Les nouveaux mouvements sociaux Le cas du mouvement écologique en Bulgarie

Abstract

This study examines the green movement in Bulgaria (1987-2014) as a typical and
specific example of the New Social Movements. It focuses on the interconnection between
environmentalism, politics and participation.
We present the movement along with its evolution and analyse it on three levels:
macro (through its relation to the great contemporary issues, phenomena and processes); meso
(in the national context during the past three generations); and micro (through the prism of
individuals, their experience of and reflection on participation). Our general approach is
interdisciplinary, combining qualitative and quantitative research, with an emphasis on semistructured
interviews with green activists.
Bulgaria’s green movement is a non-partisan citizen and political movement of a new
type. It has several dimensions. Firstly, in the context of the New Social Movements, it is an
actor of challenging the status quo; a moral corrective of the power, which implements a
genuine ‘citizen environmental politics.’ Secondly, it introduces and fosters a new culture
based on a novel set of values, practices and behavioural models: one where the individual is
essential. Thirdly, it is one of the pillars of Bulgarian civil society, a key factor in
democratizing the socio-political life, with an undeniable contribution to revitalizing the
participant civic culture.
The green movement is an actor of New Politics, which are manifested on all levels:
from the notions of politics and democracy, to the motivations for participation, to the forms
of collective action in defence of the common good. Last but not least, it is a vehicle of a
certain type of eco-humanism originating in the specific environment that gave birth to the
citizens’ movements in communist and post- communist Eastern Europe. It also embodies a
specific national attitude towards nature, traditionally stemming from peculiarities of
Bulgarian culture.