The Passport
The Passport
Author(s): Petre PopovăţSubject(s): Anthropology
Published by: Muzeul Ţăranului Român, Editura Martor
Keywords: (post)communism; transition; (reopening of the) border; bureaucracy;
Summary/Abstract: After the fall of the Romanian communist regime in December 1989, one of the first measures taken by the new government was to reopen the borders and implicitly to grant each citizen of the “New Romania” the right to own a passport. This meant that anybody (almost anybody) could own and store in their desk’s drawer a document that allowed them to (theoretically) travel at any moment to any destination in the world. I had been haunted by the strong desire to travel throughout the entire communist period, when I wasn’t at all allowed to leave Romania. So, in February of 1990 I rushed to the police precinct in Luigi Cazzavillan Street where passports were issued for the people.
Journal: Martor. Revue d’Anthropologie du Musée du Paysan Roumain
- Issue Year: 2005
- Issue No: 10
- Page Range: 113-118
- Page Count: 6
- Language: English