GRASSROOTS ACTIVISM AND RESISTANCE IN THE RHODOPE MOUNTAINS (BULGARIA)

The ongoing research discussed in this article is focused on grassroots activism and resistance in the Rhodope Mountains (Bulgaria) where people from small village communities fight against private business interests and investments – the opening of quarries for the extraction of marble and ballast that would disrupt the established regimes of environmental protection in the region of the Middle Rhodopes Mountains – protected areas included in the UNESCO biosphere reserve Chervenata sténa (Red Wall) and the European ecological network “Natura 2000”. The paper addresses the following questions: What are people’s strategies of coping with change and uncertainty? How do their protests and social resistance movements mobilize public support through social, kinship and political networks? The following issues are discussed in more detail: the emergence of new political, cultural and ecological awareness of mountain communities fighting against the environmental exploitation of their territories; the role of the inhabitants and their families in preserving local livelihoods and traditions; and the many forms of negotiation on how to live together, including different visions and even conflicts over practices of resource management, sustainability and heritage.