Other data, related to what one might call the daily life of Romanian society on the whole, further illustrate this tricky state of affairs. Romania ranks third in Europe in terms of alcohol consumption, on a continent that boasts one of the highest development levels in the world. Unsurprisingly perhaps, it also ranks third in the EU, after Portugal and Italy, in the awareness of domestic violence against women as a common societal problem, according to the latest Eurobarometer on the topic of gender-based violence. The implication then is that the overall quality of life, and the cultural space that Romanians inhabit are not only lacking but deeply flawed. [...]
Aside from threatening the livelihoods and lifestyle of some of Europe’s last ‘traditional farmers’ this also reflects Romania’s odd almost colonial-like cape. This is a reality which many are lamenting, perhaps not too loudly, as they try to articulate a last resort criticism against what is ultimately an inevitable historical process. Resistance in the form of “slow-food” and “slow lifestyles” is becoming a popular way to fight the incessant speed, mass-production and over commercialization of everything and anything. Meanwhile, families and communities in Romania continue to dismantle, largely as a result of a wave of migration leading individuals to better, though not necessarily more fulfilling lives. According to the 2015 International Migration Report issued by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs the growth rate of the Romanian diaspora is second only to Syria. [...]
This sense of lacking, of ‘inappropriate backwardness’ is now dictated by very different coordinates. Looking at the scale of change that Romanian society has undergone in the lead up to EU accession and in the decade following, it would be fair to assert that a deep dismantling of a certain cultural fabric is taking place, one that goes beyond the transformation that statistical measures alone can be expected to provide. Cultural change is, for example, one of the underlying currents in the debate around the referendum soon to be held on whether gay marriage should be allowed. One can be easily trapped in the quagmire of emotional and perhaps political contagion throughout the region – its widespread illiberal tendencies – without recognising the deeper contextual arguments about families in Romania who have been struggling to cope with such a vast scale of transformation. [...]
Cross-regional differences in the EU are perhaps likely to diminish in the medium to long-term, but the current implications of over-reliance on statistical-based reasoning and reporting does not convey the transformation and dismantling, of a diverse and rich culture. Understanding this context is increasingly important for anyone willing to truly pay attention to nuance as a marker of quality in understanding and reporting on a country. For Romanians and others there is something unfair, even dangerous, in looking at ourselves primarily through the lens of our misgivings and shortcomings. Western Europe should not be used as the benchmark against which all other definitions and understanding pale.
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