Bibliograph

Romania confronts its communist past, democracy, memory, and moral justice, Vladimir Tismaneanu, Marius Stan

Type

Label

Romania confronts its communist past, democracy, memory, and moral justice, Vladimir Tismaneanu, Marius Stan

Language

eng

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Romania confronts its communist past

Nature of contents

dictionaries

Responsibility statement

Vladimir Tismaneanu, Marius Stan

Sub title

democracy, memory, and moral justice

Summary

Reckoning with mass crimes perpetrated by an ideologically driven regime entails engaging in a thorough-going exploration of its utopian foundations. In the case of Romania, such an analysis requires an interpretation of the role of personality in the construction of a uniquely grotesque and unrepentant form of neo-Stalinist despotism. Of all the revolutions of 1989, the only violent one took place in Romania. Confronting its communist past therefore involves addressing the abuses committed by the communist regime up to its very last day, its failure to engage in Round Table-type agreements with democratic representatives, and the repression during the first post-communist years, a direct legacy of the old regime. This book shows how moral justice can contribute to a restoration of truth and a climate of trust in politics, in the absence of which any democratic polity remains exposed to authoritarian attack

Classification