The article puts into focus the concept and practice of the global society today. Striving to measure both the hindrances and potentials for its fully-fledged development a critical perspective on the term is being assumed. For this purpose, the construction of local role boundaries with regards to immigrants is being discussed against the background of Bulgaria's immigration/border policy in the context of the EU membership of the country. How could a 'Bulgarian' case study contribute to our understanding of the social role played by states in times of global migration How does it illuminate the current status of the global society or the very value of this theoretical concept