What's in a name? Minorities, identity, and politics in Bulgaria

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Abstract
From the 1970s until 1990, the Islamic minorities of Bulgaria had no public voice, no organizational infrastructure, and, indeed, few shared visible symbols of community and history. The past three years have seen the emergence and empowerment of an ethnic political movement, the rise of politicized Turkish ethnicity, and the construction of a sense of a national Moslem community. This paper will examine the background and causes for this remarkable transformation from persecuted minority to political power brokers. Politicized ethnicity in the case of Bulgaria, rather than being a constant force waiting to surface whenever not suppressed, is best viewed as the outcome of specific political and economic policies. While the potential for conflict in Bulgaria remains, in many respects the present political scene shows that ethnic militancy need not mean conflict.

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