Place Attachment, Identities and Mobility Experiences. Evidence From a Left Behind Area in Romania
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14422/mig.23897.024Keywords:
national identity, local identity, place attachment, international mobility, internal mobilityAbstract
Left-behind areas are characterised by poor job prospects, disconnection from major urban centres, limited access to basic services, and a sense of discontent among residents. Major socioeconomic changes over the last decades (deindustrialisation, population ageing, out-migration) are believed to have disrupted place attachments and reframed identity, and that restoring them would contribute to the revitalisation of the areas.
In this paper, we investigate how migration experiences contribute to shaping local and national identity and place attachment in the case of a left behind area in Romania, a country with a rich experience of international migration after 1989, known as one of the most important sending countries and also one of the poorest within the EU, with significant regional disparities.
For this, we use qualitative data gathered within the Re-Place project, specifically interviews conducted with people in the case study area. In our analysis, we consider individuals’ mobility trajectories and discuss identity and place attachment across three subgroups: non-migrants, internal in-migrants, and international in-migrants.
Contrary to our initial expectations, we found that exposure to alterity, especially through international migration, does not significantly narrow the content of national identity. Moreover, local identity and affective bonds to the community appeared more salient than national identity, with no differences between the three groups.
Downloads
References
Andreouli, E., & Howarth, C. (2013). National identity, citizenship and immigration: Putting identity in context. Journal for the theory of social behaviour, 43(3), 361-382. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5914.2012.00501.x
Anghel, R., & Coșciug, A. (2019). Patterns and mechanisms of return migration to Romania. In C. Hornstein Tomic, R. Pichler & S. Scholl-Schneider (eds.), Remigration to post-socialist Europe: hopes and realities of return (pp. 5-26). Lit-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4497201
Bačová, V. (1998). The construction of national identity-on primordialism and instrumentalism. Human Affairs, 8(1), 29-43. https://doi.org/10.1515/humaff-1998-080104
Belanche, D., Casaló, L. V., & Flavián, C. (2017). Understanding the cognitive, affective and evaluative components of social urban identity: Determinants, measurement, and practical consequences. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 50, 138-153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.02.004
Belanche, D., Casaló, L. V., & Rubio, M. Á. (2021). Local place identity: A comparison between residents of rural and urban communities. Journal of Rural Studies, 82, 242-252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.01.003
Belliggiano, A., Sturla, A., Vassallo, M., & Viganò, L. (2020). Neo-endogenous rural development in favor of organic farming: Two case studies from Italian fragile areas. European Countryside, 12(1), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.2478/euco-2020-0001
Bielewska, A. (2023). Place Relations of Mobile People: National and Local Identification of Highly Skilled Migrants in Wrocław, Poland. Nationalities Papers, 51(6), 1302-1318. https://doi.org/10.1017/nps.2021.101
Bonaiuto, M., Carrus, G., Martorella, H., & Bonnes, M. (2002). Local identity processes and environmental attitudes in land use changes: The case of natural protected areas. Journal of economic psychology, 23(5), 631-653. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-4870(02)00121-6
Brubaker, R., & Cooper, F. (2000). Beyond “identity”. Theory and Society, 29(1), 1-47.
Burean, T. (2018). Policy and Voting Preferences of Romanian Migrants 2000-2016. Political Preferences, (19), 5-29. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.6726899
Byrne, J. (2018). National identity and migration in an emerging gateway community. Social sciences, 7(5), 73. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7050073
Carrasco-Cruz, A., & Cruz-Souza, F. (2025). Return to the rural: Ambivalent place attachment among youth in rural Spain. Journal of Rural Studies, 119, 103724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103724
Chelcea, L., & Druţǎ, O. (2016). Zombie socialism and the rise of neoliberalism in post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 57(4-5), 521-544. https://doi.org/10.1080/15387216.2016.1266273
Cistelecan, A., Rogozanu, C., Marincea, A., Grama, A., Trifan, E., Baghiu, S., Mercescu, A., & Cercel, C. (2025). The global polycrisis and the Romanian elections of 2024. Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, 33(1), 167-179. https://doi.org/10.1080/25739638.2025.2482389
Croitoru, A. (2021). Stimulating return migration to Romania: a multi-method study of returnees’ endorsement of entrepreneurship policies. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 29(2), 264-281. https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2020.1824896
de Ruyter, A., Martin, R., & Tyler, P. (2021). Geographies of discontent: sources, manifestations and consequences. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 14(3), 381-393. https://doi.org/10.1093/CJRES/RSAB025
Degnen, C. (2016). Socialising place attachment: place, social memory and embodied affordances. Ageing and Society, 36(8), 1645-1667. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X15000653
Fiorentino, S., Glasmeier, A. K., Lobao, L., Martin, R., & Tyler, P. (2024). “Left behind places:” what are they and why do they matter? Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 17(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad044
Firică, C. (2010). The Romanian Căluş: Symbol of National Identity. Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics, 4(2), 3-18.
Fligstein, N., Polyakova, A., & Sandholtz, W. (2012). European integration, nationalism and European identity. JCMS: journal of common market studies, 50(1), 106-122. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5965.2011.02230.x
Ford, R., & Goodwin, M. (2014). Understanding UKIP: identity, social change and the left behind. The Political Quarterly, 85(3), 277-284. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12099
Gherghina, S., & Farcas, R. (2024). Out of sight but not out of mind. The Romanian diaspora and politics at home. In J. Massino & M. Wien (eds.), Everyday postsocialism in Eastern Europe: history doesn’t travel in one direction (pp. 251-271). Purdue University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.20829404.18
Gilmartin, M. (2008). Migration, identity and belonging. Geography Compass, 2(6), 1837-1852. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-8198.2008.00162.x
Haikkola, L. (2011). Transnational and Local Negotiations of Identity: “Experiences from second-generation young people in Finland”. Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 1(3), 156-165. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10202-011-0019-8
Halikiopoulou, D., & Vlandas, T. (2019). What is new and what is nationalist about Europe's new nationalism? Explaining the rise of the far right in Europe. Nations and nationalism, 25(2), 409-434. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12515
Hernández, B., Hidalgo, M. C., Salazar-Laplace, M. E., & Hess, S. (2007). Place attachment and place identity in natives and non-natives. Journal of environmental psychology, 27(4), 310-319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2007.06.003
Kohn, H. (2005). The idea of nationalism: A study in its origins and background (Original work published 1944). Routledge.
Lados, G., Hegedus, G., & Kovacs, Z. (2023). The role of identity and ontological (in) security in Return Migration: An empirical perspective from Hungary. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 24(Suppl 2), 445-464. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-022-00964-z
Larsen, C. A. (2017). Revitalizing the “civic” and “ethnic” distinction. Perceptions of nationhood across two dimensions, 44 countries and two decades. Nations and Nationalism, 23(4), 970-993. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12345
Lazëri, M., & Coenders, M. (2023). Dutch national identity in a majority-minority context: when the dominant group becomes a local minority. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 49(9), 2129-2153. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2022.2104698
Lazëri, M., Keskiner, E., & Crul, M. (2024). Defining Swedishness: When Swedes without a migration background are a local numerical minority. Social Inclusion, 12, 8139. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.8139
Lynnebakke, B. (2024). The role of leisure practices and local identity in migrants’ inclusion in two rural Norwegian municipalities. Social Inclusion, 12, 7805. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.7805
MacKinnon, D., Béal, V., & Leibert, T. (2024). Rethinking “left-behind” places in a context of rising spatial inequalities and political discontent. Regional Studies, 58(6), 1161-1166. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2023.2291581
MacKinnon, D., Kempton, L., O’Brien, P., Ormerod, E., Pike, A., & Tomaney, J. (2022). Reframing urban and regional “development” for “left behind” places. Cambridge journal of regions, economy and society, 15(1), 39-56. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsab034
Madsen, K. D., & van Naerssen, T. (2003). Migration, Identity, and Belonging. Journal of Borderlands Studies, 18(1), 61-75. https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2003.9695602
McAuliffe, M., & Triandafyllidou, A. (2021). Word Migration Report 2022. IOM.
National Institute of Statistics. (2021). Table 1.03.2 Resident population by age group, county and municipalities, cities, communes at 1 December 2021 (Romanian Census 2021). NIS.
Oancea, C. C. (2015). Mass culture forged on the party's assembly line: political festivals in socialist Romania, 1948-1989 (Doctoral dissertation). European University Institute, Florence.
Raymond, Christopher M., Brown, Gregory, & Weber, Delene (2010). The Measurement of Place Attachment: Personal, Community, and Environmental Connections. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30(4), 422-434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.08.002
Rusu, H. (2009). Teorii ale identităţii colective: între esenţialism şi constructivism. De la identitate la identificare. Sociologie Românească, 7(01), 31-44.
Rusu, H. M. (2020). Despre dimensiunea etnică și dimensiunea civică a identității naționale: ce valorizează românii. In B. Voicu, H. Rusu & C. Tufiș (eds.), Atlasul valorilor sociale. România la 100 de ani (pp. 15-23). Presa Universitară Clujeană.
Rusu, H. M. (2021). Ancestry and national identification in Romania. Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iaşi. Sociologie şi Asistenţă Socială, 14(2), 5-16. https://doi.org/10.47743/ASAS-2021-2-652
Sandow, R. (2024). The Role of Local Identity in the Usage and Recognition of Anglo-Cornish Dialect Lexis. Journal of English linguistics, 52(1), 38-64. https://doi.org/10.1177/00754242231220343
Sandu, D. (2010). Modernising Romanian society through temporary work abroad. In R. Black, G. Engbersen, M. Okólski & C. Pantiru (eds.), A continent moving to the west? EU enlargement and labour migration from Central and Eastern Europe (pp. 89-114). Amsterdam University Press.
Sandu, D. (2024a). Regional Human Development Index for Europe, 2019 (RHDI_EU) [Data set]. Research Institute for Quality of Life - Romanian Academy. Re-Place Project, Horizon Europe Grant Agreement No. 101094087.
Sandu, D. (2024b). Local Human Development Index for Romania, 2021-2022 (LHDI_RO) [ROMANIA] [Data set]. Research Institute for Quality of Life - Romanian Academy of. Re-Place Project, Horizon Europe Grant Agreement No. 101094087.
Sandu, D. (coord.). (2006). Living Abroad on a Temporary Basis. The Economic Migration of Romanians: 1990-2006. Open Society Foundation.
Sandu, D., Radu, C., Constantinescu, M., & Ciobanu, O. (2004). A country report on Romanian migration abroad: stocks and flows after 1989. Multicultural Center Prague.
Scannell, L., & Gifford, R. (2010). The relations between natural and civic place attachment and pro-environmental behavior. Journal of environmental psychology, 30(3), 289-297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.01.010
Schnell, S. M., & Reese, J. F. (2003). Microbreweries as tools of local identity. Journal of cultural geography, 21(1), 45-69. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873630309478266
Şerban, M. (2011). Dinamica migraţiei internaţionale: un exerciţiu asupra migraţiei româneşti în Spania. Editura Lumen.
Shao, Y., Lange, E., Thwaites, K., & Liu, B. (2017). Defining local identity. Landscape Architecture Frontiers, 5(2), 24-41.
Strat, V. A., & Stefan, C. (2017). The growth poles and the lagging regions of Romania-a county level approach for 2015. Management and Marketing. Challenges for the Knowledge Society, 12(3), 456-473. https://doi.org/10.1515/mmcks-2017
Šūpule, I., & Kļave, E. (2018). Belonging and returning home: deconstruction of Latvian returnees’ national identity. Humanities & Social Sciences Latvia, 26(1). https://doi.org/10.22364/hssl.26.1.1
Sussman, N. M. (2010). Return migration and identity: A global phenomenon, a Hong Kong case (Vol. 1). Hong Kong University Press.
Tartaglia, S., & Rossi, M. (2015). The local identity functions in the age of globalization: a study on a local culture. Community Psychology in Global Perspective, 1(1), 105-121. https://doi.org/10.1285/i24212113v1i1p105
Török, I. (2019). Regional Inequalities in Romania before and after the EU Accession. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 221(1), 012151. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/221/1/012151
Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the “other”. Ethnic and racial studies, 21(4), 593-612. https://doi.org/10.1080/014198798329784
Wong, K. T. W., Zheng, V., & Wan, P. S. (2021). Local versus national identity in Hong Kong, 1998-2017. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 51(5), 803-827. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2020.1799235
Zwiers, S., Markantoni, M., & Strijker, D. (2018). The role of change—and stability—oriented place attachment in rural community resilience: a case study in south-west Scotland. Community Development Journal, 53(2), 281-300. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsw020
Published
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The authors of articles published in Migraciones retain the intellectual property rights over their works and grant the journal their distribution and public communication rights, consenting to their publication under a Creative Commons NonCommercial-NoDerivatives-Attribution 4.0 International License. Authors are encouraged to publish their work on the Internet (for example, on institutional or personal pages, repositories, etc.) respecting the conditions of this license and quoting appropriately the original source.
