The Multifaceted “Golan”: Reappropriation and Collective Identity Formation in Post-Communist Romanian Protests
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2025-07-04
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en
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In April 1990, four months after the 1989 Revolution, a protest against the appointment of former communist politicians in public offices erupted in Romania. Known as the Union Square Phenomenon or the Golaniad, this movement shaped Romanian protest culture for decades to come through the solidarity of its participants and, notably, through the reclamation of the slur “thug” (“golan”). Cristian Pațurcă’s “Imnul Golanilor” played a pivotal role in the shaping of the protesters’ collective identity, becoming both the anthem of the movement and a lasting symbol of protest and resistance, reappropriated in later civic movements . This thesis explores how “Imnul Golanilor” was reappropriated by two post-1990 protests—namely, the 2017 #rezist protests and 2021 anti-vaccination demonstration—to construct distinct collective identities in divergent ideological contexts.
Keywords: protest music, collective identity, the Golaniad, University Square, “Imnul Golanilor”.
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