Project summary: The transformation of the “fortress” in the context of working

visits in the 1980s: mobilization and moods. Case study: Iași county

Working hypothesis and the relevance of the topic:

The study aims to provide a complete analysis of an element characteristic of the
Ceausescu period, namely, working visits. We intend to see if the scale of the demonstrations
and the mobilization and engagement of the population has been maintained and when lower-
ranking political elites have arrived. We will also look at whether the mood of the people of Iași
was influenced by the decisions at the central level.

Feasibility of the project and a brief presentation of the research history

The feasibility of the project is reflected in the fact that we have identified the archival
funds needed to complete the study, but there are also impediments due to the uncertain state of
the ANIC archives.
Regarding the historiography of the research, the topic of working visits was approached
by Cristina Petrescu and Manuela Marin, and on the topic of population mobilization and mood,
Adrian Cioflanca, Vladimir Tismăneanu, Anamaria Sima, Adrian Neculau also discussed. Also
added are the archives from ANIC, SJAN Iași, but also ACNSAS.

Research methodology
In general, from a methodological point of view, we aim to perform an analysis according
to the model used by Michel Focault in his works, starting from the descriptive presentation of
how a working visit was organized, and then decompose each sequence and we perform a
complete analysis of processes and mechanisms.

Project stages
In the future research we propose an outline of the local framework, presenting the
communist vision of Iasi, and we will present the numbers of visits: the main characters and
institutions, in the third stage we will detail the censorship of the center: slogans, messages and
broadcasters. The central theme of the analysis will be addressed in the next point when we

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intend to analyze the mood of the population of Iași and the transformations determined by the
leader's visit.

Dissemination potential
The research results will be summarized in scientific articles for publication in
specialized journals, but we intend to support multiple communications on this topic.