Utopian horizons of downshifting in Romania. Some mediated stories [Full text]
Adela Fofiu [1]
| Abstract: These research notes explore the political potential of online storytelling for the incipient downshifting movement in Romania. Qualitative content analysis techniques are used on a series of articles published in December 2012-January 2014 on www.totb.ro in order to reveal the political stake of the act of storytelling in cases of individual lifestyle changes. This political stake is the empowerment of citizens through individual change that catalyzes everyday dystopian experiences into utopia, into eu-topos, the good spaces where life and living are desired. The current notes summarize some key concepts on downshifting and make an introduction to the sociology of storytelling, while also elaborating some analytical observations on the empirical acts of storytelling in mediated environments. Keywords: Downshifting, storytelling, political action, empowerment, dystopia, utopia |
[1] Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, fofiu@fspac.ro