The Role of Feminist Participation during the Winter 2012 Mobilizations in Romania

The question of weak and non-participatory civil society in post-communist societies has been widely debated. Despite the general agreement that radical feminist activism is still at an incipient stage in Romania, protests were recently included within the repertoire of the feminist movement. This shift coincided with the participation of feminist activists to mass-protests during the escalation of the economical crisis and the sharpening of anti-austerity measures.

This paper analyzes the role of the feminist movement during the winter 2012 mobilizations in Romania and the contestation of institutionalized social boundaries. It regards feminism as a movement that exists not just separately, but also in interaction with other social movements. It also examines the impact of the feminist movement participation on the dynamics and trajectory of anti-austerity protests.

I argue that the feminist movement participation transformed the dynamics of the University Square mobilizations. Through recognition and redistribution claims, challenges in power relationships and building boundaries, the presence of feminists impacted the dynamics of the mobilizations in terms of repertories of action, framing processes, collective identity and power relations. This contests the assumption of both a non-participatory civil society and a NGOized feminist movement in post-communist Romania.