Lopás a kollektívből. A falusi társadalom erkölcsi-társadalmi átalakulásáról
Stealing from the Collective. Social and Moral Transformations in Rural Society in 20th Century Transylvania

Summary/Abstract: The paper investigates moral and social transformations in rural society in 20th century Transylvania. It starts from events of sporadic stealing in the thirties, and continues with examples of mass stealing after collectivization, as recalled by Pál Balogh (1931-2014, Valea village, Vargata commune). The moment of collectivization marked the beginning of a moral crisis with long-term effects - or, shall we rather speak about an accentuation of moral and social transformation specific to socialism in a rural context? Did everyone learn to steal so fast - or did they apply previously existing social adaptation techniques to the new political, economic and social conditions? Social memory speaks about a beginning - but data from my research on social and moral behavior in the same context before collectivization suggests that stealing has to do rather with an adaptation of old means to new conditions.

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