Political Identities and Property Restitution in Transylvania, Romania

该项目涉及约翰霍普金斯大学的一位文化人类学家，他在罗马尼亚的一个特兰西瓦尼亚社区对去集体化（改变私有产权）进行人种学研究。该项目将研究去集体化如何影响人们与国家当局和机构的基本关系。研究人员将观察和审查法庭案件，采访村民、地方当局、法官和律师以及政府官员，观察村土地委员会的工作，并查阅档案和当地印刷媒体。这些方法将产生一幅详细的画面，说明财产是如何归还的，正在创造什么样的产权，以及村民如何在与土地和国家的关系中发展自己作为公民和财产所有者的新概念。这项研究很重要，因为东欧社会的变化常常使观察者认为，这些社会只是在模仿西方资本主义的意义上变得更加“民主”。现实情况是，每个地方的历史都限制了权力和特权的分配，限制了不同群体获得正义和公民权利的机会。这项研究提供了一个社区发展民主与私有财产之间新关系的丰富案例研究，将促进我们对所涉及的一般原则的理解。

This project involves a cultural anthropologist from Johns Hopkins University in an ethnographic study of decollectivization -- changing private property rights -- in one Transylvanian community of Romania. The project will examine how decollectivization affects people's fundamental relations with state authorities and institutions. The researcher will observe and examine court cases, interview villagers, local authorities, judges and lawyers and government officials, observe the work of the village Land Commission, and consult archives and local print media. These methods will produce a detailed picture of how property restitution is taking place, what sorts of property rights are being created, and how villagers are developing new concepts of themselves as citizens and property-holders in relation to the land and the state. This research is important because the changing societies of Eastern Europe often lead observers to assume that the societies are simply becoming more `democratic` in the sense of imitating Western capitalism. The reality is that the histories of each place constrain the distribution of power and privilege, and limit access to justice and civil rights by different groups. Research which provides a rich case study of one community evolving a new relation between democracy and private property will advance our understanding of the general principles involved.