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 […]
Tag: Romania

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.

This article is part of the multilingual ELMO series CEE housing movements resisting neoliberal urban transformations. The pursuit of international recognition of its urban policies turned into a major source of legitimacy for the Romanian municipality of Cluj-Napoca. The city has been designated the 2015 European Capital of Youth. Next year it made it into the […]

This article is part of the multilingual ELMO series CEE housing movements resisting neoliberal urban transformations. The smart city, the civilised city, the city for the respectable tax-paying citizens – in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), what all of these urban imaginaries have in common is that they cater to a performative, aspirational desire of becoming […]

The Eastern European Left Media Outlet – ELMO will be launching a multilingual and inedit thematic article series, consisting of 4 parts and this introduction, in which we seek answers to the question: How are housing and urban movements resisting the post-socialist imperative of transforming Central-Eastern European cities into extensions, copies and satellites of neoliberal […]

The death of Beáta Molnár, the 30-year-old woman murdered by her partner in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, brings the discussion of gender violence back into the public eye. Her dead body was found wrapped in trash bags, abandoned by the murderer near a gas station in the neighboring Bihor. And it raises the question: what can the […]

Platform work companies are not only dodging their legal responsibilities as employers by not recognising their workers as employees. Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Glovo are thriving in the gig economy also by effectively outsourcing risks onto couriers and encouraging them to break the law. Falling asleep at the car’s wheel after 12 hours of work […]