Post-Communist Romania at Twenty-Five

Linking Past, Present, and Future

Edited by Lavinia Stan, Diane Vancea

Not available to order

Publication date:

24 June 2015

Length of book:

326 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498501101

2014 marked the 25th anniversary of the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe. The events of 1989 are widely seen as having ushered in new all-encompassing reforms in almost all areas of life. In few other places were reforms more contested and divisive than in Romania, a country that suffered greatly under the sultanistic-cum-totalitarian dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, faced the region’s only bloody anti-communist revolt, and as such had the longest to travel on the road from communism to democracy. We now have a generation’s worth of experience with these wrenching reforms that have deeply affected Romania’s political institutions and political culture, and ultimately allowed it to become a member of the coveted European Union club. This volume gathers key lessons for democratic theory and practice from Romania’s first twenty-five years of post-communist transformation. Written by leading experts in the field of Romanian Studies, the chapters focus on the most important factors that have shaped the country’s political transformation during the first 25 years of post-communism.

Introduction – Lavinia Stan
Chapter 2. Coming to Terms with the Communist Past: Democracy and Memory in Romania –Marius Stan and Vladimir Tismaneanu

Chapter 5. On Women, Feminism and Democracy – Mihaela Miroiu
Chapter 7. Spectacular Alterations, Few Changes in Romania’s Media – Peter Gross
Chapter 9. Unsocial Democrats: The PSD’s Negative Role in Romania’s Democracy – Tom Gallagher

Chapter 12. Environmental Network Governance in Romania – Cristina E. Parau
Conclusion – Monica Ciobanu

A comprehensive view of Romania 25 years after the collapse of Ceausescu’s regime is presented in this collection edited by Stan and Vancea. The book is organized into four parts. In the first part, contributors take note of the period immediately following the removal of Ceausescu, including letters from Romanian citizens in the 1989–1990 period detailing fears and hopes for Romania’s future. The second part takes on issues of identity, political participation, and the media, and the third part focuses on political issues such as representation, parties, and political institutions. The influence of the EU on Romanian human rights and environmental measures is considered in the final part of the book. The chapters present first-rate scholarship from some of the most well-known experts in this area and a great deal of methodological diversity as well. The diversity in methods and content is a definitive strength of the book. Marius Stan and Vladimir Tismaneanu’s chapter on coming to terms with the communist past stands out. Though the focus of the book is on Romania, much is applicable to the other post-Communist countries in the region. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate and research collections.