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ABSTRACT
This study explores the way Bulgarians living in the UK interact online. We rely on an online survey of attitudes among Bulgarians in the UK, participant observation in Bulgarian support networks during the period 2016-20, as well as qualitative interaction analysis over the course of six months (2019-20), adapted for non-visual environments, of top posts from the largest online support groups. Our findings point to the gradual consolidation of organised informal support among Bulgarians, especially and predominantly among those of ‘low-status’ occupations and more precarious migration journeys. We also observe a trend of emancipation and entrepreneurship enabled by online networks in the almost complete absence of formal associations of Bulgarians in the UK. Finally, we acknowledge the importance of the context of crisis and precarity for the emergence of informal support networks online. What this tells us about Bulgarians in the UK is that, while often avoided by so called ‘elite migrants’, informal support groups have begun to function as quasi-diasporic communities assisted by online social networking platforms, (still) facilitated by free movement but creating a unique transnational space between ‘home’ and ‘the foreign’ to enable mobility, interaction and belonging.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Bulgaria is the poorest EU member measured by GDP per capita (2018 Eurostat data).
2 See Office for National Statistics, Long-Term International Migration (2010-19) based on Department for Work and Pensions and Home Office data, https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/migrationstatisticsquarterlyreport/may2020#eu-and-non-eu-migration-over-time.
3 This number is from an organisation conservative on migration policies https://www.migrationwatchuk.org/statistics-population-country-birth/#create-graph. In 2019 the UK government estimated Bulgarians in the UK to be 109,000, while 184,910 applied for settled/ pre-settled status by mid-year 2020 according to statistics by the Home Office (suggesting the number is a bit higher than that) https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-quarterly-statistics-june-2020.
5 The labels ‘labourer’ and ‘cleaner’ are often used by the in-group for referral and self-referral purposes, indicating internalisation (only, ‘labourer’ is always used, incorrectly in English, as лейбър (‘labour’) to describe the occupation of certified general worker). A quick perusal of job adverts for Bulgarians in the UK reveals these as the most advertised, while our study confirmed these also as the most frequently sought and taken up occupations.
6 Carried out within the EU Migrants in the UK Project with Ronald Ranta (funded by the British Academy SG161867). The survey was distributed online through snowballing.
8 The platform has a Facebook page (est. 2010, currently featuring 7,500 members) which does not seem too popular. A group with the same name and function (spelled slightly differently and not associated with the BG Help platform) has had a Facebook presence since 2014, boasting a much bigger membership (currently 61,131 people). This study has followed the activity of the two BG Help Facebook groups, among others.
10 www.budilnik.com.
11 All membership numbers henceforward updated as of July 2020.
12 We have relied only on publicly available data shared in the groups by the participants, without retaining on record any personal identity information.
13 ‘Bulgari v Anglia.’
14 ‘Bulgari v London rabota-vzaimopomosht.’
15 ‘Bulgari v London tarseshti/ predlagashti rabota.’
16 ‘Bulgari v London tarseshti rabota.’
17 ‘Bulgari tarseshti rabota vav Velikobritania.’
18 ‘Bulgari v London – rabota i razvlechenia.’
19 ‘Sreshtu diskriminatsiata na bulgarite v Anglia.’
20 ‘BG mami v Anglia.’
21 Eurostat Tobacco Consumption Statistics (second highest in the EU after Greece).