The vanishing villager: Three decades of political, economic and ethnic change in Bulgaria

One measure of a scholar’s work is how long it continues to be relevant and useful. This article shows how The vanishing hectare and Transylvanian villagers, books written by Katherine Verdery twenty and forty years ago, respectively, help us make sense of contemporary developments in a Bulgarian village. Specifically, the current size and makeup of the population can be understood by examining who has been able to find value in village property, while the shifting political economy has reshaped the ethnic profile of the village.