Migration, tradition and transition among the Pomaks in Xanthi (Western Thrace)

Domna Michail
Department of Balkan Studies, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

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Abstract
During the second half of the last century the Greek countryside entered the world of industry and commerce, which was followed by important economic and social changes. For several political and historical reasons the Pomaks in Western Thrace did not follow these changes. The traditional world-view of rural Greece was deeply affected by the passing from subsistence to consumer economy thus changing the way of interpreting traditional value systems. In the Community of Thermes in the Pomak area of Xanthi, the traditional mechanisms of community integration and identity have survived and the viability of the community as a discrete entity with its own identity has remained more unbroken. During the last decade, however, following the abolition of several restrictions of an economic and political character, which the Thermiots as members of the Muslim minority suffered for decades, the community has been facing the challenge of adapting to new economic and cultural patterns brought about mainly through migration.
This paper examines how the Thermiots have responded to the recent abolition of the socioeconomic restrictions, which have been partly responsible for their being maintained on the edge of social and economic change. Based on research
material from the fieldwork I conducted in the area in 2000-2002, I focus on the way migration has affected approval of certain new values, especially in relation to education. I look on how people experience the duality between old practices, which started losing their meaning, surviving as ‘forms’ only, and how these ‘forms’ are being challenged by the new rationale that the need for participating in the modern world brought together.
Part-time and long-term Thermiot migrants usually do not culturally integrate with the societies they work in. Their hearts remain focused on their home villages and their main ambition is to supplement family income. Nevertheless, they act as carriers of modernization back to the village by introducing modern conveniences into their houses. And into the community they bring new ideas and aspirations for catching-up with the rest of the Greek society by taking advantage of the educational opportunities offered in their area.
Increasing modernization and urban contact may in some cases lead to a decline of ceremonial and ritual life and the diffusion of secular ideas among peasants. Migration often intensifies processes of secularization and modernization since it brings people closer to urban life. Besides the material benefits it may bring into the community, it has been observed, that migration contributes to the change of traditional and spiritual values of the people. Among the Thermiots, there has been a considerable change of attitude towards the way the community viewed education as well as some criticism of several traditional practices affecting women. This has mainly been the result of intense contact of young people with city people during a period of steady social change that the community has been undergoing.

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