Stories of upward social mobility and migration in one Romanian commune. On the emergence of “rurban” spaces in migrant-sending communities

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore how international migration changed rural communities and social mobility trajectories. I show how the intense structural changes following the socio-economic transition in Romania supported the emergence and growth of labour migration. I look at migration instances that reveal positive changes of the quality of life, housing, educational and occupational opportunities of migrants. I posit that migration changes social mobility trajectories and shapes “rurban” villages where standards of living and lifestyles merge old and new ways of life. These communities gradually begin to resemble more to host countries and to urban localities in Romania than to the traditional rural spaces.

Keywords

• communism
• transition
• community development
• labor force migration
• social mobility
• rurbinization
• rurban communities