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Romania After Ceausescu: The Politics of Intolerance

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FROM THE COVER:

Romania has been at the centre of the ethnic and ideological storms which have shaken the Balkans and made Europe one of the most unstable parts of the globe. With the overthrow of Ceausescu, it looked as if the country was poised to replace an ethnic state with a civic one that respected minority rights, and offered the prospect of both internal consensus and reconciliation with estranged neighbours like Hungary. Instead, a limited democracy has emerged in which authoritarian practices have not been eradicated, and whose future is uncertain.

Based on extensive fieldwork, Tom Gallagher explains what prevented the promise of the 1989 revolt from being fulfilled. He shows how continuity as well as change has marked Romania's rocky transition to a semi-pluralistic form of politics, and examines how nationalism has been used to deflect critical attention from economic mismanagement and human rights abuses. What happened in Transylvania's principal city, Cluj - when hardline nationalists won power and inter-ethnic conflicts ensued - could, he argues, be repeated at a national level. The results would be catastrophic for the democratic prospects of the country, and perhaps even for the stability of the region as a whole.