Problems of Cultural Integration in Transition Societies – Case Study of Bulgaria

The paper studies the opportunities of integrating minorities with the rest of the population, turning them into an indivisible part of the society. To realize better this integration many conditions are needed including change in the social attitude to minorities, a rise in their standard of living, overcoming the prejudices existing in society toward them, etc. Creating new jobs and proper investment in the regions populated with minorities would facilitate their cultural integration as the first step in this process. Its efficient realization depends strongly on social capital generated in these communities as a precondition for formal and informal associating with the rest of population. Social capital is expected to play the role of feedback, which would steer the adequacy of the process of integration. Its study is of paramount importance to reveal the mechanism of integration of minorities with the rest of society. The results of the quantitative and qualitativ analysis based on collected primary data are presented for detailed study of the mechanisms of social capital and the way the minorities could be integrated. Among the measures, which could help to cope with the situation are: rise in the access to education, increasing opportunities to find a suitable job, more adequate participation in the political and economic life of the country, etc. In conclusion recommendations are formulated to change the policy toward minorities and to improve the overall economic conditions allowing better social realization and integration.