Conferences
Lavinia Betea: The Psychology of Communism
16 lei
On Sunday, 27 March 2016, as of 11.00 a.m., in the Black Box Hall of NTB, Mrs. Lavinia Betea shall hold the conference on the topic The Psychology of Communism.
About the conference
“The communist ideology aimed at the utopia of the “new man”. A psychological project, actually, pursuing the formation of a planetary community. Men would have resembled each other, like atoms, in terms of wealth, conduct and dreams.
To this end, tremendous institutional and financial efforts have been undertaken. Millions of people have been murdered, tortured, imprisoned and deported. Three generations have been educated and re-educated in the spirit of living in a collective and for a collective.
What is left of the ,,new man” in our days?
A question that I shall answer based upon the research of communist history and the investigations performed through the method of cross-examination on a sample in successive probings”. Lavinia Betea
About Lavinia Betea
She graduated from the Faculty of History and Philosophy, department for Philosophy-History and she holds a PhD in Psychology from the „Babeş-Bolyai” University of Cluj-Napoca. She is currently a professor for Social and Political Psychology at the „Aurel Vlaicu” University of Arad.
She is an author and co-author of over 20 volumes published by prestigious publishing houses in Romania and abroad on topics of political psychology and history of Communism. For the purpose of documentation on the backstage of power, she wrote books of interviews with former communist leaders and victims of the ,,class struggle”. She also performed thorough archive researches.
Among the published works, we retain: The Keeper of Ceauşescu’s Secrets. He was Known as Machaivelli. Ştefan Andrei in Dialogue with Lavinia Betea (Adevărul, 2011); Stories from the Primăverii Neighbourhood (Curtea Veche Publishing, 2010); Men and Women. Encounters with Serge Moscovici (Romanian Cultural Foundation Publishing, 2007); I Went to Jilava in Summer Shoes. Conversations with Ioana Berindei (Compania, 2006);Communist Mentalities and Residuals. Psychological Aspects (Nemira, 2005); Corneliu Mănescu in Dialogue with Lavinia Betea; Unfinished Talks (Polirom, 2001); Political Psychology. Individual, Leader, Crowd under the Communist Regime (Polirom, 2001); Alexandru Bârlădeanu on Dej, Ceauşescu and Iliescu (Evenimentul românesc, 1997). She coordinated the trilogy The Biography of Ceaușescu (Cetatea de Scaun, 2015, Adevărul 2013, 2012). She was distinguished with the Romanian Academy Awards for the book Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu – the Death of a Communist Leader (Humanitas, 2001).
She collaborated on approximately one hundred articles for scientific magazines with international visibility. She founded and managed the specialised magazine Societal and Political Psychology International Review. She took part in specialised conferences and symposiums in France, Italy, Mexico, Hungary, Ukraine, Tunisia, Portugal, Indonesia, and Serbia.
She worked as a journalist for the written press and television. She led the recent history department of the daily newspapers Jurnalul Național and Adevărul and she collaborated with the Romanian National Television in the creation of historical documentary series.
Translated by Simona Nichiteanu
