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Dichev, Ivailo
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5 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Ivaylo Ditchev on the success of Boyko Borisov
Although Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov often makes contradictory decisions only to revoke them he remains as popular as ever, as cultural anthropoligist Ivaylo Ditchev explains in the weekly Kultura: "The new type of politician that Mr Borisov intuitively embodies is no initiator of statements or positions. He simply lets information flow through him. This is the style of hyperactive leaders like Blair and Sarkozy, although in those countries their efforts are checked by well-established democratic structures. Borisov's success is buoyed by the complete abolishment of the Bulgarian intelligentsia and the discrediting of the opposition in recent years. So in contrast to the UK and France, Bulgarian society is entirely free of mediators or third parties. All we have is the source of information and the public. The more contradictory the messages, the more interest they awaken."
» full article (external link, Bulgarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Bulgaria
Ivaylo Ditchev compares 1989 with 1968
Writing for the daily Sega Bulgarian cultural scientist Ivaylo Ditchev expresses his disappointment with the results of the fall of the communist dictatorship in 1989 and sees a resemblance with the effects of the student movements in 1968: "We thought the collapse of communism, which seemed more like something out of the 19th century, would bring a new 'People's Spring' with more national sovereignty, more democratic participation in state affairs, more civil responsibility and more morals. The solidarity, however, turned out to be more of a national esprit de corps the worst example of which is Czech [President Václav] Klaus. And civil participation has fared even worse. … The fall of communism was the delayed explosion of processes that had been artificially suppressed for many years. In this sense for Eastern Europe the events of 1989 were not a repetition of 1789, despite certain parallels that were drawn with the French Revolution. They had much more in common with the student revolutions of 1968, for the latter were also shaped by individualism, the rejection of social norms, the spirit of consumerism and hedonism."
» full article (external link, Bulgarian)
More from the press review on the subject » History, » Remembrance culture, » Bulgaria
Turkish-language news services must not be stopped
Parallel to investigations into whether Ahmed Doğan, head of the party representing Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish population (DPS), gravely abused his office, the Bulgarian parliament is now considering stopping news broadcasts in Turkish. The daily Sega comments: "Stopping news broadcasts in Turkish at the present time implies a clear connection between criminality and Turkish origin. The neo-Nazis have long maintained a similar connection regarding criminality and the Roma. But there is no connection whatsoever between the Turkish language and the alleged crimes of the DPS elite. ... Confusing these two issues means criminalising an entire minority - and the consequences of that would have to be paid by every last one of us."
» full article (external link, Bulgarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Audiovisual Media, » Media policy, » Bulgaria
Ivaylo Dichev on the vicious circle of "crisis-depression-crisis"
In a commentary for the weekly Kultura, Ivaylo Dichev attempts to analyse the mechanisms that underlie the crisis and what makes them so immovable. "The economy is the only sphere from which we draw rationality. And the economy entails interests and egoism. In times gone by irrational causes such as concern about the immortality of the soul, glory or the future of our children served as a counterbalance to economic reality. … I don't know whether you have noticed this but egoists are unhappy, oppressed people. Their horizon is constructed in such a way that they become poorer and poorer because life is a constant movement towards ultimate catastrophe or the loss of everything. Thus, a civilisation without transcendence is doomed to be transfixed by its inevitable end. To break with the vicious circle of 'crisis-depression-crisis' requires powerful groups who shift their focus in life to a realm beyond the confined economic sphere. This is why time and again we fight for justice, against terror and against climate change. But soon it all reverts to the normalising machine for producing rationality: to growth, profit and macro-economic parameters. Such an attitude makes us much more vulnerable to economic difficulties because we get stuck on a one-way track. And if we don't win, we lose everything."
» full article (external link, Bulgarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Global
Life beyond the nation state
A growing number of people are leading lives beyond the parameters of the nation state, writes the daily Gradski vestnik: "Some are immigrant workers in Europe, others work via the Internet for companies in distant countries. Without doubt we are talking about the better-off here. They want only one thing from the state: that it doesn't interfere, just as they don't interfere [with the state]. In Bulgaria this sentiment is compounded by the general conviction that the leading politicians are swindlers. The state has only a social function to fulfil. It is something between a kindergarten, a medical practice and an old people's home. This in itself is not a political demand, just as there is no commitment among civil society. The experts are expected to improve services - otherwise people will turn elsewhere in search of better services. States and communities must therefore fight for the consumers. Thus the affiliations of the individual take on the following pattern: he does his job in one state but consumes in another. In one place he is flexible, active and fast, in another he lets aging nurses look after him. The advantage of this is that he doesn't really settle anywhere and is always on the move."
» full article (external link, Bulgarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Bulgaria
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