The history of everyday life during the communist period continues to fascinate us. However, such research always poses methodological challenges. This is especially true when one tries to explore the issue of informal exchanges. In this paper, I aim at identifying several challenges with some proposed approaches which can aid research. Firstly, we presented the reactions of witnesses when interviewed and how we can analyze them. Secondly, I tried explaining the three aspects of memory that we consider essential: remembering, nostalgia, and taboo‑ization. The goal is to introduce a psychological explanation into historical research to improve on existing methodology.
The economic policies of the communist regime in Romania had a powerful impact on society, transforming it in many regards: behaviorally, professionally, demographically, etc. In this study we propose an analysis of how the ‘new worker’ was constructed, migration to cities and the relationship with the old workforce. For the purposes of our research, we focused on the case‑study of Cluj, taking advantage of its ethnic diversity which offers an extra layer for the analysis, but also because the city had an industrial sector before the communist period. Firstly, we aimed at explaining the demographic process through which a large number of people from the countryside moved to cities in search for an industrial job. This phenomenon can be linked to the effects of collectivization, which changed the social mobility model, as it dissolved the right to own land. Secondly, we aim to understand the ample process of integrating new workers in production and their tense relationship with the old proletariat. This must be understood within the context of urbanization, of migrants and the ‘ruralization of cities.’ The last element brought into discussion will be regarding the role played by old specialists in communist industrialization. Here we will focus on the interesting case of Dezideriu Jenei, chief‑engineer at Tehnofrig, one of the few examples we can retrace from the archives.
"The Alternative Economy: Informal Exchanges and Criminal Activities from the perspective of the Communist regime’s institutional framework. Shortages plagued Romanian communism from the very beginning to its inevitable downfall in 1989. People developed strategies to overcome it, based on informal exchange, creating an alternative economic system. Many of these activities involved stealing from the workplace, embezzling, abuse of position, and smuggling. It also involves a certain level of trust between individuals, allowing them to co-operate despite the risks. The authorities tried through surveillance and sting operations to reduce the extent of these activities, which were hindering the official economy. They went as far as infiltrating queues to gather information on the state of mind of the population.
Keywords: shortage, ‘blat’, alternative economy, Miliţia, second economy, informal exchange
"
"Frozen conflicts and the near abroad are concepts that have defined Russia's security policy since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Firstly, in this paper, we will try to explain how the Kremlin sees its near abroad and how it defines it as part of its sphere of influence. Consequently, it describes its interventions and its inevitable clash with the West. Secondly, we want to frame frozen conflicts in two periods with defining characteristics. Each was marked by who held power in the Kremlin and Russia's economic and military situation at the time. In the end, we want to reflect on the impact of the war in Ukraine on the future of these two concepts. Obviously, the outcome will obviously influence Moscow's ability to project power in the near future and its use of frozen conflicts to achieve this. Keywords: frozen conflicts, near abroad, security policy, Ukraine, Russia"
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.