In 2013 Bulgaria faced the biggest political crisis in the last twenty years when mass mobilizations filled the streets of 35 cities from February to the end of the year. In this paper, I present the impact of the socialist and transitional period memory on the protest movements. While the protesters, in general, dealt with the corruption, poverty, and injustice, the memory dynamics and interpretations of the socialist regime and the first period of the transition to liberal democracy have significant role both in their understanding of the “enemy” and in their explanation of the current crisis. Thus, the selected cases present two different approaches in the remembrances of the memory. However the two protest movements stand with equal general aim for re-establishing of the state, they were divided in the interpretation of the political and economic crisis, the first, so-called “Winter protest” showed clearly negative position towards the parties, the electoral system, and even against the capitalism, supporting nationalization of utility companies and constitutional change, on the other hand, the second, so-called “Summer protest”, stand on negative position towards the socialist government, the “red garbage”, the “red elite”, and supported the continuance of the Europeanization, the reforms for free market and the rule of law. In general, the former can be defined as the protest of the losers of the democratization process, and the later as the protest of the entrepreneurs, the creative class. The aim of the paper is to go in-depth of this division, explaining how activist of these two movements interpret the memory in their repertoires, programs, interviews and to what extent we can suppose that the protest of 2013 presents a new cleavage of the Bulgarian society (Stoyanova 2016). The analysis is based on qualitative approach, including content analyses of in-depth interviews with protest leaders and rank-and-files activists, as well as Social media activities (Facebook pages and groups), poster and booklet materials, and activist rhetoric in media participation. In conclusion, the paper contributes to the understanding of the protest in post-socialist context and the role of the memory dynamics within the new social movements.
