Description
Book Synopsis The fall of the Soviet Union was a transformative event for the national political economies of Eastern Europe, leading not only to new regimes of ownership and development but to dramatic changes in the natural world itself. This painstakingly researched volume focuses on the emblematic case of postsocialist Romania, in which the transition from collectivization to privatization profoundly reshaped the nation’s forests, farmlands, and rivers. From bureaucrats abetting illegal deforestation to peasants opposing government agricultural policies, it reveals the social and political mechanisms by which neoliberalism was introduced into the Romanian landscape.
Trade Review “This book has been a rarity in the social science literature of Romania and South-Eastern Europe. The novelty and originality reside in the introduction of themes and theories… which, intertwined with the social anthropological approach, highlights and revives seemingly outdated topics such as post-socialism.” • Martor
“This very well-written and thoroughly researched book is an important addition to the collection of not-so-numerous books on the politics of land in Romania, together with valuable comparison analyses of the similar development in other postsocialist countries in Eastern Europe. Dorondel also offers us an impressive list of references, adding a valuable rendition of the selected number of sources in English. Adding even more value to Disrupted Landscapes are the statistical data, maps, and selected illustrations. The volume should be of interest to both general readers and specialists in that it covers a very broad range of issues placed within a large comparative framework.” • EuropeNow
“For those concerned with the transformations of land relations since the fall of socialism and of the mechanisms behind them, this book is essential reading.” • Slavic Review
“This is clearly the best study on the environmental history of Romania published to date. It is a paragon of vivid, illustrative, and intimate local history combined with an international outlook.” • Joachim Radkau, Universität Bielefeld
“Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Disrupted Landscapes takes a broad view of the transformations taking place in rural Romania in the first part of the 2000s. It presents one of the most finely granulated pictures of the workings of power in rural settings.” • Diana Mincyte, New York City College of Technology
Table of Contents List of Illustrations
List of Figures
Preface
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: Privatizing the State and the Transformation of the Agrarian Landscape
Chapter 1. Dragomiresti and Dragova: Two Centuries of Ecological and Socio-economic Transformations
Chapter 2. Postsocialism as Neoliberalism: Reorganizing Society and Nature
Chapter 3. Bureaucrats, Patronage, Illegal Logging
Chapter 4. Contested Forest
Chapter 5. Waning Pastures
Chapter 6. Fragmented Lands
Chapter 7. Wasted Rivers
Conclusion: A Disrupted Landscape
References
Index
