Rural area between reconstruction and development: introduction to theme issue coordinated by Professor George Sisestean

• Published in: Sociologie românească 2012-01, Vol.10 (3), p.5-8
• Main Author: Baltatescu, Sergiu
• Format: Article
• Language: rum
• Subjects: Communism; Identity; Peasants; Romania; Rural Areas; Social Class; Specialists; Universities
• ISSN: 1220-5389

Romanian rural space, preserved in an altered state after five decades of communism, and ongoing a continuous transformation, has the exceptional elements of continuity and specificity to justify the focus of study of the specialists from Romania and from abroad. This is also proved by this collection of text edited by the professor Gheorghe Sisestean, who tragically left us in October 2012. Having received a doctorate at Sorbonne in the nineties, and appointed as professor of Sociology at the University of Oradea, Romania, Gheorghe Sisestean was dedicated to the research on rural identity and fully integrated with the stream of Romanian and international research in the field. A part of his work concerned the identities of Romanians abroad, as his very recent book "Romanian who faded" shows. Another part is linked with the structure and transformations of Romanian rural areas. He was a uniquely original voice among the researchers of Romanian peasantry, speaking passionately against the thesis of the end of this social class.