On the Way to the 'Imaginary West': Bulgarian Migrations, Imaginations and Disillusionments

ON THE WAY TO THE ‘IMAGINARY WEST’: BULGARIAN MIGRATIONS, IMAGINATIONS, AND DISILLUSIONMENTS by POLINA MIHAYLOVA MANOLOVA A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Political Science and International Studies School of Government and Society College of Social Sciences University of Birmingham September 2017 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract This thesis examines Bulgarian migration to the UK since the lifting of work restrictions in 2014. Contesting the economic reductionism of mainstream migration literature, my aim is to provide an in-depth understanding of the diverse motivations, experiences, and meanings that migration holds for those who engage in it. By following the journeys of two groups of Bulgarians who share two different perceptions of class identity, I juxtapose their pre-migratory imaginations of life in the UK with the lived realities of migration. The phenomenon of migration is approached through the native concept of the ‘West’ (Zapadat), which simultaneously denotes the geographical region of western Europe and a place offering possibilities for a more meaningful life and a better future. By deconstructing this notion through the conceptual prism of the ‘imaginary West’ I grasp the connection between individual imaginations and globally circulating discourses and ideologies of Western modernity and civilisation and corresponding ideas about social hierarchy and class. I show how this idealised and in fact utopian version of the West foregrounds individual decisions to migrate and to sustain migration projects despite unforeseen hardships and unrealised expectations. I thus conclude that the ‘imaginary West’ is a major force structuring and sustaining migration between Bulgaria and the UK, and between global centres and peripheries more generally. Acknowledgements The completion of this thesis was possible because of the support of different people and institutions. I am grateful for the financial help of the School of Government and Society, Centre for East European Language Based Studies (CEELBAS), and the Funds for Women Graduates (FfWG). My leading supervisor Dr Deema Kaneff is the one who offered academic inspiration and support but also a friendship and personal encouragement. I want to thank her for the expertise, the understanding, the compassion, and the warmth which she generously provided throughout the way. I would also like to thank Dr Jeremy Morris for his valuable advice, thoughtful comments and for giving of his personal time to read the final drafts of this thesis. My time in the University of Birmingham would not have been enjoyable without the academic and emotional support of my dear colleagues. I would like to thank Mattias and Anselm for making the submission of this thesis possible even when I am miles away from Birmingham. Thanks to my friends Karena and Frederik for the laughter, the sarcasm, and for making me feel at home in the UK. For their kindness, support and understanding I am grateful to Josie, Veysel, Zhiting, Ali, Nino, Renya, Daniel, and Eugenius. I would also like to thank my childhood friend Svetlana who made the final year of my writing in Bulgaria so much more bearable with her understanding and light- heartedness. Raia and Momchil were the comrades I met towards the end of this journey but who gave me strength and energy to persevere. I am happy that I could share the beginning of my migrant existence in the UK with my two great friends -Tim and Adam. They were the best partners in crime and the best company for all the cooking, movie watching, beer drinking and sharing of happiness and hardship. I am thankful to Nikos Xypolytas for helping me develop my research interests and theoretical understanding and most of all for challenging my early convictions. I remain indebted to all those people who openly shared their stories, sorrows, and happy moments with me. This thesis tries to give voice to Bulgarian migrants in the UK and all those living in Bulgaria unable to see a way out different than migration. Finally, it is the love and support of my family that kept me going. I would like to thank my parents for always believing in my dreams and for always been there for me, understanding and silently encouraging. Their strength and kindness are admirable. Thanks to my grandmother who is here to celebrate this submission and to my other three grandparents who were excited and proud but who did not live to see me graduate. My greatest credit goes to Philipp Lottholz – my partner, my best friend, and my intellectual counterpart. For the love, patience, tiring discussions, sleepless nights and compassion I can never thank him enough. This thesis would have never been possible without you and without your edits, comments, and encouragement! Note on transliteration and translation In transliterating Bulgarian names, words, and expressions, I have used the Streamlined system which has been made official in Bulgaria since 1995. This system avoids diacritical marks and does not distinguish between a and ъ rendering both as a. I follow the ‘-ia’ exception introduced by Bulgarian authorities in 2006 which postulates the transliteration of end of word -ия as -ia instead of -iya (for example: Sofia and not Sofiya). I have used anglicised forms for names of geographical places and people. All translations of my informants’ words, or quotes from literature in Bulgarian are mine. Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE .......................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 OVERVIEW OF BULGARIAN MIGRATION TO WESTERN EUROPE AND THE UK ............ 13 POSTSOCIALIST EAST TO WEST MIGRATION ........................................................ 25 METHODOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS AND ETHICS ..................................................... 29 Fieldwork overview .................................................................................. 33 Multi-sited fieldwork ................................................................................. 41 Ethical considerations and positionality ................................................... 43 THESIS OUTLINE ............................................................................................... 49 CHAPTER TWO ....................................................................................................... 53 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ............................................................................. 53 UNDERSTANDING THE REASONS AND EXPERIENCES OF MIGRATION ........................ 54 Challenging the hegemony of economic reductionism in explaining migration .................................................................................................. 55 Understanding post-migration realities ..................................................... 60 Connections between imaginaries and migration ..................................... 65 THE SOCIAL IMAGINARY AND ITS ROLE IN INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION ..................... 68 Imaginary, social action and capitalist modernity ..................................... 69 The dark side of the imaginary ................................................................. 75 Imaginary West ........................................................................................ 80 CLASS IN POSTSOCIALISM .................................................................................. 83 The need for class analysis and class as a lived category ....................... 83 Towards a Bourdieusian reading of class ................................................ 85 Classification through Orientalisation ....................................................... 88 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... 94 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................... 96 ‘THERE ARE TWO POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO THE CRISIS IN BULGARIA – TERMINAL ONE AND TERMINAL TWO OF SOFIA AIRPORT’: STORIES OF PRECARITY IN POST-TRANSITIONAL BULGARIA ............................................... 96 ‘BULGARIAN WESTERNERS’ AND ‘ORDINARY PEOPLE’ .......................................... 100 ‘ORDINARY PEOPLE’ – ‘GOING FOR MONEY, WHAT ELSE?’ ................................... 105 ‘Ordinary people’ in a state of ‘survival’ .................................................. 114 ‘BULGARIAN WESTERNERS’ – TOO DIFFERENT TO FIT? ........................................ 120 ‘Bulgarian Westerners’: a precarious and aspirational middle class ....... 128 BEING ‘STUCK’ IN A POST-TRANSITIONAL TIME .................................................... 132 TAKE YOUR TRANSITION BACK! ......................................................................... 135 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................

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