Historical Legacies, Social Capital and Civil Society: Comparing Romania on a Regional Level

Civil society development in Eastern Europe has most often been studied as a comparison among countries but has seldom been addressed on a sub-national level. The researchers ask whether the development of civil society in Transylvania is different from that in the rest of Romania and, if so, whethe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Europe-Asia studies 2005-01, Vol.57 (1), p.117-133
Main Authors: Bădescu, Gabriel, Sum, Paul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Civil Society
Communism
Countries
Crossnational Analysis
Cultural Capital
Democracy
Democratization
Economic Development
Ethnicity
Legacies
Nongovernmental organizations
Political Development
Political history
Political participation
Post-communist societies
Postcommunism
Postcommunist Societies
Regional Development
Regional disparities
Regionalism
Romania
Social capital
Social change
Social conditions & trends
Social Development
Studies
Trust
Volunteerism
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Summary:Civil society development in Eastern Europe has most often been studied as a comparison among countries but has seldom been addressed on a sub-national level. The researchers ask whether the development of civil society in Transylvania is different from that in the rest of Romania and, if so, whether this difference can be attributed to differences in social capital. The historically-rooted cultural difference between Transylvania and the rest of the country, which predates the communist period, drives the hypothesized relationship. If this proposition is valid, the finding holds significance for civil society development strategy in Romania and people's understanding of political development in new democracies. With the overthrow of the communist regimes, the new democracies of Eastern Europe witnessed the emergence (re-emergence) of regional distinctions which are congruent with historical, cultural and institutional legacies. For Romania the region of Transylvania stands out in this respect from the rest of the country.
ISSN:0966-8136
1465-3427
DOI:10.1080/0966813052000314138