Institute for Studies of the Recent Past
Independent research institution located in Bulgaria
The Institute has as its priority the publication of elaborate and profound research materials. A special fund is established that supports the publication of contributions dealing with various aspects of the communist past. Most of our books has been published in the “Past Continuous” Book Series in cooperation with the leading Bulgarian publishing house “Ciela”.
Reading the history of communism from below opens prospects not only to individual life trajectories but sheds light on collective phenomena and links historical narratives with sociological insights.
Studies on the 80th Anniversary of Prof. Ivaylo Znepolski
Editor: Michail Gruev
Published by the Institute for Studies of the Recent Past with the financial support of America for Bulgaria Foundation.
Sofia 2021
ISBN: 978-954-28-3701-5
Continue reading “Reshuffling Society”After 1st and 2nd volume of these mini series published in 2010 the third one came in 2015. Now we present the forth collection of biography writings, rare documents and personal diaries.
Testimonies, Diaries, Documents (1944 – 1989)
Editors: Michail Gruev, Dimiter Dimov
Published by the Institute for Studies of the Recent Past and Ciela with the financial assistance of America for Bulgaria Foundation
Sofia 2021
ISBN: 978-954-28-3702-2
The book rests on plethora of personal testimonies and archival documents recovered by the author and her colleagues Daniela Koleva under a common field work aiming at the reconstruction of Alexander Tenev’s (1881 – 1950) rich life course – wealthy peasant involved also in trade and bank investments.
Author: Galina Goncharova
Published by the Institute for Studies of the Recent Past and Ciela Publishers.
Sofia 2021
ISBN: 978-954-28-3415-1
Тази книга има за обект паметта за комунистическото минало: “официалната” памет, създавана от институциите; публичната, моделирана в медии, ритуали, филми и книги, градска среда и пр. и всекидневната, или “вернакуларна” (vernacular) памет.
Автор: Даниела Колева
Издание на Институт за изследване на близкото минало и Издателство „Сиела“.
София 2020
ISBN: 978-954-28-3219-5
Continue reading “Памет и справедливост”The book explores the intellectual history of Bulgaria between the 1960s and the 1980s at the intersections of the country’s social and political history. Based on case studies, the research delves into three areas: the control and pressure mechanisms used on science and the university; the clash of ideas while performing the formal and hidden functions of academia in a communist regime setting; the processes whereby research and academia acquire a relative autonomy and alternative academic communities are being formed amidst the eroding ideological legitimacy of the regime.
By Ivaylo Znepolski
First Published 2020
ISBN 9780367895686
Published April 16, 2020 by Routledge
330 Pages
The book explores the intellectual history of Bulgaria between the 1960s and the 1980s at the intersections of the country’s social and political history. Based on case studies, the research delves into three areas: the control and pressure mechanisms used on science and the university; the clash of ideas while performing the formal and hidden functions of academia in a communist regime setting; the processes whereby research and academia acquire a relative autonomy and alternative academic communities are being formed amidst the eroding ideological legitimacy of the regime.
Centred on the concept of the “incident”, this setup allowed us to eschew the narratives around the role of the dissidents or “freedom as a gift” and interpret society’s transformation as the outcome of intersecting and overlaying sectoral events, which gathered strength down the years and lay the ground for the eruption labelled here as the “Big Event of 1989”.
Continue reading “Communism, Science and the University”Текстовете се публикуват такива, каквито са били – свидетелство за това как съм възприемал и оценявал идеите им по онова време, но също така и за границите на възможното говорене.
Author: Ivaylo Znepolski
Published in Bulgarian by the Institute for Studies of the Recent Past and „Ciela“.
Sofia 2019
ISBN: 978-954-28-2882-2
Autors: Petia Kabakchieva and Pepka Boyadjieva
Published by the Institute for Studies of the Recent past and Ciela
Sofia 2019
ISBN: 978-954-28-2796-2
This book has been published with the support of The America for Bulgaria Foundation.
Balkantourist – The Beginning of International and Mass Tourism in Bulgaria
Author: Maya Ivanova
Published by the Institute for Studies of the Recent Past and CIELA.
Sofia 2018
ISBN: 978-954-28-2748-1
This publication has been supported by America for Bulgaria Foundation.
Authors: Ivaylo Znepolski, Mihail Gruev, Momtchil Metodiev, Martin Ivanov, Daniel Vatchkov, Ivan Elenkov, Plamen Doynov
Abingdon, Oxon : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2019.
The book traces the history of communist Bulgaria from 1944 to 1989. A detailed narrative-cum-study of the history of a political system, it provides a chronological overview of the building of the socialist state from the ground up, its entrenchment into the peaceful routine of everyday life, its inner crises, and its gradual decline and self-destruction. The book is the definitive and the most complete guide to Bulgaria under communism and how the communist system operates on a day-to-day level.
Additional information about the volume can be found on Routledge web-page along with the full contents and excerpts of the Introduction and the first chapter.
Author: Martin Dimitrov
Published by the Institute for Studies of the Recent Past and Ciela.
Sofia 2018
ISBN: 978-954-28-26-231
This book has been published with the support of America for Bulgaria Foundation.
