Clan Structures in Post-Communist Romania Cover Image

Structuri de Clan in Romania Postcomunista
Clan Structures in Post-Communist Romania

Author(s): Cristian Bocancea
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Editura Lumen, Asociatia Lumen
Keywords: transition; democracy; economy; clan structure; illicit gain

Summary/Abstract: The analysis of the post-communist transition phenomenon has usually encompassed two fundamental components: the democratization of political establishments and the privatization of the economy. However, there are also studies focusing on the collective mind and the social patterns and imagery. In this area of concern, we advance the hypothesis that Romanian post-communism is deeply influenced by clan structures that operate in politics, economy, education, etc. They were born in the exceptional circumstances that emerged after the fall of the dictatorship (the vacuum of redistributive authority, regulatory depression, the possibility to illicitly gain private ownership of state property, decentralization and the deficit of social capital), taking over a number of social functions that had been performed by the structures of the single party and its subordinate establishments in recent years (the identitarian function, the mechanism of inclusion vs. exclusion, political and professional socializing, the redistributive and recreational function).

  • Issue Year: 2010
  • Issue No: 05
  • Page Range: 295-305
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: Romanian