This thesis presents a theoretical discussion of how legal pluralism and the idea of parallel systems of justice can address issues of ethnic accommodation. / It is divided into four chapters: (I) an introduction why Transylvania has been selected as a site of analysis; (II) a brief presentation of the ethno-history of Transylvania; (III) an analysis of law focusing on the possibility of applying parallel legal systems, in contemporary states, taking as a case study how Romania might deal with Transylvania; (IV) finding conclusions between utopia and reality. / The evolution of the ethnic composition of Transylvania over the centuries is used to illustrate the complexity of the legal and political issues that must be addressed. Several questions of legal theory are then addressed. When does a norm become legal? What is the relationship between Law and state institutions or the relationship between Law and society? Is Law a singular or a pluralist phenomenon? How is Law culturally, historically or politically determined? How can ethnicity or cultural membership be defined in legal terms? / The two main justifications for accommodating ethnic minorities through parallel legal systems are then examined: the argument based on the collective rights of national groups; and the argument based on protecting the cultural continuity of a national group. The thesis suggests that thinking about parallel legal system must be grounded in the specific historical, political, ethnic, and legal context of a region. / The goal of "The Vampires of Transylvania" is to challenge contemporary legal thinking rather than to provide an absolute final conclusion on the topic of parallel legal systems. Final answers in this field are possible only after legal mythology and ethno-cultural taboos have both been demolished.

Diss. Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2008.

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Most Romanian national heroes lived while the Ottoman Empire dominated the Balkans. History bears witness to their doings, yet certain figures have become almost mythical thanks to the powerful impact of the nationalistic literature. / Mihai Eminescu, the Romanian national poet par excellence, whose writings were merely tolerated by the Communists, exerted a strong influence despite his passionate involvement and he managed to create historical confusion lasting for generations. After 1989, Romanian history books changed. In my thesis, I seek to modify the myth of invincible Romanian heroes and to understand the reason why Romanian principalities enjoyed a special treatment during the Ottoman period. / The Romanian principalities served as buffer states, stopping, halting the Ottoman advancement to the north of the Danube on many occasions. The double game often used by Romanian leaders helped Valaquia and Moldavia retain their special status. Also, the treaties of vassalage signed with the Romanians and the power of the Orthodox Church have prevented the Ottomans from imposing their own laws and customs. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

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This dissertation explores the transformation of a small town in South East Transylvania, Sighisoara, historically defined through a strong German presence. Despite the small number of Germans remaining in the region after the massive migrations of the last decades, historical German privilege (made visible through and materialized in the long-lasting architecture) is reformulated and re-configured in the present precisely through processes connected to valuing and producing this built landscape as historical heritage. Claims for stakes in the development of the area become entangled with an interest in heritage preservation publicly performed by a diverse set of (mostly foreign) actors. By analyzing a failed development project, the gentrification of the historical citadel, transformations in public spaces, and NGO and historical preservation funding, I argue that Germanness offers a discursive space in which local desires for a developed West are able to articulate, productively, with Western nostalgias for a developmental do-over, as well as with fears for an endangered European heritage at the 'margins' of Western civilization. This dissertation contributes to the anthropology of post-socialist transformations in Eastern Europe by drawing attention to the relationship between ethnicity and participation in a global capitalism. It shows how a continuous, living engagement with the "outside," the "West," with consumer capitalism has been part of local quotidian subjectivities and understandings of the world, all mediated by desire and access to mobility and possibility. Understandings of people's current relationship with development, consumption, the idea and reality of capitalism cannot be disentangled from these continuities, and I argue for locating analysis precisely in these relationships. This dissertation also brings a critical native voice to the body of English language Eastern European anthropology. At the same time, it attempts to both build on and disrupt historical approaches to the region by forging analytical and substantive continuities with discipline-wide approaches to ethnicity, development, and heritage tourism. / text

La Nachbarschaft ou « institution de voisinage » est une forme d’entraide instituée pratiquée en Transylvanie/Roumanie depuis des siècles. Elle se réfère à une forme spécifique et organisée de relations de voisinage au sein des différents groupes ethniques roumain, tsigane, saxon ou hongrois.<p>L’évolution de la cohabitation interethnique, la définition et les revendications des uns et des autres sont intimement liées à l’articulation des relations économiques, sociales, de pouvoir et d’autonomie à travers le temps. Les relations qualifiées aujourd’hui d’« interethniques » s’inscrivent dans un lent processus de cohabitation, à différentes échelles, dont les catégories ont perduré mais ont changé de signification au cours des siècles. <p>Quelle est la place de cette institution vieille de plusieurs siècles dans la Roumanie actuelle, dite « en transition » depuis la chute du régime communiste? Les institutions de voisinage continuent-elles à combler un certain vide laissé par l’Etat ?Alors que la construction de la « société civile », terme clé de la littérature scientifique sur la transition des pays de l’Est, est un des processus jugés vitaux dans les années suivant la chute du mur, l’institution de voisinage n’a pas arrêté d’investir cet échelon de vie collective. Comment investit-elle cet espace d’échange entre unités domestiques, sur quoi est fondé cet échange ?Enfin, quelles sont les dynamiques qui l’animent et qui conditionnent sa transmission ?<p><p><p> / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished