Without Space: The Politics of Precarity and Dispossession in Postsocialist Bucharest

Abstract

The eviction of families from historically nationalized and recently restituted houses in Romania is tied in complicated ways to postsocialist transitional justice policies. Delayed enactment of restitution legislation and inconsistent application leave families, and neglected houses, in a precarious state. As families remain in place, they create a politics that pushes against dispossession. Evidence of this push comes from a study of Roma families, who are arguably the most marginalized of Romania's low-income peoples. Theoretically, we draw on Butler and Athanasiou's understanding of precarity and dispossession and Askins's emotional citizenry, from which we find a glimmer of hope in the everyday performance of the political among threatened families.

在罗马尼亚, 将家户驱逐出历史上属于国家但晚近获得补偿的房舍, 与后社会主义的转型正义政策有着复杂的连结。补偿立法的拖延与不一贯的实施, 导致许多家户和被疏忽的房舍处于不稳定的境况。随着这些家户续留在原地, 他们创造出抵抗驱逐的政治。此一推力之证据, 来自于对罗马家庭的研究, 他们可说是罗马尼亚低收入者中最为边缘化者。我们运用巴特勒和阿萨纳修对于不稳定和驱逐的理解, 以及阿斯金的感性公民之理论, 从而在受到威胁的家庭的每日生活政治展演中寻得一丝希望。

El desalojo de familias de residencias nacionalizadas históricamente y recientemente restituidas está ligado de manera complicada con las políticas de la justicia transicional postsocialista de Rumania. La demora en implementar la legislación relacionada con la restitución y su aplicación inconsistente deja a las familias y a las casas desatendidas en un estado precario. En tanto las familias permanezcan en el lugar, crean una situación política que presiona contra la desposesión. La evidencia de esta presión proviene de un estudio de familias de Roma, consideradas por algunos como lo más marginado de la gente de bajos ingresos de Rumania. Dese el punto de vista teórico, nos apoyamos en la forma como entienden Butler y Athanasiou la precariedad y la desposesión, lo mismo que en la ciudadanía emocional de Askin, desde donde hallamos un atisbo de esperanza en el desempeño cotidiano de lo político entre las familias amenazadas.

Key Words:

• Bucharest
• dispossession
• emotional citizenry
• precarity
• postsocialism

关键词：:

• 布加勒斯特
• 驱逐
• 感性公民
• 不稳定性
• 后社会主义。

Palabras clave:

• Bucarest
• desposesión
• ciudadanía emocional
• postsocialismo

Notes

1. We assume that the evictions documented here are dispossessions. Although the occupants do not own their properties in the capitalist sense of ownership, they nonetheless gained rights to occupancy in the Lockean sense of becoming propertied through labor.

2. Although publicly acknowledging the need for lustration, they discouraged discussion of communist abuses or the suggestion of laws to remove former communists from public office and their homes (Stan 2013; Ciobanu 2015).

3. Our interviews suggest that this requirement is practiced inconsistently and never enforced.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the June Burnett Endowment.

Notes on contributors

Jasmine Arpagian

JASMINE ARPAGIAN is a PhD student in the joint doctoral program at the Department of Geography, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, and University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include urban geography, disadvantaged families in Romania, and displacement.

Stuart C. Aitken

STUART C. AITKEN is Professor of Geography and June Burnett Chair at San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include critical social theory, qualitative methods, children, youth and families, film, and masculinities.