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Communism as Moral Problem

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Representing Communism After the Fall

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Discursive Psychology ((PSDP))

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Abstract

Romania has undergone a radical, yet troubled transition to democracy in the last 20 years. Successive post-1989 governments have drawn on a notion of collective memory that reflected both progressive arguments for change and facing the past and conservative arguments of putting the past to rest.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In January 2006, the Council of Europe passed a resolution condemning the crimes committed by communist regimes and in January 2007, Romania was finally granted membership of the European Union.

  2. 2.

    Some commentators have argued that Băsescu’s choice of Tismăneanu as President of the commission was solely motivated by his national and international academic and public reputation; others have expressed suspicions as to Băsescu’s genuine political motives and were more inclined to discuss Băsescu’s decision in terms of his ‘real’ political motives: settling scores with coalition partners and political opposition.

  3. 3.

    It was, nonetheless, the first systematic attempt to forge a collective representation of history that tried to engage with (and at the same time, create) emerging collective representations, around issues such as ‘condemnation’, ‘retributive justice’, and so on.

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  1. School of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

    Cristian Tileagă

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Tileagă, C. (2018). Communism as Moral Problem. In: Representing Communism After the Fall. Palgrave Studies in Discursive Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97394-4_4

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