The East in the West: Cold War Cultural Cooperation and Cultural Globalization in the 1970s

In the 1970s, the Cold War global order underwent dynamic changes associated with economic instability, political crises, grassroots activism, and anti-colonial struggles, which exacerbated the ideological competition between East and West. However, parallel processes of cultural globalization challenged the rigidity of this competition as cultural exchange experienced a renewed importance in the context of Ostpolitik and Helsinki. Examining communist Bulgaria's cultural activities in a variety of countries in the 'capitalist West' from the mid-1970s on, this paper emphasizes changing perceptions of East and West in the post-Helsinki world.