Magdalena Craciun
Biographic Data
| ID | 87002 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Magdalena Craciun |
| GIVEN NAMES | Magdalena |
| FAMILY NAME | Craciun |
| SIGNATURE | CRACIUN M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Bucharest, Romania |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4738-4844 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 39 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1970 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Aubergine time
This piece of creative nonfiction originates from a desire to salvage characters and situations that are slowly disappearing in Romania, for natural and social reasons, from aging to emigration. For decades, especially as part of the processes of industrialization and urbanization during socialism, children left villages in search of opportunities to study and work in towns and cities around the country. Their own children would return to these v…
Preparing for a “Good Life”
Investment in an “education with an edge” in the form of costly extracurriculars is a growing phenomenon in urban post-socialist Romania. To a certain extent, this is a typical strategy of middle-class reproduction, more intensely pursued in contexts where middle-class reproduction is imagined as uncertain. However, in a post-socialist context, a sense of fragility permeates both the experience of the present and imaginings of the future. Despite…
Introduction
In this special section, drawing from ethnographic research undertaken in Estonia, Russia, Romania, and Bulgaria between 2013 and 2017, we argue that in post-socialist Europe the notions of “middle class” and “good life” have become interchangeable. Related dialectically, each can be substituted for the other as a signifier of a field of aspirations and possibilities. In the current period of persistent economic crisis, deepening social inequalit…
A Seller's Sincerity
A seller's sincerity is important for the viability of his/her business. This claim is substantiated ethnographically through a study of the challenges fashionably veiled designer-entrepreneurs face in Turkey. Their fashionable veil raises suspicion. Their critics claim they are not as devout as they want to appear. The performance of their piety through public-facing social media further nourishes mistrust. Their critics think this is driven by …
Anthropological approaches to the relationship between aesthetics and ethics
The relationship between aesthetics and ethics has long been a topic of scholarly debate. However, in anthropology this relationship has been less consistently problematised. In addition, the very terms of the relationship have occupied rather peculiar positions on the anthropological agenda, the aesthetic experiences and artistic practices of people around the world being an established topic of concern, while mundane ethical reflections and act…
Aesthetics, ethics and fashionable veiling
Observant Muslim women all over the world experiment with materials and styles, find inspiration in past and present, Eastern and Western fashions, and create new types of covered dress. This fashionable veiling has also become the topic of heated debates. This article builds on an ethnographic study that highlights the debate over fashionable veiling within Turkey. According to the conceptualisation of the revivalist movement, veiling is an ethi…
Bobbles and values
Based on research on clothing consumption in a provincial Romanian town, this article focuses on bobbling (pilling) and on reflections on its appearances and progression. Bobbling is considered an index of a faulty or decaying materiality, and an index of usage and, possibly, carelessness and hardship. It limits an individual's ability to project a desired self. It hints at an individual's inability to present a renewed self. It not only disrupts…
Treasured possessions. Indigenous interventions into cultural and intellectual property by Geismar, Haidy
Rethinking fakes, authenticating selves
People who engage with objects that are deemed inauthentic under intellectual property laws might dismiss this classification and might ascribe different meanings to these objects. However, they cannot always disregard it, as circumstances might at any time bring this classification to the fore. In such situations, they are not only accused of deceiving others, but also derided for the deception they presumably work upon themselves. Drawing upon …
Researching fakes
This paper discusses the style of anthropological inquiry forged through attempts at grasping the elusive presence of fake branded goods. Although they are morally and legally combated, and culturally and socially derided, fake branded goods are ubiquitous. An anthropologist interested in researching ways in which people do find a place for the fakes in their lives is nevertheless challenged in various ways. In brief, the ubiquitous becomes elusi…
Rethinking fakes, authenticating selves
People who engage with objects that are deemed inauthentic under intellectual property laws might dismiss this classification and might ascribe different meanings to these objects. However, they cannot always disregard it, as circumstances might at any time bring this classification to the fore. In such situations, they are not only accused of deceiving others, but also derided for the deception they presumably work upon themselves. Drawing upon …
Introduction
In this special section, drawing from ethnographic research undertaken in Estonia, Russia, Romania, and Bulgaria between 2013 and 2017, we argue that in post-socialist Europe the notions of “middle class” and “good life” have become interchangeable. Related dialectically, each can be substituted for the other as a signifier of a field of aspirations and possibilities. In the current period of persistent economic crisis, deepening social inequalit…
Bobbles and values
Based on research on clothing consumption in a provincial Romanian town, this article focuses on bobbling (pilling) and on reflections on its appearances and progression. Bobbling is considered an index of a faulty or decaying materiality, and an index of usage and, possibly, carelessness and hardship. It limits an individual's ability to project a desired self. It hints at an individual's inability to present a renewed self. It not only disrupts…
Preparing for a “Good Life”
Investment in an “education with an edge” in the form of costly extracurriculars is a growing phenomenon in urban post-socialist Romania. To a certain extent, this is a typical strategy of middle-class reproduction, more intensely pursued in contexts where middle-class reproduction is imagined as uncertain. However, in a post-socialist context, a sense of fragility permeates both the experience of the present and imaginings of the future. Despite…
Anthropological approaches to the relationship between aesthetics and ethics
The relationship between aesthetics and ethics has long been a topic of scholarly debate. However, in anthropology this relationship has been less consistently problematised. In addition, the very terms of the relationship have occupied rather peculiar positions on the anthropological agenda, the aesthetic experiences and artistic practices of people around the world being an established topic of concern, while mundane ethical reflections and act…
Researching fakes
This paper discusses the style of anthropological inquiry forged through attempts at grasping the elusive presence of fake branded goods. Although they are morally and legally combated, and culturally and socially derided, fake branded goods are ubiquitous. An anthropologist interested in researching ways in which people do find a place for the fakes in their lives is nevertheless challenged in various ways. In brief, the ubiquitous becomes elusi…
Researching fakes
This paper discusses the style of anthropological inquiry forged through attempts at grasping the elusive presence of fake branded goods. Although they are morally and legally combated, and culturally and socially derided, fake branded goods are ubiquitous. An anthropologist interested in researching ways in which people do find a place for the fakes in their lives is nevertheless challenged in various ways. In brief, the ubiquitous becomes elusi…
Rethinking fakes, authenticating selves
People who engage with objects that are deemed inauthentic under intellectual property laws might dismiss this classification and might ascribe different meanings to these objects. However, they cannot always disregard it, as circumstances might at any time bring this classification to the fore. In such situations, they are not only accused of deceiving others, but also derided for the deception they presumably work upon themselves. Drawing upon …
Treasured possessions. Indigenous interventions into cultural and intellectual property by Geismar, Haidy
Bobbles and values
Based on research on clothing consumption in a provincial Romanian town, this article focuses on bobbling (pilling) and on reflections on its appearances and progression. Bobbling is considered an index of a faulty or decaying materiality, and an index of usage and, possibly, carelessness and hardship. It limits an individual's ability to project a desired self. It hints at an individual's inability to present a renewed self. It not only disrupts…
Anthropological approaches to the relationship between aesthetics and ethics
The relationship between aesthetics and ethics has long been a topic of scholarly debate. However, in anthropology this relationship has been less consistently problematised. In addition, the very terms of the relationship have occupied rather peculiar positions on the anthropological agenda, the aesthetic experiences and artistic practices of people around the world being an established topic of concern, while mundane ethical reflections and act…
Aesthetics, ethics and fashionable veiling
Observant Muslim women all over the world experiment with materials and styles, find inspiration in past and present, Eastern and Western fashions, and create new types of covered dress. This fashionable veiling has also become the topic of heated debates. This article builds on an ethnographic study that highlights the debate over fashionable veiling within Turkey. According to the conceptualisation of the revivalist movement, veiling is an ethi…
A Seller's Sincerity
A seller's sincerity is important for the viability of his/her business. This claim is substantiated ethnographically through a study of the challenges fashionably veiled designer-entrepreneurs face in Turkey. Their fashionable veil raises suspicion. Their critics claim they are not as devout as they want to appear. The performance of their piety through public-facing social media further nourishes mistrust. Their critics think this is driven by …
Preparing for a “Good Life”
Investment in an “education with an edge” in the form of costly extracurriculars is a growing phenomenon in urban post-socialist Romania. To a certain extent, this is a typical strategy of middle-class reproduction, more intensely pursued in contexts where middle-class reproduction is imagined as uncertain. However, in a post-socialist context, a sense of fragility permeates both the experience of the present and imaginings of the future. Despite…
Introduction
In this special section, drawing from ethnographic research undertaken in Estonia, Russia, Romania, and Bulgaria between 2013 and 2017, we argue that in post-socialist Europe the notions of “middle class” and “good life” have become interchangeable. Related dialectically, each can be substituted for the other as a signifier of a field of aspirations and possibilities. In the current period of persistent economic crisis, deepening social inequalit…
Aubergine time
This piece of creative nonfiction originates from a desire to salvage characters and situations that are slowly disappearing in Romania, for natural and social reasons, from aging to emigration. For decades, especially as part of the processes of industrialization and urbanization during socialism, children left villages in search of opportunities to study and work in towns and cities around the country. Their own children would return to these v…
Sociology (9 works) · Aesthetics (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Anthropology (4 works) · Art (4 works) · Epistemology (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works)