Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Effects of Shifting Borders on Ethnic Identity: The Case of Bulgarian Turks

匹兹堡大学的博士生汉德·索泽将在罗伯特·M·海登博士的指导下，研究在种族群体内部和外部支离破碎的情况下，种族认同是如何发展的。她的研究重点将是保加利亚土耳其人的案例研究。随着1878年奥斯曼帝国-保加利亚边界的建立，保加利亚的土耳其人口呈现出一种多因素的身份，不仅被边界分割，而且在两国，按照宗教界限(阿拉维穆斯林与逊尼派穆斯林)和地区线(无论他们来自保加利亚北部还是南部)的内部等级划分。保加利亚土耳其人情况的复杂性为完善社会科学对族裔群体和边界的理解提供了理想的机会。研究人员将调查保加利亚土耳其人情况的多个方面：少数民族不同亚群的成员如何适应他们相对于其他亚群和更广泛社会的劣势？它是帮助还是阻碍他们保持跨越边界和分歧的关系？一些小组的成员何时、如何以及为什么意识到这些联系，而另一些小组的成员则没有？她将在保加利亚和土耳其进行档案研究，并进行人种学田野调查，包括在保加利亚的两个地点(拉兹格勒和卡尔贾利)和一个地点土耳其(布尔萨)对保加利亚土耳其人进行参与者观察和重点访谈。政府经常制定基于少数族裔人口同质性假设的政策。这项研究将检验这些假设，并在这样做的过程中，有助于更好地研究种族分化和边界影响的社会科学理论，以及更好的少数民族政策。该奖项还有助于社会科学家的教育。

University of Pittsburgh doctoral student Hande Sozer, with guidance from Dr. Robert M. Hayden, will undertake research on how ethnic identity develops when ethnic groups are internally and externally fragmented. The focus of her research will be a case study of Bulgarian Turks. With the creation of the Ottoman-Bulgaria border in 1878, the Turkish population in Bulgaria took on a multifacted identity, divided not only by the border, but also, in both countries, by internal hierarchical divisions along religious lines (Alevi Muslim versus Sunni Muslim) and regional lines (whether they originated in northern or southern Bulgaria). The complexity of the situation of Bulgarian Turks provides an ideal opportunity for refining social science understanding of ethnic groups and boundaries.The researcher will investigate multiple aspects of the situation of Bulgarian Turks: How do members of a minority's different subgroups accommodate their disadvantages vis-à-vis other subgroups and in the broader society? Does it help or hinder them to maintain relations across borders and divisions? When, how, and why have members of some subgroups realized these connections while others did not? She will conduct archival research in Bulgaria and Turkey, and undertake ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation and focused interviewing among Bulgarian Turks in two sites in Bulgaria (Razgrad and Kardjali) and one site Turkey (Bursa).Governments often develop policies that are based on the assumption of homogeneity within minority populations. This research will test those assumptions and, in so doing, contribute to better social science theory of ethnic differentiation and the effects of borders, as well as better policy for minorities. The award also contributes to the education of a social scientist.