My research project proposes a re-evaluation of consumers’ experiences in socialist Romania through the application of an anthropological, in-depth analysis to a representative selection of consumer goods. By its topic, my research project fits into the recent wave of re-evaluation of consumers’ experiences during socialism which underlines the need for a more context-sensitive approach but goes beyond the typical studies which focus on a single consumption sector or activity by extending the analysis to a meaningfully large array of consumption practices and by re-centering more firmly the focus on the consumers’ particular expectations regarding consumption goods. It is my opinion that this research project can contribute to a better understanding of the trajectory of the Romanian socialist regime, that it provides much needed background information on a generation which has been characterized by rampant consumerism during the 1990s and 2000s and that it gives voice to this generation by redeeming their version of life under socialism which has been too often uncritically dismissed.

A full-length study is available here.