The collapse of state socialism in 1989 focused attention on the transition to democracy and capitalism in Eastern Europe. But for many people who actually lived through the transition, the changes were often disappointing. Perhaps none were more disappointed than the villagers of rural Bulgaria whose very lifestyles and identities were threatened by the transition. Domesticating Revolution explains this unexpected outcome through a detailed study of economic reform in one Bulgarian village, from the beginning of collectivization in the 1940s to decollectivization efforts in the 1990s. Gerald Creed is the only American anthropologist to have conducted extended fieldwork in a single Bulgarian village both during and after the socialist era. This work has enabled him to document the precise connections between socialist practice and postsocialist developments. He suggests that by simply doing what they could to improve their difficult lot under socialism, Bulgarian villagers gradually domesticated the socialist system. This very achievement, however, set the stage for an ambivalent transition after 1989 as villagers sought to defend their earlier gains against new threats. Ironically, they appealed to domesticated socialism in a failed effort to domesticate the transition as well. Domesticating Revolution will force scholars to rethink both their models of state socialism and their interpretations of the transition.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
Gerald Creed has written the best book available on contemporary events in Bulgaria. It clearly demonstrates why ethnographic methods are essential to understanding events since 1989: such methods reveal how daily practice domesticates both socialism and its aftermath, disrupting the calculus of policies imposed from above. Written in accessible, jargon-free language, this book will be useful to students and policy-makers as well as to specialists of the region. --Katherine Verdery, University of Michigan
This book gives the reader a ground-up view of how socialist economics worked for ordinary villagers in the late 1980s and how they reacted to and interpreted the subsequent transition. The scholarship is superior and the work is a major contribution to East European and (post) Soviet studies. --Carol Silverman, University of Oregon
This book gives the reader a ground-up view of how socialist economics worked for ordinary villagers in the late 1980s and how they reacted to and interpreted the subsequent transition. The scholarship is superior and the work is a major contribution to East European and (post) Soviet studies. --Carol Silverman, University of Oregon
About the Author
Gerald W. Creed is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Hunter Collegeand the Graduate School of the City University of New York.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great insight into Bulgarian village social/economic life,
By Steve (Boston MA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Domesticating Revolution: From Socialist Reform to Ambivalent Transition in a Bulgarian Village (Paperback)
Once you get by some of the academic gobbledygook, this book delivers great insight into the challenges of a Bulgarian village making the economic transition. Creed has obviously 'lived the life' there, as opposed to just parachuting in for a couple weeks. I lived there too and can attest to the veracity of his observations. This is about the best book I can think of for anyone who wants to really know about the people and lifestyle of Bulgaria over the last 40 years.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the first American anthropologists in Bulgaria!,
This review is from: Domesticating Revolution: From Socialist Reform to Ambivalent Transition in a Bulgarian Village (Paperback)
This is an excellent book by an anthropologist who managed to do field work in Bulgaria before 1989. Creed lived in the village and witnessed the transition process first hand. He gives an excellent account of the changes told through rich ethnographic prose.
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haven't read it yet, but after taking his class, I will!,
By
This review is from: Domesticating Revolution: From Socialist Reform to Ambivalent Transition in a Bulgarian Village (Paperback)
I'm an anthropology student at Hunter College in New York. Professor Creed teaches here, and this semester I took his "Families and Households in Anthropology" Class. He's an amazing professor, and I look forward to reading this book. If his class reflects anything in the book, I am sure it will be great!
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
