A thesis synopsis and self-introduction.
Greetings/Zdravate: I thought that I'd respond to Tony Galt's
request for dissertation synopses from graduate students. I'm not
actually new to the list, but between proposal writing and preparing
for my qualifying exams, I've not had time to respond earlier. My name
is Barbara Cellarius and I'm a Ph.D. student in the Department of
Anthropology at the University of Kentucky. Within anthropology, my
interests lie in ecological and development anthropology and I'm
particularly interested in mountainous regions. I also have a masters
degree in environmental studies, the significance of which will likely
be apparent when you read about dissertation research that I plan to
undertake in Bulgaria beginning later this summer (i.e., August 1996).
Since I'm in the going-into-the-field stage, rather than the writing stage,
these plans may, of course, change somewhat.
Because I'm dealing with issues that appear to have received lesser
attention within European anthropology, I'd be particularly interested in
hearing from other folks dealing with environmental issues/management or
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the region.
Barbara Cellarius Dissertation
Tentative Title:Global Priority, Local Reality: Biodiversity
Conservation and Rural Communities in Bulgaria
My research project will investigate how global concerns about
biodiversity conservation articulate with the activities and concerns
of residents of rural communities through a local-level ethnographic
study of resource use and management and biodiversity conservation
efforts in Bulgaria's Rhodope Mountains. Some of the issues I plan to
examine are relationships between (a) resource management institutions and
practices; (b) access to and control over land and other resources in the
context of land restitution; and (c) the environmental knowledge, use,
and concerns of local residents. I'll also be exploring the role of
nongovernmental environmental organizations (NGOs) in mediating
between local, national, and international levels in conservation
efforts. Methods that I plan to employ during 9+ months in the Rhodope
include participant observation and in-depth interviews, a community
survey, and analysis of desputes over resources. In addition, I'll
be spending a couple of months in Sofia, the national capital, talking
to government and NGO officials involved in conservation or resource
management in the region and collecting relevant documents in an effort
to get a handle on the national and global dimensions of my topic.
Barbara A. Cellarius
Department of Anthropology
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506-0024
Phone: 606 257 5124
Fax: 606 323 1959