Shadow Modernities and the State’s Grey Zones: Three Criminal Regimes in Bulgarian History (1879–1944)
Keywords:
shadow modernities; grey zones of governance; illicit economies; social history, Bulgaria (1879‒1944); trafficking; forgery; smugglingAbstract
This review examines Dimitar Gyudurov’s book Traders of “White Slaves,” Forgers and Smugglers in Bulgaria (1879–1944) as part of a broader research project on illicit economies and state formation in modern Bulgaria. Drawing on the concepts of “shadow modernities” and “grey zones of governance”, the review argues that Gyudurov reconceptualizes trafficking in women, forgery, and smuggling not as marginal criminal phenomena but as structural components of state rationality. By situating the Bulgarian case within international regulatory regimes and interdisciplinary debates, the review highlights the book’s contribution to rethinking modern governance through illegality, informality, and institutional ambivalence. Together with the author’s earlier monograph on opiates, the book marks a significant shift in Bulgarian social history toward a practice-oriented and transnational perspective.
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