Futures in a Futureless Valley – How Young Adults Navigate Deindustrialisation in the Jiu Valley, Romania

This doctoral project deals with the futural orientations of young adults at the end of their formal schooling in the almost postindustrial, and previously monoindustrial Jiu Valley, Romania. Since the 1990s, the inhabitants are experiencing the closure of 14 coal mines; today there are few alternative jobs. The population has declined by 30% and the quality of life has deteriorated (e.g. healthcare system, infrastructure, educational sector). Within the Jiu Valley's complex economic and social transition, this dissertation sheds light on the emergence, embeddedness, and realisation of young adults' plans for the future. In this region, which is often said to have no future, how do young people, the supposed collective future of society, approach said future?

The ethnoraphic research took place between the autumn of 2020 and the spring of 2022, the thesis has been completed and defended, and is currently awaiting publication.

Project lead: Hannah Bartels