Activism for Socialist Industrial Heritage in Romania
The Carbochim Project Controversy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8362014 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Oana‐Ramona Ilovan (0000-0003-2075-1808, Babeș-Bolyai University), Adriana Măgeruşan (Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, corresponding author), Paul Mutică (0000-0001-6641-0940, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca), Smaranda Todoran, Smaranda Maria Todoran (Technical University of Cluj-Napoca) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-07 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Area (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0004-0894 • E-ISSN: 1475-4762 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/area.70069 |
| OpenAlex | W4416021156 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 27 |
This paper provides a critical reflection on urban heritage activism in post‐socialist Romania, starting from a recent case of contentious industrial heritage treatment. We unveil the logic of decision‐making processes for urban redevelopment and the related ongoing civic activism for preserving industrial heritage. For this, we look at the restructuring of the former socialist industrial platform of Carbochim in Cluj‐Napoca. This study aims to better understand activism during a struggle to preserve the socialist industrial legacy, as the link between activism and heritage is undertheorised. From an urban activist perspective, we present a failed heritagisation process because of commercially oriented real estate development. This enables us to critically examine the contention about socialist industrial heritage. Besides fieldwork during 2023 and 2024, and participatory observation, the research material includes an autoethnographic account by a civic activist and official documents from the public arena placed by private investors, the local administration, academia and civil society, about the situation of Carbochim. We point out a shift towards emancipatory activism for socialist industrial heritage, triggered by neoliberal planning policies. This contribution to the international research literature on heritage identifies the promises and pitfalls of activism for socialist industrial heritage, emphasising several needs: to make an independent inventory of the socialist industrial heritage prior to any redevelopment plans; to safeguard industrial legacy by reconceptualising socialist heritage; to democratise decision‐making in defining and managing heritage and to strengthen heritage activism that ensures the right to the city
Citizen journalism · Cultural heritage · Cultural heritage management · Grassroots · Industrial heritage · Redevelopment · Restructuring · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Landscape and Cultural Studies · Urbanization and City Planning
Cities After Socialism
Place Making and Tourism Logistics in Timișoara
Heritage Contests
Dancing with Counterpreservation
Introduction
Contesting post-communist economic development
Advocacy for territorial and people-centered approaches to development in Romania
An Activist Perspective on Industrial Heritage in Petrila, a Romanian Mining City
The modern and the Monster
Routledge Handbook of Memory Activism
Kunz and post-communist geographies of urban poverty in Romania
A rampant heritage? Problematising heritage activism through the Casa del Pumarejo social movement
The right to the city
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |