Please note: This event is in Bulgarian!

The Centre for Advanced Study Sofia introduces a new discussion series, titled “Politics and leadership in an era of crisis: post-democracy, liberalism, authoritarianism. Alternatives and activism”, moderated by Prof. Anna Krasteva.

The second lecture in this series of debates will be presented by Dr Ivaylo Dinev on the topic of “Bulgaria as an Autocracy in the EU – Possible Scenarios” on Thursday, 6 November 2025, at 10:30 at the Centre for Advanced Study Sofia. Debater: Dr Svetlin Tachev.

Abstract: From the student blockades in Serbia to the uprising in Nepal, protests are once again coming to the forefront as a form of political action. Bulgaria’s experience shows that waves of protest are not a temporary anomaly, but a lasting mechanism for political renewal in conditions of low trust in institutions. Protest is becoming a primary, and sometimes the last, instrument for protecting the common good and democracy. The discussion raises the question of whether this is a temporary response to the crisis of representation or the new political logic of our time.

Biography: Ivaylo Dinev is a political scientist at the Center for East European and International Studies (ZOiS) in Berlin. One of the organisers of the student movement in Bulgaria in 2013, he later turned to researching protest mobilisation in Eastern Europe. In 2020, he defended his doctoral thesis at the University of Santa Anna in Pisa. His texts have been published in a number of academic journals, including Social Movement Studies and East European Politics. In 2026, he will publish the Handbook of Social Movements in the Semi-Periphery (Elgar), co-edited with Massimiliano Andreta and Sofia Donoso.