Abstract
This article examines the position of the industrial working class in Romania before 1989, its role in the overthrow of the communist regime during the December 1989 revolution, and its status during the postcommunist transition to democracy after 1989. The subordination of labor interests by both communist and postcommunist regimes to ideologies that underestimated the issue of class differentiation is emphasized throughout the paper. This analysis is undertaken at two levels, namely, the rewriting of the history of communism after 1989 and the obstacles encountered during the process of democratic transition. The later aspect refers to the problematic relationship between the intellectuals and the working class and labor's lack of involvement in shaping the post-1989 economic and political reforms. The argument that I pursue is that many of the setbacks experienced during the democratization process are partly rooted in the status of labor as an important absentee from the discourse and agenda of both incumbent governments and intellectual elites. It has been a significant factor in pushing the working class towards an illiberal right-wing politics and ideologies of a populist, xenophobic, and anti-intellectual nature.
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Notes
The city of Brasov is located in the southeastern part of Transylvania and, prior to 1989, was one of Romania’s most industrialized cities. On November 15, 1987, an anticommunist protest occurred. It began at the truck manufacturing industrial plant Red Flag (Steagul Rosu) in consequence of a reduction in wages and a proposed elimination of 15,000 jobs in the city.
The full text of Basescu’s speech can be located on http://www.presidency.ro, Comunicat de presa, 15 noiembrie 1987 [Press release, November 15, 1987], accessed August 4, 2008. The first draft of the report, also known as the Tismaneanu Report, named for Vladimir Tismaneanu, the president of the commission and a political scientist, was endorsed by Basescu before the legislature in January 2007 when Romania was officially accepted into the European Union. At the time, it provoked negative reactions among the opposition parties represented by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the nationalist Party of Great Romania (PRM).
For a historical account of the social and economic transformations in early communist Romania, see Giurescu and Fisher-Galati (1988).
According to Vlad Georgescu, in the 1980s, the communist elite represented only 5.6% of party members and 0.88% of the total population of Romania (Georgescu 1987: 69–93).
See interview with Paraschiv (2008).
For a detailed biographical account of Paraschiv’s life and his struggles with the communist regime, see Paraschiv (2005).
While Deletant estimates the number of those who subscribed to SLOMR at 2,400, Oana Ionel and Dragos Marcu question it. They show that, during the trial of the founding members, many of the addresses and names claimed by SLOMR could not be verified (Ionel & Marcu, “Vasile Paraschiv and his Securitate” [Vasile Paraschiv si “Securitatea lui”], pp. 367–379, in Paraschiv, op. cit.).
The etymological origin of the word “protochronism” comes from the ancient Greek and means “before in time.” Initially, protochronism referred to the major role played by the original Dacian population that inhabited what constitutes the current territory of today’s Romania in its contribution to world civilization before colonization by the Roman Empire. Some authors have claimed Dacians’ priority and ascendance over other cultures.
Philosopher, essayist, and poet, Constantin Noica became one of the most prominent intellectuals before WWII. His previous political sympathies for the fascist movement of the Iron Guard and his antimaterialistic convictions led to his imprisonment for 10 years by the communist authorities. Detained yet again for propagating the forbidden work of Mircea Eliade, his sentence was renewed for a further 6 years until released and pardoned in August 1964. After 1965, he moved to Bucharest and re-entered official intellectual life as a member of the Romanian Academy.
A notable presence among them was Werner Sommerauer a former adherent of SLOMR. While under interrogation because of his amateur radio license, Sommerauer was falsely accused of leaking information outside the country through Radio Free Europe.
This, in fact, was Werner Sommerauer. See below for his role.
These included the poet Mircea Dinescu, Doina Cornea, a professor of foreign languages at the University of Cluj, the novelist Dan Petrescu from Iasi, and a young physicist Gabriel Andreescu.
The lack of a formal alliance between the working class and the intellectuals inhibited the course of reforms undertaken during the first decade of democratic transition in Romania. This does not imply that Poland, despite the workers’ instrumental role in the fall of communism and the union’s presence in postcommunist governments, did not follow a similar path towards liberalism shared by other East European countries.
For the developments involving Red Flag and the Association November 15, 1987, see the Association’s press release website (http://www.15noiembrie1987/.ro/presa/, accessed May 20, 2008). I would also like to thank Florin Postolachi, president of the association, for a personal communication that further helped me clarify the facts of the case.
See Vasi (2004).
http://www.15noiembrie.ro.presa/2003_118.html, accessed May 23, 2008.
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Ciobanu, M. Reconstructing the Role of the Working Class in Communist and Postcommunist Romania. Int J Polit Cult Soc 22, 315–335 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-009-9064-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-009-9064-x