Осъзнато производство и потребление в селска среда като инструмент за постигане на алтернативни на градските идентичности
Conscious Production and Consumption in Rural Environment as a Tool for Achieving Alternative to the Urban Identities

Summary/Abstract: The choice of where to live is also a choice of how to live (Hoey 2006: 366). The change of one’s place of residence appears to be crucial as the new place upbrings and guarantees the longed-for change in one’s lifestyle. Examples taken from the Slovak ecovillage of Zajezova and the Bulgarian village of Zhelen verify this. Migrants from civic environments who settled in thosetwo villages take care of their authentic selves, being conscious of and purposefully living in harmony with their values. They believe that the individual should delimit himself of the social expectations to find out what is authentic. They make this true they begin to live alternatively to the commonly adopted civic lifestyle. Being alternative is shown through the following key aspects: close relation to nature, conscious consumption, and production. Activities and attitudes related to these three aspects appear to be a toolkit for forming alternative identities and for becoming part of a community with similar values. How are these identities characterized and how do they manifest themselves in everyday practice? To answer this research question the article draws on the production and consumption practice of lifestyle migrants in Zhelen and Zajezova.

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