Personal and Spiritual Development in Contemporary Romania: In Search of Ambivalence

Simionca, Anca

doi:10.1515/subbs-2016-0008

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…as part of a paradigm shift that has seen cognitive-behavioural approaches subjected to an increasing amount of critique in favour of New Age-inspired holistic approaches. As for the world of business, spiritually-infused personal development programs are becoming a passage obligé for the acquisition of career-enhancing 'soft skills' (communication, self-presentation, the ability and willingness to learn new things and grow as a person) (Gog & Simionca, 2016;Simionca, 2016;Szabo, 2016;Tobias, 2016;Trifan, 2016). These trends have become important among professionals in fields as varied as 'economists, lawyers, teachers, creative workers, service specialists, IT-personnel, engineers, experts, consultants, etc.'…”

Section: Creating Neoliberal Subjectivities: the New Age Explosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious change in Orthodox-majority Eastern Europe: from Nation-State to Global-Market

Gauthier

2021

Theor Soc

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This article mobilises an analytical framework developed by the author in a series of solo and joint publications according to which religion has shifted from a Nation-State to a Global-Market regime, which it applies to the case of Eastern European Orthodox majority countries, including Russia, in modern times. Bringing together a large amount of research in a synthetic objective, it first examines how religion in Eastern Europe was nationalised and statised from the end of the eighteenth to the twentieth century. It looks at the particularities of the communist experience, and shows how it is best understood as a form of radicalisation of National-Statist trends. It then shows how neoliberal reforms have integrated these countries in wider global flows. The remainder of the article looks at different trends from the perspective of marketisation: the coextensive rise of Orthodoxy affiliation and nationalism, the qualitative changes within Orthodoxy, as well as the parallel developments of New Age derived spirituality and Pentecostalism, the two ideal-typical religious forms in the Global-Market regime, and by linking them to specific experiences of globalisation and social determinants. The conclusion argues that the rise of nationalism and authoritarianism as well as the religious trends that are developing today are the consequences of neoliberal reforms, the penetration of consumerism as a dominant ethos, and thus generalised marketisation.

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Section: Creating Neoliberal Subjectivities: the New Age Explosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious change in Orthodox-majority Eastern Europe: from Nation-State to Global-Market

Gauthier

2021

Theor Soc

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“…According to Rose, psycho-sciences, including personal development, play a pivotal role in shaping citizens who can self-govern. In Romania, recent discussions on this topic, alongside my own research (Trifan, 2016b;Trifan, 2019;Trifan, 2020a) have been explored by Sorin Gog (2020), Anca Simionca (2016), andSergiu Bortoș (2017). They have examined how the formation of the neoliberal subject in Romania is influenced by spirituality programs, as observed in Gog's work, or through participation in personal development courses.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Searching for Authenticity: Critical Analysis of Gender Roles and Radical Movements in Personal Development Practices in Contemporary Society

Trifan

2023

Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai Sociologia

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Personal development has become an industry in neoliberal capitalism, used to help employees adapt to the constant pursuit of growth, such as increased productivity, creativity, time management and business development. As part of my doctoral research, I documented how this type of practice works and how it restructures individuals’ social lives and their perspectives on the world. Personal development, as shaped by neoliberalism, serves as a tool for personal empowerment and adaptation to the restructuring of the welfare state. It is also a means of promoting neoliberal values among people. However, during the containment measures during the pandemic, criticisms of this growth-based approach emerged, leading to a resurgence of ideas about personal care. Self-care developed particularly in marginalised communities, where it was defined as a form of resistance to capitalism through caring for oneself as a member of an oppressed community, with Audre Lorde (1988) defining the concept as having a power of resistance to capitalism. In this presentation, I will explore what happens to personal development, which is a key factor in the construction of capitalist ideology, if neoliberalism is coming to an end. I will also consider whether this is a good time to reclaim personal development and how it can be used to create tools for self-building beyond the intrinsic individualism of the process.

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“…This manifests in imagining the goals of both individual self-improvement and state governance in acquiring the values and life conditions attributed to the "West." The positive hero of this discourse becomes the character of the creative, ambitious, self-developing, self-disciplined subject (Zincă 2011;Petrovici 2012;Mihály 2015;Simionca 2016;Petrovici-Deneva-Faje 2020), who brings forward the ethical project of capitalism (Szabó 2016;Troc 2019).…”

Section: Neoliberalism Transnational Migration and Outsourcingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Favoured subjects. The myth of the Middle Class and the imaginary of Cluj IT

Gondos

2023

Hungarian Studies Yearbook

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Romanian IT professionals are marketized as young, highly skilled, and full of potential individuals. However, there is a contradiction in their image. In the discourse of international outsourcing, they are presented as cheap labour, while on the national and local level they are considered high earners. Under the privilege of income tax exemption, the IT sector is continuously growing and attracting labour, providing well-paying entry-level jobs and bringing in foreign capital. At the same time, on a symbolic level, it also developed a reputation as a facilitator of social ascension and of importer of European ideas. In this paper I aim to examine what drives people towards professional reorientation to IT. How is the idea of the middle class being used? What is the imaginary that makes people take on the risky and arduous road of re-professionalization and what are its consequences?

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Personal and Spiritual Development in Contemporary Romania: In Search of Ambivalence

Cited by 6 publications

References 14 publications

Religious change in Orthodox-majority Eastern Europe: from Nation-State to Global-Market

Religious change in Orthodox-majority Eastern Europe: from Nation-State to Global-Market

Searching for Authenticity: Critical Analysis of Gender Roles and Radical Movements in Personal Development Practices in Contemporary Society

Favoured subjects. The myth of the Middle Class and the imaginary of Cluj IT

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