Accommodation of religious diversity at the workplace through the prism of state–religion relations
| Author | Iva Kyurkchieva,Maya Kosseva,Maya Grekova |
| Published date | 01 June 2013 |
| Date | 01 June 2013 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1358229113489397 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Accommodation of
religious diversity at the
workplace through the
prism of state–religion
relations: The Bulgarian
case
Maya Grekova
1
, Iva Kyurkchieva
2
and Maya Kosseva
3
Abstract
Issues of religion and the relations with the state do not attract continuous public
interest in Bulgaria as they do in a number of Western European countries discussed in
this special issue. Awareness and sensitivity of the Bulgarian civil society towards issues
of religious diversity is low. This is also the case to an even greater extent with the issue
of how religion and religious diversity are accommodated in workplaces. As a rule, public
interest in religion is aroused only by certain provocative events. Explaining the historical
background and developments that led to the contemporary legal and institutional
framework, this article utilizes data from interviews with key opinion makers to provide
context and insight in public debates and perceptions on the ground in Bulgaria. Inter-
views were conducted with key Bulgarian opinion makers, including politicians, unions
and representatives from the main religions in Bulgaria. These respondents declared
adamantly that there are no problems related to or provoked by religion in the field of
labour-legal relations concerning individuals. However, there were some examples pro-
vided concerning religious holidays and prayers; the issue of religious dress in the
1
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Philosophy, St. Kliment Ohridski Sofia University, Bulgaria
2
Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum – Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences, Bulgaria
3
International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations, Bulgaria
Corresponding author:
Maya Kosseva, International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations, Antim Parvi
55, Sofia 1303, Bulgaria.
Email: mkosseva@yahoo.com
International Journalof
Discrimination and theLaw
13(2-3) 169–193
ªThe Author(s) 2013
Reprints and permission:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1358229113489397
jdi.sagepub.com
workplace has been largely absent in legal forums. One reason for the lack of cases may
be the lack of trust in the justice system as well as the presence of more pressing matters
for workers who may face poverty, in one of the poorer EU Member States.
During the last two decades, Bulgaria has developed the legal and institutional
framework for the protection of human rights and equal treatment, but its practical
implementation is still not effective enough. Individuals and organizations from different
religious communities still try to find everyday solutions for their problems without
opting for a real long-term legal resolution.
Keywords
Bulgaria, discrimination, minorities, religion, state-religion relations, workplace
Introduction
This article examines the main tensions in contemporary Bulgarian society concerning the
intertwining of religion and secularism. In particular, it reveals how the tensions mani-
fested in the relations between the secular nation-state on the one hand, and different reli-
gious organizations and individuals professing various religions on the other, affect the
situation at the workplace, at both the individual and the collective level.
The relations between the state and different religions in contemporary Bulgaria are
defined by a specific legislative basis and multi-faceted social trends from the past. Dif-
ferent historical factors, trends in legislation and the ethno-religious structure of the Bul-
garian society all influence current religion–state relations. The main historical factors
that influence these relations are the Eastern Orthodox affiliation, the legacy of the Otto-
man Empire, the construction of the modern nation-state, the socialist regime, the post-
socialist democratization and the integration into the European political space.
Religion and it s relations with t he state do not a ttract continu ous public inter est in Bul-
garia, as it does in a numberof Western Europeancountries discussed in this specialissue (e.
g. France and the UK).This is also the case to an even greater extent with the issue of how
religion and religious diversity are accommodated in workplaces. As a rule, public interest
in religion is aroused only by certain provocative events. Such events can be, for example,
cases when representatives of the clergy ‘scandalously’deviate from their obligations and
from the religious norms; when state institutions inadmissibly interfere in the affairs of the
legally recognised religious communities; or when extreme nationalistic organizations
aggressively violate the rights of believers (in most cases the victims are Muslims).
This situation, on the one hand, determined the selection of respondents for this study:
people whose position makes them socially influential in cases when a problem occurs in
state–religion relations, or if rights of the believers are infringed. The idea was that the
opinions of the respondents would help to outline the relation between the formal regu-
lation of the investigated issues and the current social discourse concerning a number
of areas, including employment.
On the other hand, such selection of respondents had its disadvantage. In many cases,
respondents concentrated on thoseissues they evaluated as the most important and ignored
170 International Journal of Discrimination and the Law 13(2-3)
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