Globalization And Poverty In Roåžia Montanä‚

Globalization is a concept that, for the past decades, carried on dreadful fears, as well as great expectations. Defined as a process of global intercommunication and interconnection of economical, political, cultural forces and actors, globalization leads to a global network that enables transnational spread of information, technologies, capital, commodities, structures, cultures and people, representing a major change in the social structure of society. In this context we witness new fears and also, new hopes considering the state of communities, democracies, freedom and identity. Romania entered a transition process from a closed society to a hub in the global network with the dawn of communist era, even though the forces of globalization per se empowered the struggle against the communist regime. Roşia Montană, a mining locality in Apuseni Montains, in the context of the debates over the mining project proposed by Roşia Montană Gold Corporation (RMGC), represents a natural laboratory of observation for social scientists, gathering the main concerns of modernization: the interaction between global economic forces and local cultures, the empowerment of local community and civil society, the tension between economic interest and cultural and environmental preservation. In this context, the study emphasizes the analysis of people`s life standard and expectations in Roşia Montană, in the context of globalization. Admitting that globalization is a multidimensional concept, ambiguous and ambivalent in its consequences, we analyze its possible risks and benefits on the quality of life in Roşia Montană.