Local dance (vintage collection)

Nasaud

Subsistence farming 2010

Etnography of migration from the village to Italy

Taking the case of migratory flows between Romania and Italy as a case study, this article investigates the ways in which spaces of economic transnationalism emerge and are reproduced over time. While the article finds that the role of the state in regulating the flow of money, people and goods across borders remains significant, it nevertheless provides evidence that state authority is systematically challenged by private actors even in the case of migration phenomena with a remarkably short history such as that of Romanians in Italy. Particularly interesting in this respect are labor recruiting networks in which informal headhunter operations, public officials and mobile manufacturing firms interact in surprising ways. While economic forms of transnationalism are the main focus of this investigation, the ways in which transnational capital and labor flows facilitated the symbolic reaffirmation of social institutions in the sending locality are also investigated.


Cornel Ban, Economic Transnationalism and its Ambiguities: The Case of Romanian Migration to Italy, International Migration, 2009.

Rodnei Mountains

The Nasaud Border Regiment 1806 Reenactment

The Forest of the Hanged Ones

Spanish travellers

The first municipal running water system introduced

Highlights

The village is best known for having hosted the family of novelist Liviu Rebreaunu, a writer of some fame in early 20th century Romania. Liviu himself spent time here and wrote a novel based on real land feuds that ripped the village apart. The memorial house can be visited and is well-maintained. The other village landmark is the Orthodox (ex-Greek-Catholic) church built in 1909. The rest of the village has been completely rebuilt. There a a few pubs for the locals and food can be organic and quite interesting if you are invited by the generally very hospitable families.
Some families make a rose wine of low quality, yet the local plum brandy is considered remarkable by connoisseurs.
Most able bodied locals work commute to work in Nasaud or Bistrita. A high proportion of young families are transnational migrants in Italy and Spain, as evidenced by the proportion of refurbished and new houses.