RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

The culture of shortages

During communist times, shortages were the norm, and some historians even speak of a “culture of shortages.

The culture of shortages
The culture of shortages

, 04.04.2016, 13:33

During communist times, shortages were the
norm, and some historians even speak of a culture of shortages. In the 1980s,
when poverty had become generalised and more acute than ever, shortages of all
kind were a fact of life. Historians have looked into letters written by
ordinary people to institutions of the state, complaining about this fact.




Given the deplorable economic situation caused
by the policies of an incompetent and obsessive regime, relationships between
people were deeply affected by the culture of shortages. Historian Mioara
Anton, from the Nicolae Iorga History Institute of Bucharest, described the
mechanism:




The shortages, the restrictions, the rations
imposed by the Ceausescu regime to hide a disastrous economic reality often
generated ingenious solutions to make everything permitted and accessible.
Informal networks were thus created able to provide a solution to apparently
insurmountable problems of everyday life, from facilitating an abortion to
obtaining a better job, getting away with a misdemeanour or obtaining goods.
These networks involved people from all walks of life, with all kinds of
interests and needs. Informal networks were based on rules different from the
official norm, and were a profitable alternative, especially for whoever ran
them, but also for the people who had to resort to them. This secondary economy
was dependent on the state sector, using its resources and channels of
distribution.




These social networks overlapped with the
authorities and the official policies. Even though they created underground
societal models, they were closely tied to everyday life, and the authorities
were perfectly aware of their existence. Mioara Anton explains:




Informal networks were typical of communist
regimes. They existed not only in Romania, but also all over the communist
bloc. Documentary sources such as memoirs, diaries, interviews with small time
activists, the people who got by and the artisans of the networks that ran
through every party and state structure allow us to put together an image of
everyday practices at the time. We also have official documents, notes and
reports, which show the development and importance of these networks within the
whole of the command economy. Their multiplication was directly tied in with
the criminalisation of the practice in the sense of an expansion of the
phenomenon of corruption and the generalisation of shortages. For example, the
campaign to eradicate baksheesh initiated in the early 1970, alongside the
fight against social parasites, were among the few public attempts of the
regime to mobilise society to institute norms to be generally accepted, which,
according to official rhetoric, would have led to all citizens behaving
correctly.




The regime attempted to react against the ill
effects of shortages. Historian Mioara Anton once again:




As the state’s economic development programmes
started failing, new rules were issued to manage shortages. One example is a
programme for self-management and self-provision launched in 1981, which barred
people from purchasing goods from anywhere else than their place of residence.
A year later, the Rational Nutrition Programme was introduced, followed by
ration cards, alongside special legislation that punished economic activities
generated by shortagaes. The Ceausescu regime never admitted to the utter
failure of central planning reflected in the five-year plan of quality or that
of scientific revolution. In 1982, Iulian Dobrescu, head of production planning,
tried to persuade Ceausescu to adapt production planning to world economic
trends, but that was to no avail. Dobrescu insisted that a fair quality to
quantity ratio would have led to economic growth and less shortage for the
population. His suggestions were ignored, and he resigned.




At first sight, shortages were the result of
the economic crisis, but in fact they were rooted in the nature of the regime,
according to historian Mioara Anton:




Another factor that encouraged the development
of the informal economy was what American historian Ken Jowitt called the
‘familism’ of the regime. The party’s monopoly was undermined by a culture of
clientelism within the political elites that facilitated illegal or
semi-illegal transactions. The party allowed and even encouraged certain
traditional political attitudes and behaviour in the top tiers of the party and
society. The image that the head of the party had of reality was more than
optimistic. In his opinion, per capita consumption had risen, there was a wide
array of products available in shops, even if they didn’t cater to all tastes,
and healthcare was at normal levels.




The culture of shortages ended in 1989 with the
collapse of the communist regime. Its legacy, however, in the form of informal
underground networks, survived its fall, becoming the foundation of the
emerging market economy.

Giuseppe Mazzini and the Romanians
The History Show Monday, 11 November 2024

Giuseppe Mazzini and the Romanians

The Romanian political elites of 1848 were influenced by the ideas of the Italian Giuseppe...

Giuseppe Mazzini and the Romanians
banner-Pro-Memoria.-960x540-1.jpg
The History Show Monday, 04 November 2024

The Spark(Scanteia) communist newspaper

The press was one of the communist regime’s most powerful weapons regarding propaganda. The freedom of expression and of the press was a right that...

The Spark(Scanteia) communist newspaper
RRI
The History Show Monday, 28 October 2024

Securitate and the KGB parting ways

The most feared institution of the Romanian communist state was the political police known as Securitate, created on the model of the NKVD, which...

Securitate and the KGB parting ways
Vasile Luca
The History Show Monday, 21 October 2024

Vasile Luca

From the end of World War II in 1945 until 1989, the Red Army imposed communist party regimes in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. They...

Vasile Luca
The History Show Monday, 14 October 2024

The Romanian Communist Party and the Agrarian Reform

According to the Marxist-Leninist theses about means of production, property had to be common, owned by all those who used it and created added...

The Romanian Communist Party and the Agrarian Reform
The History Show Monday, 07 October 2024

The Romanian military fleet in WWII

The history of the Romanian military fleet begins in the middle of the 19th century, when, after the union of the two principalities of Moldova and...

The Romanian military fleet in WWII
The History Show Monday, 30 September 2024

Ana Pauker

Ana Pauker is one of the most conspicuous figureheads in the history of the communist regime in Romania. Ana Pauker played a crucial part in the team...

Ana Pauker
The History Show Monday, 23 September 2024

Nicolae Titulescu and the Romanian diplomacy in Europe in the 1930s

  The diplomacies of countries that gravitate around the powerful ones, always have the mission of being one step ahead of events. They must...

Nicolae Titulescu and the Romanian diplomacy in Europe in the 1930s

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company