Collective memory and social movements in times of crisis: the case of Romania

Abstract

Social movements are not completely spontaneous. On the contrary, they depend on past events and experiences and are rooted in specific contexts. By focusing on three case studies – the student mobilizations of 2011 and 2013, the anti-government mobilizations of 2012, and the protests against the Rosia Montana Gold Corporation project of 2013 – this article aims to investigate the role of collective memory in post-2011 movements in Romania. The legacy of the past is reflected not only in a return to the symbols and frames of the anti-Communist mobilizations of 1989 and 1990, but also in the difficulties of the protesters to delimit themselves from nationalist actors, to develop global claims, and to target austerity and neoliberalism. Therefore, even in difficult economic conditions, Romanian movements found it hard to align their efforts with those of the Indignados/Occupy movements. More generally, the case of Romania proves that activism remains rooted in the local and national context, reflecting the memories, experiences, and fears of the mobilized actors, in spite of the spread of a repertoire of action from Western and southern Europe.

Keywords:

• mobilization
• genealogy
• economic crisis
• post-Communism

Notes

1. The struggle against the former Communist nomenklatura remained important even during the anti-corruption protests of 2017. Even if these mobilizations do not constitute the object of this research, it is important to note the perpetuation of certain protest patterns. According to a survey conducted in February 2017 by the Center of Studies in Political Ideas (2017), the main agents of corruption are the Communist nomenklatura, those who became rich after 1989, while at the opposite pole are international multinationals and technocrats.

2. This phrase was a term used in East German propaganda.

3. Punk and punk rock festival held in Timisoara starting in late 1990.

4. “SRI îi monitorizează pe studenții care au OCUPAT UBB Cluj? Dezvăluirea este făcută de șefii Universității – VIDEO.” 2013. Stiri de Cluj March 21. http://www.stiridecluj.ro/social/sri-ii-monitorizeaza-pe-studentii-care-au-ocupat-ubb-cluj-dezvaluirea-este-facuta-de-sefii-universitatii-video.

5. Autonomous collectives protesting war and poverty and serving vegan food to the needy. The practice was born in the 1980s in the United States.