Search results

Abstract
Early socialism from the second half of 19th century Romania is experiencing a systematic comeback among historians and social scientists. The works of Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea, the founding father of Romanian Marxism, occupy a central place in this newfound attention towards the origins and struggles of socialism in Romania. This paper addresses Gherea's interpretation of anarchism on par with his doctrine of 'legal socialism'. Its purpose is to prove how anarchism acts as a more than tactical catalyzer for legal socialism, placing the latter not necessarily on a new ideological perspective, but further on the terrain of Romanian political status-quo of late 19th and early 20th century Romania. Although more principled than tactical, Gherea's repudiation of anarchism in progressively unsubstantial Marxist terms has also led to tactical shortcomings. This was the case of the first Romanian socialist party, which was dissolved and absorbed after only six years of existence within the ascending liberal party.

Although centred on the European Central Bank, the international representation of the European System of Central Banks also relies on the national central banks. This article analyses the requirement of unity of the international representation of the ESCB, assesses the current means through which it is implemented, and identifies areas of possible improvement in the coordination of the respective international activities of the European Central Bank and of national central banks. The article argues that the principle of sincere cooperation can play a significant role, both within and beyond Article 6 of the ESCB/ECB Statute. Although the existing soft-law arrangements within the ESCB are more effective than for the EMU in general, improvements are possible regarding the conclusion and implementation of international cooperation agreements. Stronger synergies with the activities of national central banks would also help the emergence of a more proactive and influential international cooperation strategy.
European System of Central Banks, Eurosystem, national central banks, international representation

Metamodernism is a Eurocentric theoretical fiction, with no adherence to the social and cultural realities of post-communist Romania. This article provides a critique of the theory of metamodernism proposed by Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker and used by Alex Ciorogar to describe the post-2010 Romanian poetry system. Even if the concept is inoperative for Romanian literature, it is a symptom of the overcoming of the postmodernist framework, felt by writers as anti-essentialist, light-hearted, and unconcerned with the problems of today's society (climate crisis, immigrants, marginalized communities, economic inequalities between classes, etc.). What I notice in the footsteps of Jeffrey Nealon & Galin Tihanov is that the focus shifts from an autonomist "regime of relevance" to one that is socially, politically, and identity-building oriented. My analysis will propose a number of criticisms of the internal contradictions generated by the two Dutchmen's theory: firstly, that the "Yo-yo effect" of metamodernism – a metaphor I coined to better understand the basic concept – does not fully explain the cultural landscape of the Romanian literary system. In addition, it is built on a sum of generalizations of modernism and postmodernism, which have not been unanimously accepted by the theorists. A second criticism of Vermeulen and van den Akker's study is its Western-centric stance, which ignores the (semi-)peripheral specificity of cultures. If we absurdly accept the existence of metamodernism, it is only a combination of ideologies and styles of historical currents subsumable to modernity. Therefore, I will propose, following in the footsteps of Fredric Jameson and the Warwick Research Collective, the concept of singular modernity, and I argue why there cannot yet be a postmodernity in Eastern Europe. Discussing post-communist Romanian literature in terms of unfinished, combined, and unevenly developed modernity is much more productive because it takes into account both the material-social conditions of Romania and the cultural-artistic acquisitions thanks to the transfer of symbolic capital between central and (semi)peripheral systems.