WALLS. On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall

Alexander Kiossev is a professor of modern era cultural history, director of Sofia University’s Cultural Centre of and editor-in-chief of Piron electronic magazine. Kiossev has focused his research on reading, the cultural history of communist totalitarianism and autobiographical perspective on history. He has published several books and edited numerous collective studies in English, German and Bulgarian. His publications […]

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Doors, Bridges and Walls: A Different Legacy of 1989 for Our Time

Abstract: Our historical moment is often described as an illiberal “counter-revolution” that explicitly rejects the hopes and values of the annus mirabilis 35 years ago. I first hope to show that many of the aspects that we associate with the more recent populist rejection of liberalism are not new, but were present during the transition. Secondly, there was […]

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The Multivocal “Citizens” vs. “the Voice of the People”

Abstract: The paper examines the interplay of three processes. First, it explores how globalization and re-traditionalization interact, with rapid change and societal fluidity leading to a longing for the past, a solidification of borders, and a return to traditional values. In this context, a unified “people” emerges, embodying tradition and place, while multivocal citizens are […]

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The Changing Borders of Democratic Political Space – Past and Future

Abstract: People often tend to equate liberalism as a political ideology with liberal democracy as a system of government. It is true that liberal democracy emerges from the general framework of liberal ideas and values of the Enlightenment. In the process of its development, liberal democracy takes shape as a mechanism of integrating diverse political […]

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International Condemnation of the Crimes of Communist Regimes by European Institutions as a Means for Building a Europe without Dividing Lines

Abstract: The unification of Europe after the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain enabled European peoples to learn more about each other’s past. This was important in order to understand each other better, considering that we are living together in the same community. For this purpose, it is of paramount significance to promote remembrance […]

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Global trends and the future of liberal democracy in Bulgaria

Abstract: There is lack of shared understanding among Bulgarians about the essence of the Transition from a totalitarian state to liberal democracy. What is it? Has it been completed? What does it require to be completed? The article analyzes the Transition characteristics and inhibiting factors for Bulgaria to become a full-fledged democracy through the historic […]

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Spatializing Class. Sociological Reflections on Migration, Translocality, and the Relativity of Social Spaces

Abstract: This is an attempt to discuss the interplay between social stratification and transnational space through the theory of social boundaries. The transnational space is regarded not only through its geographical attributes but also as a meaning device that bears the signs of the economic, social, and cultural differences of the actors. The author proposes […]

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Spatial Segregation and Transformation of the Bulgarian Urban Space: Case Study Bulgaria

Abstract: Spatial segregation, driven by demographic shifts, political history, and social and economic inequalities, has intensified in Bulgaria since the post-socialist transformation of the 1990s. Today, with most Bulgarians living in urban areas, growing economic and social disparities have led to the construction of new “walls” and “borders” within the urban fabric. This paper explores […]

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Elastic and Explosive Europe at a Time of War: How Can We Rethink European Cleavages and Linkages?

Abstract: Once upon a time, in 1989–1991, European elites and citizens seemed to know that Europe existed, and they hoped that the continent would get reunited. Since then, several map-making efforts have taken place. Changing lists of (often normative) cleavages and linkages have been drawn to portray the political, economic, and societal evolutions affecting the […]

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The Crisis of Liberal Democracy and the Dilemmas of Bulgarian Liberals

Abstract: For a long time, the project of liberal democracy had as its complement the institution of the welfare state as a source of social solidarity. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, this institution was gradually abandoned in favor of a purely formal and rational framework, combining procedural legal rationality with instrumental economic rationality. […]

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Liberalism in the Age of AI. Revisiting Fukuyama

Abstract: This talk revisits Fukuyama’s account of liberalism in the context of the rise of artificial intelligence. It critically discusses Fukuyama’s reflections on the direction of human history and raises the question of whether classical liberalism is contingent on aspects of human cognition and nature that AI may fundamentally alter or challenge. The talk considers […]

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When Moses Came to Poland. Migrants, Myths, and Mourning on the Poland-Belarus Border

Abstract: How did Middle Eastern, African, and Asian refugees become caught up in and then central to a particular type of Polish “civilizational” border regime with Belarus – heavily racialized and militarized – under the Law and Justice (PiS)-led government – the largest party of the Zjednoczona Prawica (United Right) alliance – between 2015 and […]

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