Lefteast
In 2011, the mayor of Baia Mare caused a national outcry when he initiated the building of a wall to enclose the social housing units inhabited by Roma people. One year prior, non-Roma residents in the Horea Street area had protested against “acts of aggression and robbery committed by Roma neighbors.” The main pretext for […]
US poster of Jess Franco’s Count Dracula (1970). Public domain. “We’re fighting against barbarians who want to demolish our liberty and our traditions and everything we hold dear.” These are some of the words that Donald Trump addressed to a group of “freedom-loving patriots” in a prerecorded message on May 5th. These patriots, who, according […]
The conference “Activism” is organized by the Centre for Comparative Migration Studies, the Centre for the Study of Democracy and the Department of Political Science of Babeș-Bolyai University and will take place on 4 and 5 May 2023. A call for contributions for presentations and panels was circulated in March. The signatories here organized ourselves […]
Note from LeftEast editors: We share this podcast with the permission of its producers from Contrasens. “Contrasens” is a podcast which explores current themes in the field of the social sciences. The project aims to bring to the forefront and make as accessible as possible research conducted by sociologists, anthropologists and other specialists from related […]
This article is part of the multilingual ELMO series Transnational migration in CEE from intersectional perspectives of race, gender, class and citizenship. Recent limitations to the freedom of movement imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 led farmers’ organisations (as well as other employers’) across Europe to sound the alarm, lamenting the sudden dearth of workers […]
Note from LeftEast editors: This text was originally published in Courrier des Balkans (CdB), in two parts. The interview was conducted and translated to French by Florentin Cassonnet, a CdB correspondent in Bucharest. The current text is a slightly edited version of the original interview. Courrier des Balkans: You recently organized a seminar about fascism […]
Note from LeftEast editors. This article is a report of the closing panel discussion of the multilingual ELMO series CEE housing movements resisting neoliberal urban transformations. All articles from the ELMO series, as well as the introduction, are available here in English. At the end of each English language article you can find links to CEE […]
This article was originally published in Romanian in issue no. 18 of the Housing Justice Magazine “Cărămida” (The Brick), launched on the occasion of the protest organized in Cluj-Napoca by Căși sociale ACUM/ Social Housing NOW!, Gastivists, Fridays for Future, the Group for Socialist Action, and the Union of Militant Pupils and Students. The article […]
First published in Romanian on CriticAtac and Platzforma. The article is translated as a part of the cooperation between the members of the Eastern European Left Media Outlet – ELMO. Translated by Silvana Râpeanu. Feminism has gone through various stages since the 19th century, crystallizing in association with, or dissociation from, multiple ideologies, among them […]
Tens of thousands of workers are currently employed in factories in the Baia Mare area. Most factories are greenfield projects, while old industrial sites in Baia Mare have been abandoned. Most employees working in furniture, mattresses, clothing and footwear producing factories receive a minimum wage for full-time work. The young and “disciplined” employees manage to supplement their minimum wage by working overtime or doing additional shifts, depending on the employer’s needs. Some resort to seasonal work abroad in order to ensure their families’ survival. The factories in question are a precarious link within the capitalist circuit, operating as outsourced factories for large Western companies – the largest by production volume and number of employees being Ikea. The experience of managers and workers in these factories shows how factories and employees alike are in an extremely vulnerable and volatile position. Their bargaining power is minimal, while constant concessions are essential for survival.