political changes in 1989. The report focused on the effect of the absence of the now grown-up children on the parents. It addressed the question of how this affects family life, financial stability and the psychological comfort of the adults. Relationships within the family, between immigrants and their parents, as well as the dynamics between children who have left the country and their siblings remaining in Bulgaria, was also a topic in the study.

Julia Popcheva presented the paper “When Grandmother is Babysitting: Childcare Mobility of Middle-aged and Senior Women“ at the V-th International Conference of Multilocality “Territorialities of Multilocality” that took place in Sofia, Bulgaria on Nov 25-26, 2021. The study revealed the sustainable tradition of grandmothers’ active inclusion in childcare process and its adaptation to the different migration models of separated families. It presented the strategies of middle-aged and senior women in relation to childcare mobility and explored the multilocal lifestyle of ‘Mobile Grandma’ who was ready to live no matter the place, travel no matter the distance, but to be present where appreciated and called out. Different mobility patterns towards Bulgaria and out, reasons for constant returns back ‘home’, and models of (dis)adaptation have been discussed. It was notable that grandmother – grandchildren relations appeared to be equally intensive not only in the case when children lived abroad and the grandmothers were in Bulgaria, but also when middle-aged women were in migration and their grandchildren remained left-behind.

The survey has been conducted during the period 2019 – 2021 both in Bulgaria and abroad (particularly in Italy, Spain and France), relying on classic and virtual methods of ethnography.

Assist. Prof. Yelis Erolova, PhD, conducted field research in the cities of Varna and Balchik in the period from 5 to 11 October 2021. She met with elderly members of Roma families whose children live and work in Germany and the United Kingdom. In Balchik, Yelis Erolova was able to deepen her observations on the Roma immigrants in Poland and the effects of their remittances, which were recorded 10 years ago and discussed in various scientific publications.

Balchik, Roma area in the Neighborhood

The researcher presented the results of her fieldwork in Varna, Balchik and the village of Vardun, Targovishte region at the international online conference “Social Inequalities and Quality of Life”, organized by the Research Institute for Quality of Life at the Romanian Academy and the Romanian Sociological Association from 15 to 19 November 2021. In her paper titled, „Effects of Emigration on Roma Families Left-Behind in North-Eastern Bulgaria“,  she compares different examples of lifestyle changes and tourism opportunities of retired and employed members of separated Roma families under the influence of their emigrant relatives abroad.

On 4.11.2021 at International Conference ‘Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Managerial Innovation: Creativity and innovation in times of crisis’ Dakhla, Morocco, Accos. Prof. Mila Maeva presented the  paper: Left-behind in Bulgaria and crisis management

Paper abstract:

The biggest part of migration researches are focused primarily on the departure, travel, integration and adaptation in the host country. The present paper has another goal, which is aimed at the left-behind families and relatives of the emigrants. It seeks to describe and analyze their coping mechanism with the crisis provoked by migration of family members (especially children) and family separation. Special attention is paid to the situation of the elderly (emigrants` parents) as a vulnerable group and their daily lives. The emergence of new innovation practices such as mutual aid and digital communication as approaches of crisis overcoming will be traced. The focus is put on the changes occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which deepened the family separation due to the lockdowns and border closure. The study is based on ethnographic field materials collected in the period 2020-2021 in different parts of Bulgaria. They present and another new point of view towards elderly parents – as main (especially financial) supporters of their children living abroad in crisis times.

During the period 27.09 – 02.10. 2021 Assist. Prof. Behrin Shopova conducted a field research in the region of Southwestern Bulgaria. She did interviews and had informal conversations with inhabitants of Breznitsa and Kornitza villages at Gotse Delchev municipality and Ribnovo and Debren villages at Garmen municipality. The topics were related to the specifics of labor mobility among Bulgarian Muslims, focusing on migration behavior in demographic and socio-economic context. The migration impact on the culture, lifestyle and social status of the left-behind relatives, as well as the changes in family roles and attitude towards education among adolescents were also discussed.

In the course of a field study conducted by Assist. Prof. Plamena Stoyanova in Burgas between 12-15 September 2021, many respondents turned out to be relatives of immigrants. Therefore, the range of questions to them is expanded in order to cover information about the fate of the Remainers in the city of Burgas. In the case of most of the interviewed respondents in the city of Burgas, it is a question of departed female relatives who return to the country relatively rarely. However, their relatives left-behind travel frequently. A strong tendency was observed among relatively young grandmothers who, although of active age and still working, help raise their grandchildren abroad.

At the XIV-th Congress of anthropologists and ethnologists in Russia that took place virtually, hosted from the city of Tomsk, Russia on 6-9 July 2021, Julia Popcheva presented her research  „Баданте в Италии – жены и матери в Болгарии: влияние женской миграции на остальных членов их семей оставшихся на родине“ (Badante in Italy – Wives and Mothers in Bulgaria: female migration impact upon left-behind relatives). Women who work as badante send money to their relatives in Bulgaria, but their absence from home counts in years and even decades, coming back for few weeks during summer holidays. The paper discusses changes in communication between emigrants and their husbands, children and grandchildren left-behind. Financial, cultural and social relations between separate families’ member are also studied. Ethnographic fieldwork has taken place during the period 2020 – 2021, including interviews with badante women and their relatives from Northern and Northwestern Bulgaria – some of the poorest and depopulated regions in the country.

Between the 6 and 9 July 2021 Assist. Prof. Yelis Erolova, PhD, participated in the International academic online forum “XIV CONGRESS OF ANTHROPOLOGISTS AND ETHNOLOGISTS OF RUSSIA”, organized by the Association of Anthropologists and Ethnologists of Russia, National Research Tomsk State University, N.N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology at the Russian Academy of Sciences. In her presentation in English on “A Modern Tale about Vardun’s Gypsies”, the researcher draws attention to the active interactions and mutual assistance between the emigrants and their relatives left-behind in the village, who, even separated, manage to maintain emotional closeness and family cohesion, to improve their material well-being and social security, to strengthen their self-awareness of belonging to the local community, and to empathize with its development.

In the focus of the field research carried out by Assist. Prof. Plamena Stoyanova in the city of Sofia in the period 12-20 May 2021 were interviewed respondents whose siblings live abroad. Among the interviewees, an interesting trend emerged – most of those remaining in Bulgaria, in fact, had their own period in their lives in which they resided outside the country – as students or as workers. By that time they had seriously considered the possibility of emigration. Eventually they made the decision to return with the firm intention of living in Bulgaria.

During the period 14 – 17 April 2021, Assist. Prof. Behrin Shopova conducted a field work in the town of Omurtag and its region. The study was focused upon the impact of water shortages on the quality of life, migration processes and culture of the local population, diverse in ethnic and religious origin. A research in archives and regulations study followed the long-term history of this disaster overcoming attempts. Meetings with municipality representatives and with several families left in the region, but with their children living abroad,  were also held.

Preliminary results of the study were presented at the International Hybrid Conference “ETHNOGRAPHY OF DISASTERS”, which took place on 11-12 May 2021, with a paper on “Water Shortage as a Disaster (following the examples of Omurtag and region)”. The impact of water shortages on human mobility and severe depopulation was discussed. Social and cultural models for dealing with the disaster were presented, both among the permanent inhabitants and the temporarily returned migrants.

Photo credit: cover – Dariknews.bg
in-text photo – 24 chasa newspaper