Roman, Deniz2025-07-242025-07-241997https://hdl.handle.net/1828/22508How can one explain Romanian "civil society", as it is known that Romania, along with Albania, experienced one of the most ferocious "communist" dictatorships under Ceausescu? Hence, where can one locate a noiseless "civil society" within a political context that lacked reform factions (as in Hungary), or a coalition between workers and intellectuals (" Solidarity" in Poland) or a civil rights movement ("Charter 77" in Czechoslovakia)? This study will show that Romanian "civil society" was located within the sphere of "the intellectuals," in their factional, discursive struggles. Supported by a regime built on ideology and symbolism. the intellectuals' nationalist discourse won over Marxism. The intellectuals' competition created both nationalist values and definitions for the regime and "subversive'' ideologies as opposition to the same regime. Hence, intellectuals were civil society. The discourse of "the Nation" continues to be present in the post-revolutionary Romanian society, defining Romanian identity between East and West.enAvailable to the World Wide WebThesisDepartment of Political Science