The Inability Not to Follow: Western Hegemonies and the Notion of "Complaisance" in the Enlarged Europe

In this article, I focus on the dilemma of consumer advocacy NGO activists and consumers in postsocialist Bulgaria who consider themselves as marginalized and caught between global and local value systems that are not always mutually compatible. In particular, I draw attention to the aspect of complicity assumed in widespread discussions about hegemony because many Bulgarians deny their complicity in, and exhibit complaisance toward, strengthening hegemony. In the global process of marginalization, they feel increasingly compelled to go along with the power structure despite their dissent to dominant discourses and practices. They insist that they submit themselves to such hegemonic forces because of the inability not to follow them.