Romania is among the countries with a long history of coal mining, which intensified in the context of the industrialization and urbanization policies during the socialist period. During the post-socialist transition, mining units decreased considerably, with those considered economically unprofitable being restructured and eventually closed. This process, which began in the late 1990s, continues today with the increasing discussions about the transition from coal in Romania, the commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the signing of the Paris Agreement, which stipulates the abandonment of coal by 2030. The Jiu Valley region is Romania’s most important mono-industrial area that developed exclusively around coal extraction. This article proposes an analysis of the social impact of reducing mining activity in this area based on actor-network theory. Recently, the discussions on the “Just Transition” in the Jiu Valley have culminated with the “Jiu Valley Economic, Social, and Environmental Development Strategy” (2021–2030) and the related Action Plan. This paper seeks to address the question: how were people “brought in” for the production of coal during socialism, how were they subsequently “pushed out”, and how challenging is it now for the Jiu Valley strategy to reassemble a network to support the post-coal transition? Our analysis helps to understand, in an innovative way, the challenges of the Jiu Valley Strategy as a mismatch between a creative and entrepreneurial city model on the one hand and the ruralized/small urban (former mono-industrial) conditions prevailing in the Jiu Valley on the other. We thus provide a critical analysis of the strategy as one that is conceptually wedded to the large urban center model and applies the just transition framework in a decontextualized way. We emphasize the role of the dismantling of coal production in the narrowing of the space of possibilities of change brought about by the just transition. Using the published literature on the Jiu Valley, we also show what broader lessons can be drawn from this case for similar transition processes in Central and Eastern Europe.

Over the past decades, educational reform has been one of the centerpieces of transition in Central and Eastern Europe. A huge degree of variability among countries exists, from sudden liberalization to securing the status quo previous to revolutionary political change. Reforms have ranged from institutional to instrumental changes. We argue that policies may lead to undesirable outcomes, when they assume a certain institutional framework. We then describe the evolution of Romania’s educational system, focusing on a case study of an implemented large-scale policy program: the Rural Education Project for Romania. We thus argue that by assuming institutional change such attempts are bound to fail because the existing status quo adapts actions to existing practices, thus leading to unexpected outcomes.

Romanian Cele mai multe studii care analizează succesul școlar s-au concentrat pe numărul total de studii, performanța obținută la teste, premiile obținute la competiții și rezultatele școlare. În această lucrare analizez rolul diferențelor de background social al elevilor de liceu din România în determinarea mediilor obținute la școală. Întrebarea de cercetare este „Ce rol joacă factorii sociali și educaționali în determinarea rezultatelor școlare de top?”. Această lucrare se încadrează în literatura de specialitate care operaționalizează diferențele sociale în performanța școlară ca un indicator al inegalității educaționale, care deseori în Europa Occidentală și Statele Unite ale Americii, sunt proporționale cu continuarea studiilor, prestigiul universității și chiar succesul economic la ieșirea din sistem. Utilizând date secundare provenite dintr-o cercetare reprezentativă la nivel național pentru liceele din România, colectate în noiembrie 2009, analizez (1) percepțiile elevilor cu privire la relația dintre profesori, elevi și părinți, (2) influența statutului social al părinților asupra performanțelor propriilor copii și (3) cum percep elevii sistemul educațional. Consider că rezultatele școlare sunt în strânsă legătură cu șansele de reușită în viață ale indivizilor, fiind așadar importantă identificarea factorilor care influențează performanțele școlare. Implicit, lucrarea are și o dimensiune normativă: participarea în educația universitară a populației e considerată crucială în societățile post-industriale afectând competitivitatea internațională dar ținând cont de principii precum dreptatea socială sau promovarea mobilității sociale ascendente. English Most studies on academic success have focused on the total years of schooling, test-related performance, awards participation in competitions, and school results. In this paper I analyze the role of differences in the social background of Romanian high school students in their overall academic achievement. In other words, What roles do social and educational factors play in achieving top academic results? The paper engages with existing work that operationalizes differences in academic achievement as an indicator for educational inequalities that often, in Western Europe and US, are proportional with continuation of studies, university prestige, and even economic success in adulthood. Based on secondary data drawn from a nation-wide representative sample of upper secondary school students, collected in November 2009, I analyze (1) the students` perceptions of the relationship between teachers, students and parents, (2) the influence of the parents` educational status on their children, and (3) the way students perceive the education system itself. I consider that academic results are related to the life chances of individuals, and that it is important to identify precisely the factors which affect school performance. Implicitly, this paper has a normative dimension: the participation in higher education of the population is considered crucial in post-industrialized societies for increased international competitivity, but at the same time to increase social justice and upward social mobility.