Uncertainty in Small Family Enterprises in Bulgaria: Socio-cultural Strategies for Stabilisation and Economic Development

Abstract

For more than thirty years, Bulgarian society has experienced continuous processes related to uncertainty in economic, social, spiritual and even existential spheres. One of the attempts to overcome the risks of social exclusion and marginalisation can be considered the creation of small enterprises, many of which are family businesses. In these, family relations are intertwined with professional roles and a specific notion of work–kinship relations emerges for the needs of entrepreneurial practice. The article presents an anthropological study of the social impact of economic uncertainty on owners of Bulgarian family enterprises in various economic areas. The main research questions relate to how to define crisis and uncertainty in family entrepreneurship, the subjective level of perception and evaluation of instability, and the main factors for enhancing uncertainty. Based on ethnographic research of three family businesses, I define the socio-cultural strategies for dealing with the consequences of uncertainty, exploring them in the course of their development, and outline some issues related to business and family planning. My main thesis is that the search for means to control economic uncertainty leads to various approaches aimed at increasing social security in the field of family entrepreneurship. Fear of threats and risks in the public sphere which cannot or can barely be controlled by small entrepreneurs is compensated for by investing attention and care in the private sphere and the professional field.