東華大學圖書館 |

Language: English

Help

回圖書館首頁

手機版館藏查詢

Back

Switch To: Labeled | MARC Mode | ISBD

Forsaken generation: Stress, social ...

City University of New York., Anthropology.

Linked to FindBook

Google Book

Amazon

博客來

Forsaken generation: Stress, social suffering and strategies among working-class pensioners in post-socialist Moldova, Romania.

Record Type:	Electronic resources : Monograph/item
Title/Author:	Forsaken generation: Stress, social suffering and strategies among working-class pensioners in post-socialist Moldova, Romania./
Author:	Weber, Gerard A.
Description:	394 p.
Notes:	Adviser: Jane C. Schneider.
Contained By:	Dissertation Abstracts International70-02A.
Subject:	Anthropology, Cultural. -
Online resource:	http://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=3349483
ISBN:	9781109052497

Forsaken generation: Stress, social suffering and strategies among working-class pensioners in post-socialist Moldova, Romania.
Weber, Gerard A.

Forsaken generation: Stress, social suffering and strategies among working-class pensioners in post-socialist Moldova, Romania. - 394 p.

Adviser: Jane C. Schneider.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--City University of New York, 2009.

This dissertation examines the lives of working-class pensioners in post-socialist, Galati, Romania. Its central thesis is that the transformation of Romania from socialism to capitalism beginning in 1989 has led to an "epidemic of stress" among retired, working-class people in the city. Marginalized by their age, class and location in the relatively economically underdeveloped region of Moldova, they have been among the hardest hit by the changes brought about with the introduction of neoliberal capitalism. Long familiar with life in a relatively stable economy, they have faced dramatic changes in this area since the revolution, including massive price instability and widespread unemployment. Used to being cushioned by a social welfare system, today they live with the withdrawal of many of the certainties under socialism, including adequate pensions, access to free or low-cost health care, affordable housing, cost-free education and much more. Anticipating that their kin would be near them and their communities would be a reliable presence as they grew older, they have experienced the departure of family for work in distant places and they have watched as many of the ceremonies and ritual practices that once held their communities together have become rarer. This "social suffering" manifests itself in the stress epidemic, pensioners not only experiencing stress chronically but also making sense of the changes they have undergone since socialism by talking about stress. Retirees respond to these changed conditions by engaging in moral commentary against the people -- the newly rich -- whom they frequently blame for the decline in standard of living. They cope with the stress epidemic through a range of strategies, including building new social ties, complaining publicly about their difficulties, finding inexpensive or free sources of food, begging, borrowing money, pawning cherished heirlooms and much more. And they mobilize politically to bring about real improvement to their deteriorated situation, testing the limits of their young democracy by organizing and speaking out publicly, sometimes winning as a result of such efforts. In spite of such success, working-class Moldovan pensioners cannot be left to fight on their own to improve their standard of living, however. The state needs to step back into the lives of this disadvantaged population, addressing their needs through concrete initiatives, including offering pensions that meet the cost-of-living, pursuing economic policies that bring more secure employment to Romania and tackling high-level corruption that too often robs average citizens of a higher quality of life.

ISBN: 9781109052497Subjects--Topical Terms:

735016
Anthropology, Cultural.

Forsaken generation: Stress, social suffering and strategies among working-class pensioners in post-socialist Moldova, Romania.
LDR:03770nmm 2200313 a 45 001 890995
005 20101105
008 101105s2009 ||||||||||||||||| ||eng d
020 $a 9781109052497
035 $a (UMI)AAI3349483
035 $a AAI3349483
040 $a UMI $c UMI
100 1 $a Weber, Gerard A. $3 1064972
245 1 0 $a Forsaken generation: Stress, social suffering and strategies among working-class pensioners in post-socialist Moldova, Romania.
300 $a 394 p.
500 $a Adviser: Jane C. Schneider.
500 $a Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-02, Section: A, page: 0602.
502 $a Thesis (Ph.D.)--City University of New York, 2009.
520 $a This dissertation examines the lives of working-class pensioners in post-socialist, Galati, Romania. Its central thesis is that the transformation of Romania from socialism to capitalism beginning in 1989 has led to an "epidemic of stress" among retired, working-class people in the city. Marginalized by their age, class and location in the relatively economically underdeveloped region of Moldova, they have been among the hardest hit by the changes brought about with the introduction of neoliberal capitalism. Long familiar with life in a relatively stable economy, they have faced dramatic changes in this area since the revolution, including massive price instability and widespread unemployment. Used to being cushioned by a social welfare system, today they live with the withdrawal of many of the certainties under socialism, including adequate pensions, access to free or low-cost health care, affordable housing, cost-free education and much more. Anticipating that their kin would be near them and their communities would be a reliable presence as they grew older, they have experienced the departure of family for work in distant places and they have watched as many of the ceremonies and ritual practices that once held their communities together have become rarer. This "social suffering" manifests itself in the stress epidemic, pensioners not only experiencing stress chronically but also making sense of the changes they have undergone since socialism by talking about stress. Retirees respond to these changed conditions by engaging in moral commentary against the people -- the newly rich -- whom they frequently blame for the decline in standard of living. They cope with the stress epidemic through a range of strategies, including building new social ties, complaining publicly about their difficulties, finding inexpensive or free sources of food, begging, borrowing money, pawning cherished heirlooms and much more. And they mobilize politically to bring about real improvement to their deteriorated situation, testing the limits of their young democracy by organizing and speaking out publicly, sometimes winning as a result of such efforts. In spite of such success, working-class Moldovan pensioners cannot be left to fight on their own to improve their standard of living, however. The state needs to step back into the lives of this disadvantaged population, addressing their needs through concrete initiatives, including offering pensions that meet the cost-of-living, pursuing economic policies that bring more secure employment to Romania and tackling high-level corruption that too often robs average citizens of a higher quality of life.
590 $a School code: 0046.
650 4 $a Anthropology, Cultural. $3 735016
650 4 $a Anthropology, Medical and Forensic. $3 1020279
690 $a 0326
690 $a 0339
710 2 $a City University of New York. $b Anthropology. $3 1064971
773 0 $t Dissertation Abstracts International $g 70-02A.
790 $a 0046
790 1 0 $a Creed, Gerald W. $e committee member
790 1 0 $a Lindenbaum, Shirley $e committee member
790 1 0 $a Schneider, Jane C., $e advisor
790 1 0 $a Verdery, Katherine $e committee member
791 $a Ph.D.
792 $a 2009
856 4 0 $u http://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=3349483