How the Bulgarian Civil Society Was Born?

Baeva, Iskra

Annual of the Faculty of History of ”St. Cyril and St. Methodius” University of Veliko Tarnovo

“ST. CYRIL AND ST. METHODIUS” UNIVERSITY OF VELIKO TARNOVO - UNIVERSITY PRESS

How the Bulgarian Civil Society Was Born?

Authors:

Iskra Baeva Sofia University 'St. Kliment Ohridski", Bulgaria

Pages: 539-549
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/OPET8352

Abstract:

In the years of transformations that Bulgaria and other Eastern European countries have undergone since 1989, the idea of civil society was identified as fundamental. The promotion of civil society was considered a precondition for the establishment of political democracy in Bulgaria. However, the study of social life in socialism showed that we can talk about the formation of civil society in that era. The article is devoted to the manifestations of civil society in Bulgaria in the aftermath of World War II. Civic actions were at the heart of the birth of the Bulgarian dissident movement in the 1980s.

Keywords:

civil society; dissident movement; citizens’ self-organization; Bulgarian intelligentsia; Prague Spring; liberalization; environmental protests; protests of Ruse women