Localities, natural resources and transition in Eastern Europe

Staddon, Caedmon

Abstract

This paper develops the claim that an emergent 'transition model of development' is resulting in the (re)marginalization of rural localities in post-communist countries. The specific case study of local development in a rural Bulgarian locality, since 1989, illustrates some of the ways in which this new model of development is combining elements of the communist and pre-communist development models alongside incipient market-capitalist relations. Careful attention to issues of 'path dependence' (cf. Stark, 1992; Smith and Swain, 1998) proves quite useful for conceptual elaboration of the 'transition model of development'. The important role of the natural environment as the stage for local protest generated by this transition model of development and as the ultimate source of economic surplus is also discussed. In the conclusion some of the broader implications of these findings for the study of post-communist transition are explored.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 1999
• Deposit Date: Sep 28, 2019
• Journal: Geographical Journal
• Print ISSN: 0016-7398
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 165
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 200-208
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3060418
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/3352766