Reference Type: Book
Author: Neumann, Victor
Year: 2000
Title: Between words and reality. Studies on the politics of recognition and the changes of regime in contemporary Romania
City: Washington, D.C.
Publisher: Council for Research in Values and Philosophy
Number of Pages: 207
Language: English
Keywords: Jewish minority, history, ethnic identity, interethnic relationships, multiculturalism, education, religion, ethnic policy, minority rights, culture, dwelling, language, language use, politics, emancipation, integration, assimilation, zionism, economy, interwar period, modern period
Abstract: (En) This volume, Between Words and Reality: Studies on the Politics of Recognition and Regime Changes in Contemporary Romania, covers fragments of Romania's recent history and politics in five distinct studies. They have been elaborated with the aim of providing new information and evaluations for those interested. The author has considered as well some fragments of the past especially those that could reveal the country's diversity, and therefore the richness of the regional values within it.
It could be asked why the regions of Transylvania and the Banat have special weight in this book. The question is the more legitimate since the title of the book refers to Romania, rather than to its geographical areas. A few arguments come to support the author's option. First, Transylvania and Banat have played an important role in the assertion of the cultural awareness of the Romanians and in the definition of their political identity. Secondly, the same regions were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918 and after their union with the Old Kingdom of Romania were the most advanced in local administration within the new Romanian nation state. Thirdly, the existence of populations of other linguistic and/or religious origins than the majority one (Magyars/Hungarians, German-Saxons, German-Swabs, Jews, Ukrainians, Serbs, Gypsies/Roma, Czechs, Slovaks and Bulgarians), made these regions multicultural and intercultural. Consequently, the cases of Transylvania and Banat were chosen for their relevance as for the politics of recognition of minorities. It should be noted that the minorities had a considerable role in the country's domestic policy and in its international relations which can be identified in each political or regime change in Romania.
This will be observed in the studies which approach the transition from the empire to the nation state, the fate of the Greek-Catholics after World War II, and Timişoara's role in the political changes of 1989 and the collapse of communism.
The first study of this book, namely the Jewish question in the transition period from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the Romanian state presents a case of the process of integration into the new state as experienced by a religious community. Approaching the issue from a political perspective, this study explains the difficulties which appeared in the above community when the multicultural administrative entity was replaced by a monoculturally-oriented state. The issues concerning education in minority languages, the relationships between the majority and minorities today, are developed in the study dedicated to civic culture and human rights in an intercultural perspective. An example of multicultural education is given by the case of the "Babeş-Bolyai" University of Cluj. The theoretical explanations of the multiple identities of the Banat County, the most western region of Romania, are accompanied by concrete examples and by appended documention. This part of the country is an example of diverse cultural values which result from coexistence and explain the meanings of transculturality in border regions. Finally, the inter-confessional relationships are examined in the relations between the Orthodox and the Greek-Catholic communities in the communist years. The role of certain parts of the civic society which survived in Transylvania and Banat, and which opposed the totalitarian system, are highlighted in the studies dedicated to the political changes of 1989.
The coherence of the volume derives from its themes, namely, the organization of the contemporary Romanian political thinking on civic values; multi- and intercultural education as a preamble to civic education; presentation of the relationship between history and politics in the process of modernization of the nation-state; and the stage of the promotion of democratic values reflected in the relationship between society and state institutions.
As compared to the classical studies, those included in Between Words and Reality give new interpretative directions in history and politics. Their fragmentary aspect is counter-balanced by the approach of a few key topics, by revealing the threads that connect the cultural background to politics and by the issues which derive from controversial moments in the political thought and practice. The appended documentation has eased the burden of factual scientific comment, while the theorization has advanced ideas and hypotheses which could contribute to a debate on key-concepts in East-Central Europe. A thorough approach to these issues is timely and monographs and syntheses are necessary further steps.
Why Between Words and Reality? The East-Central European world has quite repeatedly lived its own utopias rather than reality itself. This area was emancipated later than Western Europe, and not in-depth, which made possible the perpetuation of social inequalities and demagogy.
I express gratitude to my wife, Simona Neumann, for her contribution in preparing the English text of this volume, as well as to Professor George F. McLean of The Catholic University of America for his generosity in editing and publishing the manuscript. The position of Fulbright visiting scholar for 2000-2001 enabled me to put the finishing touches on this volume while developing research on European identities and the American perspective on multi-culturalism.
URL: http://www.crvp.org/book/Series04/IVA-15/contents.htm