The condition of the intellectual as a

dissenter within the Romanian

communist system.

Man Andrei-TudorBabeș-Bolyai UniversityCluj-Napoca, Romania

Being old, uneducated, poor, living in the countryside, being a worker, all seem to delegitimize you as a worthy citizen of a democratic state. Deprived of any fortune, in possession of a labor power which is of little value (which you can no longer sell, anyway), you wake up on the outskirts of society. Thatcher’s dream materialized. If the right-wing won, after all its poor- and welfare-state-bashing, this can only mean society voted against itself. And no, the anti-corruption struggle and or the struggle for judicial reform cannot be prioritized ahead of the struggle against poverty. Civil society (or at least a great deal of it) has finally reflected its own reality. Middle and upper classes only! The poor are always responsible for their economic failure and thus deserve their fate. But who are these poor people we keep talking about? It appears they surfaced in Romanian history only to be hastily removed from it.

Laura Domsodi, No country for poor men, www.criticatac.ro

An example of what was writing the Romanian press on the electorally campaign for the presidential elections in November 2014.

The Progress was an important concept for the communist ideology and for the Stalinist communism it consisted in gigantesque infrastructural constructions. Even though Romania was hardly indebted after WWII, the communist rulers were bounded to follow the Stalinist model.

The intellectual had the power of shaking up the communist system. In the inter-war times the Romanian educational system managed to form an intellectual generation whose writings were influencing the mass opinion in a great way.

Mircea Vulcănescu03.03.190428.10.1952

-philosopher-pioneer of the sociological studies in Romania-political prisoner -found death in Aiud Jail

Do not revenge us!

Constantin Noica12.07.190904.12.1987-one of the most important Romanian philosophers-political prisoner-posthumous member of the Romanian Academy

In his last years Noica took refuge in the Păltiniș mountain resort where he founded an original philosophical school. Gabriel Liiceanu, one of Noica’s disciples described the atmosphere of this school in his book The Păltiniș Diary.

Iosif V. Stalin & Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej

Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej was the communist ruler of Romania since 1948 and until his death in 1965. His regime was characterized by a policy of Stalinist influence.

The red lines mark the Danube- Black Sea Channel. -1949 the construction startes-the construction was stopped in 1955 because the costs were too high , despite the free working force-the construction restarsts in 1976 andthe Channel was inaugurated in 1984 by Nicolae Ceaușescu

Along the working area were constructed labor camps. The channel was not the only building ground where the dissenters were exploited. Many prisoners were working in the mining industry. Marin Preda’s novel The most Beloved of Earthlings describes the experience of a philosopher working in a mine.

The miners deepend, in post-communist Romania, the social schisms, the boundaries between classes, increasing the frustration and rancor. Andrei Cornea, Revista 22

Between 13 and 15 June 1990 the miners from Valea Jiului were the absolute rulers of Bucharest. Called by the president Ion Iliescu to restore the order after the long anticommunist protest of that year, the miners became violent and destroyed the halls of the Institute of Architecture and also the halls of the University of Bucharest.

Thank you for your attention!

Man Andrei-Tudor,Babeș-Bolyai University,Cluj-Napoca, România

e-mail: man.andrei.tudor@gmail.com