Escaping the “Balkanizing” Gaze? Perceptions of Global and Internal Developmental Hierarchies in Romania

Abstract

The article presents the perceptions of global and internal developmental hierarchies in Romania. According to our empirical results, the Western-centred developmental paradigm has deeply penetrated the worldviews of ordinary people in Romania. As a consequence, national self-perceptions, respectively, constructions of internal regional and ethnic differences in Romania, are powerfully shaped by the idea of East–West developmental hierarchies. Melegh introduced the concept of an “East–West slope” to denote a discursive construction used since the eighteenth century. This construction suggests that there is a gradual decline of development (or “civilization”) as one moves from the West (North West) toward the East (South East). The author argues that this framework not only defines how Romanians position themselves in the global developmental hierarchy but also how they define their internal (regional and ethnic) hierarchies. The article also discusses Todorova’s concept of Balkanism. This interpretive framework not only defines the perceptions of external observers but (following a process of cultural penetration) may also shape the self-perceptions of those involved. This article argues that Romanians have succeeded in avoiding—at least partially—the most severe consequence of the “Balkanizing gaze,” which is a constant sense of inferiority. It is also important, however, that this Balkanizing gaze can be reproduced at a national/local level and (in interrelation with other types of developmental discourses) can organize internal hierarchies.

Developmental Idealism in Internet Search Data

“…Countries in the right three columns are more heterogeneous, though the list is dominated by countries rated low on various development indices. This suggests that the perceptions of world publics concerning the wealth and poverty of nations, as expressed in Google searches, are deeply interconnected with the global developmental hierarchy, a finding that agrees with previous DI survey research (Binstock et al 2013;Csánóová 2013;Dorius 2016;Dorius et al 2017;Kiss 2017;Lai and Mu 2016;Lai et al 2015;Melegh et al 2013;Thornton and Yang 2016;Thornton et al 2012).…”

“…Emerging evidence indicates that belief in developmental hierarchy has now spread to ordinary people in many countries. International social survey data show that people tend to rate countries into nearly the same hierarchical order, irrespective of respondents' country of origin, and that this ordering of countries closely matches global development indices such as the Human Development Index and GDP per capita (Binstock et al 2013;Csánóová 2013;Dorius 2016;Dorius et al 2018;Kiss 2017;Lai and Mu 2016;Lai et al 2015;Melegh et al 2013;Thornton and Yang 2016;Thornton et al 2012). Some have interpreted the cross-national uniformity of people's developmental ratings as evidence of a relatively universalized understanding of development among both ordinary people and societal elites.…”

“…This approach ensured that respondents would rate countries according to their own understanding of development rather than the understanding of the researchers' (Thornton et al 2012). Results from these and other surveys utilizing the same research design that have been conducted in dozens of countries show that publics from different places all tend to hierarchically organize the nations of the world by perceived level of development in a very similar order (Binstock et al 2013;Csánóová 2013;Kiss 2017;Lai and Mu 2016;Lai et al 2015;Thornton and Yang 2016;Thornton et al 2012). This research thereby provides a glimpse of how people think about countries and their development.…”

The mental map of national hierarchy in Europe

“…education, age, or gender) also found little variation in the rank ordering of countries on development (Binstock et al 2013). Results from additional surveys fielded in other countries, including several European nations, have produced consistent results and find a clear east-to-west European slope of perceived levels of national development in line with prior historical analyses (Kiss 2017;Melegh et al 2013;2016; see also Lai and Mu 2016;Thornton and Yang 2016). Furthermore, perceived global developmental hierarchies were strongly correlated with the rank ordering of countries on the United Nations Human Development Index and gross domestic product per capita.…”

“…Some scholars examining contemporary quantitative measures of public opinion find evidence of a single east-to-west slope of perceived levels of national development (Kiss 2017;Melegh et al 2013;2016).…”