1. The making of a "bad" public: Ethnonational mobilization in post-communist Bulgaria.
- Author
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Stamatov, Peter
- Subjects
- *
SOCIAL sciences , *LITERATURE , *POLITICAL science education , *SOCIOLOGY , *NATIONALISM - Abstract
An interesting body of literature in the social sciences has suggested an intimate connection between the institutions and process of the public sphere, on the one hand, and modern nationalism, on the other. The aim in this article is to contribute to this growing literature by considering one case of nationalist mobilization in post-communist Bulgaria. First, the author aim to summarize the development of an empirically-grounded sociological perspective on the public sphere and to demonstrate the usefulness of this perspective for the study of nationalism. Beyond that, however, the author's goal in this case study is to specify the conditions under which national rhetoric is an effective strategy in the modern public sphere. The author argues that this case study contributes to a more adequate understanding of the dynamic relationship between nationalism and the public sphere by indicating that the success of nationalist mobilization is contingent upon the ability pf a nationalist public to link persuasively its claims to the universalistic and democratic ideals that lay at the foundation of the public sphere.
- Published
- 2000
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