The Material Culture of the Postsocialist City. A Success/Failure Perspective
The Material Culture of the Postsocialist City. A Success/Failure Perspective

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with how one’s success or failure is constructed and appears in relation with the material objects and the materiality of the postsocialist city. It focuses on the Romanian city of Cluj and illustrates how new urban objects become significant elements in understanding social, economic, aesthetic and symbolic success. The analysis puts forward the notion of material change as being useful to understanding postsocialist transformations, while postulating the idea that by studying this material culture (in/of the new objects, spaces, functions and relationships in the postsocialist city) we are able to gain a good picture of and insight into these transformations. This is viewed in both a methodological and theoretical sense regarding both the general development of urban localities and the people living in Romanian cities today, with their actual or perceived, relative and erratic successes and failures. Finally, the city itself is investigated, with its success stories and failures, seen through a theorized dual ‘success/failure’ approach in terms of material processes and forms, as well as its appearance, perception and uses

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