Counter-hegemonic Struggles in Postsocialist Bulgaria: the 2013 Winter of Discontent

Abstract

This paper attempts to contribute to an understanding of power struggles in the post-socialist context of Bulgaria by way of examining the language of protests, which took place in 2013 in Bulgaria. It offers a critical discourse analysis and draws on the theoretical work of Antonio Gramsci and Ernst Bloch to suggest that these protests represented a counter-hegemonic attempt on the part of subaltern classes to challenge the liberal-capitalist discourse of the post-1989 transition by articulating a radical popular-national political identity.