Urban Narratives on the Changing Nature of Social Capital in Post-Communist Romania

Adriana Soaita, Barend Wind

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Drawing on 69 interviews and information from the World Values Surveys, we examine discursive understandings of social capital in Romania. We evidence two dominant explanatory metanarratives on the weakness of social capital ('communism' and 'ethnocentric individualism') and dilemmas regarding generational and urban/rural differences, which our mixed-methods approach helps decode. Contemporary processes of institutionalisation and commodification have further weakened practices of social capital but such processes are socially approved for their potential of breaking with lingering practices of corruption, bribery and favouritism, and of achieving institutional fairness. Convergence with mature democracies is unlikely not because of passive legacies or ill-adapted actors but because people have different aspirations, well suited to the context of post-communist transformation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)712-738
Number of pages27
JournalEurope-Asia Studies
Volume72
Issue number4
Early online date7-Feb-2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20-Apr-2020

Keywords

  • CIVIL-SOCIETY
  • CONTENTIOUS POLITICS
  • HOME IMPROVEMENT
  • MOVEMENT
  • PARTICIPATION
  • STRATEGIES
  • EVERYDAY
  • LEGACIES
  • ORIGINS
  • STATE

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