Dr. Tchavdar Marinov (Pforzheimer Fellow, Mar – Jul ‘21) will present his research proposal on the topic:

Is it Possible to Measure Nationalism? Recent Theories of Pervasiveness and Intensity of Nationhood: A Critical Appraisal

3 June, 2021 at 16:30 h.

Moderated by Diana Mishkova

Abstract:

My presentation’s ambition is to propose a critical epistemological analysis of two concepts that have been launched about fifteen years ago in modern history and nationalism studies. On the grounds of Balkan examples, it will dwell on the analytical potential but also on the limits and pitfalls of theories focusing on the pervasiveness and intensity of national categories and ideologies in modern and contemporary historical contexts. While innumerable studies in history, historical sociology and other academic fields have dealt with forms of intense nationalism, nationalist mobilizations, conflicts and violence, my presentation will focus on theories of nationalism “on silent mode” – that is with attempts to conceptualize social, political, and cultural forms of irrelevance, downplaying or even of resistance to nationalism. These theories have also opposed the earlier theoretical emphasis on “banal” but all-pervading articulations of national identity.

The first part of the presentation will be focused on the concept of “national indifference”, which provoked a series of debates in the historiography of East Central Europe but received little attention in Balkan Studies. This is surprising insofar as certain areas of the late Ottoman and early post-Ottoman Balkans, such as Macedonia, have been traditionally considered to be particularly a-national or nationally “indifferent”. Using a variety of written sources (travelogues, turn-of-the-century scholarly and journalistic publications, archival documents), I will dwell on the question to what extent the concept of “national indifference”, interpreted as a conscious opposition to modern mass politics, can be helpful in understanding the Balkan social and cultural realities from the first half of the twentieth century. The presentation will give special attention to phenomena such as “side-switching” and national “opportunism” in order to provide an alternative interpretation of the social logics of loyalty and pragmatism and of the relationship between identity and interest.

The second part of the presentation will be dedicated to the concept of “weak nationalism” proposed by Maria Todorova. While, for the moment, it does not seem to find an echo in the Balkan Studies, this concept certainly influenced some researchers working on modern and contemporary Bulgarian society and politics. By analyzing the opposition between “weak” and “strong” forms of nationalism, my presentation will question the methodological foundation and coherence of this distinction. I will try in particular to demonstrate that, while the theory of “weak nationalism” was meant to counter the essentialist interpretation of national ideologies, it is itself based on essentializing premises.

Tchavdar Marinov is currently research assistant at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He received his PhD in History and Civilizations from Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. His research area includes the history and historiography of the Macedonian Question, the political uses of Antiquity and the cultural heritage policies in the Balkans. He is the author of The Macedonian Question from 1944 to Nowadays. Communism and Nationalism in the Balkans and of “Our Ancestors the Thracians.” Ideological Uses of Antiquity in Southeast Europe (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2010 and 2016, both in French). Marinov is also co-editor of Entangled Histories of the Balkans. Vol. 1: National Ideologies and Language Policies and Vol. 4: Concepts, Approaches, and (Self-)Representations (Leiden & Boston: Brill, 2013 and 2017), and of Balkan Heritages. Negotiating History and Culture (Farnham: Ashgate, 2015).