Shrinking Worlds, Disconnected Lives. The Post-communist Saga of Romanian Grains
Shrinking Worlds, Disconnected Lives. The Post-communist Saga of Romanian Grains
Author(s): Sabina StanSubject(s): Anthropology
Published by: Muzeul Ţăranului Român, Editura Martor
Keywords: socialism; post-communism; globalization; opening of the market; global market; agriculture; consumption patterns; local products; social lives of things; cereal cultivation; subsistence crop; peasantry; collectivisation; commuting;
Summary/Abstract: The demise of socialism at end of the 80s put Eastern European countries on the track of a thorough transformation of their economic structures. Furthermore, the swift opening of their economies vis-à-vis the global market led to an influx of foreign commodities which triggered a still ongoing change in consumption patterns. But while these processes have already begun to be accounted for by social scientists, the parallel phenomenon of the return of locally produced goods into national circuits of exchange was far less documented. This paper aims to deepen our understanding of this return by focusing on the case of the Romanian wheat, one of the main agricultural products of this East European country.
Journal: Martor. Revue d’Anthropologie du Musée du Paysan Roumain
- Issue Year: 2010
- Issue No: 15
- Page Range: 67-71
- Page Count: 5
- Language: English
