ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the formation of rurality under the conditions of late modernity in transition countries such as Bulgaria. It presents the basic features of changing rurality in Bulgaria: Firstly, the pre-war period and during World War II; Secondly, under the conditions of a centrally planned economy up to 1989 and during the transition to a market economy in the 1990s - in particular the land reform. Thirdly, the emergence of new forms of ownership and rights to its use. The chapter tries to define the probable pattern of rurality after 'late modernity' in such a transition country. In particular the following aspects are analysed: what kind of rurality could correspond to 'late modernity', and Bulgaria's belated modernity and postponed late modernity. The chapter also analyses paradoxes of rural Bulgaria and to what extent these processes could be related to the 'otherness' of Central and Eastern European experience.
