Cultural assimilation policies in Bulgaria and the plight of Muslim women

Starting with a personal narrative, this chapter examines the effects of cultural assimilation on the emancipation of Muslim women in Bulgaria. Gender, religion, nation and ethnicity play an essential part in the transformation process of Bulgaria which has been able to reconcile the differences of...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lozeva, Silvia, Marinova, Dora, Samani, Shamin, Tsvetkov, Kaloyan, Bardarov, Georgi
Other Authors: Samani, Shamim
Format: Book Chapter
Published: Routledge 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88216
_version_ 1848764986984235008
author Lozeva, Silvia
Marinova, Dora
Samani, Shamin
Tsvetkov, Kaloyan
Bardarov, Georgi
author2 Samani, Shamim
author_facet Samani, Shamim
Lozeva, Silvia
Marinova, Dora
Samani, Shamin
Tsvetkov, Kaloyan
Bardarov, Georgi
author_sort Lozeva, Silvia
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Starting with a personal narrative, this chapter examines the effects of cultural assimilation on the emancipation of Muslim women in Bulgaria. Gender, religion, nation and ethnicity play an essential part in the transformation process of Bulgaria which has been able to reconcile the differences of the past and establish better opportunities for women. Different waves of assimilation for the three Muslim minorities, namely ethnic Turks, converted to Islam Bulgarians (Pomaks) and the Muslim Roma population, were introduced by the Bulgarian Communist Party’s political agenda as a social response to perceptions about modernity and the nature of Bulgaria as a state. The pursuit of the idea for a secular modernity, typical for the socialist state, was combined with a vision for a unified Bulgarian nation. This led to suppressing religious expressions with the “Re-naming” and “De-veiling” processes whilst the“Inclusion” and “Revival” process aimed at eliminating the Muslim identity. These processes were portrayed as emancipating Muslim women yet in many ways they disempowered them. After the collapse of socialism, efforts were made to redress these policy mistakes and build better relationships between Muslim and other Bulgarians.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T11:28:05Z
format Book Chapter
id curtin-20.500.11937-88216
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:28:05Z
publishDate 2020
publisher Routledge
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-882162022-04-21T06:31:19Z Cultural assimilation policies in Bulgaria and the plight of Muslim women Lozeva, Silvia Marinova, Dora Samani, Shamin Tsvetkov, Kaloyan Bardarov, Georgi Samani, Shamim Marinova, Dora Business & Economics 1205 - Urban and Regional Planning Starting with a personal narrative, this chapter examines the effects of cultural assimilation on the emancipation of Muslim women in Bulgaria. Gender, religion, nation and ethnicity play an essential part in the transformation process of Bulgaria which has been able to reconcile the differences of the past and establish better opportunities for women. Different waves of assimilation for the three Muslim minorities, namely ethnic Turks, converted to Islam Bulgarians (Pomaks) and the Muslim Roma population, were introduced by the Bulgarian Communist Party’s political agenda as a social response to perceptions about modernity and the nature of Bulgaria as a state. The pursuit of the idea for a secular modernity, typical for the socialist state, was combined with a vision for a unified Bulgarian nation. This led to suppressing religious expressions with the “Re-naming” and “De-veiling” processes whilst the“Inclusion” and “Revival” process aimed at eliminating the Muslim identity. These processes were portrayed as emancipating Muslim women yet in many ways they disempowered them. After the collapse of socialism, efforts were made to redress these policy mistakes and build better relationships between Muslim and other Bulgarians. 2020 Book Chapter http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88216 Routledge restricted
spellingShingle Business & Economics
1205 - Urban and Regional Planning
Lozeva, Silvia
Marinova, Dora
Samani, Shamin
Tsvetkov, Kaloyan
Bardarov, Georgi
Cultural assimilation policies in Bulgaria and the plight of Muslim women
title Cultural assimilation policies in Bulgaria and the plight of Muslim women
title_full Cultural assimilation policies in Bulgaria and the plight of Muslim women
title_fullStr Cultural assimilation policies in Bulgaria and the plight of Muslim women
title_full_unstemmed Cultural assimilation policies in Bulgaria and the plight of Muslim women
title_short Cultural assimilation policies in Bulgaria and the plight of Muslim women
title_sort cultural assimilation policies in bulgaria and the plight of muslim women
topic Business & Economics
1205 - Urban and Regional Planning
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88216