Family Reproduction and Social Change in Rural World
Following a field study in a Transylvania’s village, this article investigates the current succession practices of property in the process of postcommunist privatisation. It aims at identify the social mechanisms generated by reprivatisation properties. The article places the postcommunist changes in a historic perspective three periods ranging from 1940 to 2005 (before, during and after the collectivisation). The article argues that the land restitution to their former owners was made through the transfer of real estate properties. It explains that this double process revives opposition between legal norm and individual practices that has been slowing down the reprivatisation property in Romania. After having examined the evolution of social reproduction mechanisms in Romania, the article highlights the social impact of the postcommunist transition and the numerous contradictions it has been generating.