The Burden of Politics Public Space, Political Participation, and State Socialism
The Burden of Politics Public Space, Political Participation, and State Socialism

Summary/Abstract: An anthropologist who had spent many years observing the people of socialist Romania closed his research with a statement that all those partaking in the case could underwrite beyond any reasonable doubt: "Most people with whom I talked - young and old, men and women, workers, peasants, and clerks - said that one of the best things about the revolution was that it allowed them to be left alone to live their lives as they saw fit. Some workers, in fact, were elated to be relieved of the obligation to belong to any party. Membership in the Communist Party was, after all, a burden: it infringed on their time, energy, and personal autonomy. Now that party affiliation is voluntary, Olt Landers are gleefully exercising their right 'to have no business with anyone', as they say".

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