Descollectivization and Romanian Migrations during the decade of the nineties
Keywords:
Socialism, Privatization, Rural Emigration, NeoliberalismAbstract
This paper describes the general conditions —first inthe post-Soviet space as a whole, then in Romania— that led increasing numbers of Romanians to migrate from rural areas for temporary or permanent work in other European countries, after the collapse of socialism in 1989/1991. It explains the process of property restitution that recreated private land owner ship, as well as government policies that made it very difficult for new owners to make a living from their farms. Because of a widening price scissors between the costs of production and the prices of farm products,by the year 2000 many Romanian villagers could no longer afford to work their land. As a result, they entered into large circuits of migration, chiefly to Italy and Spain. The larger process in which these villagers were participating was a change in the international pool of migrant labor, newly augmented by victims of the transformation from East European socialism.
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