Description
Book SynopsisPresenting examinations of the lives of Bulgarian women, this ethnography challenges the idea that women have fared worse than men in Eastern Europe's transition from socialism to a market economy. It also highlights how, prior to 1989, the communist planners sought to create full employment for them and steered women into the service sector.
Trade Review“
The Red Riviera explores gendered inequalities in Bulgaria’s postsocialist tourist industry, focusing on the forces and factors that have enabled women, in particular, to dominate this sector. Kristen Ghodsee’s well-written study adds provocatively to debates on cultural capital and capitalism, gender, and postsocialist transformation.”—Gail Kligman, coauthor of
The Politics of Gender after Socialism“This engaging book draws readers into unfamiliar tourist playgrounds in Bulgaria. Kristen Ghodsee deftly intertwines ethnographies with widely held assumptions about how the transition from communism to the free market affected the economy, the society, and the people. Tourism has rewarded the highly educated women who dominate the industry. She further questions the relevance of women’s NGOs which emphasize non-economic issues rather than focusing on education and jobs.”—Irene Tinker, author of
Street Foods: Urban Food and Employment in Developing Countries“Where are the women in globalized tourism? On the Bulgarian beach front! Yes, the Bulgarian beach front.
The Red Riviera takes us along on the surprising journeys that thirty-something, orange-haired Desi and the younger Svetla are navigating as they steer their ways through the postsocialist, capitalist market tourism economy. Suddenly we see waitressing as a privileged job; we see university entries shrinking; we see the whole meaning of being a woman in a tourism job changing. This is an engaging, smart, and feminist book.”—Cynthia Enloe, author of
The Curious Feminist: Searching for Women in a New Age of Empire“
The Red Riviera is an absorbing, very well-written book which explores the social impact of transition in Bulgaria by focusing on women’s employment in holiday resorts.” -- Anne White * Slavonic and East European Review *
“An excellent ethnography…. This well-written, vivid account of women in postsocialist Bulgaria will be compelling for anthropologists and scholars from related disciplines interested in women/gender, tourism, and/or postsocialism as well as feminism, development, and NGOs.” -- Christine Suck * Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology *
“Ms. Ghodsee brings a sharp eye to post-Communist change.” -- Nina C. Ayoub * Chronicle of Higher Education *
“Overall
The Red Riviera is a very appealing book. Its theoretical position is clearly explained and its use of personal narrative is effective. . . . The book will appeal to those interested in tourism, labor, gender, and postsocialism, and because it is so accessibly written, it will also work well for undergraduate classes.” -- Julie Hartley-Moore * American Anthropologist *
“The work is both easy and enjoyable to read. . . . [It] presents an interesting argument and is a valuable contribution to postsocialist literature on Bulgaria and tourism.” -- Deema Kaneef * Slavic Review *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Shattered Windows, Broken Lives 21
2. Making Mitko Tall 43
3. The Red Riviera 76
4. To the Wolves: Tourism and Economic Transformation 115
5. Feminism-by-Design 151
Appendix A: Tables 175
Appendix B: Formal Interviews 182
Notes 189
Glossary 209
Selected Bibliography 211
Index 223
