Bucharest’s recent protests show that Romanians are beginning to embrace western styles of civic engagement.

Street protests have taken place in Bucharest since the start of September. Clara Volintiru writes that while the aims of the protesters have been focused on the fairly narrow issues of Bucharest’s stray dog population, and a controversial mining project, the real conflict is between competing identities. Both issues reflect strains between the old values Romanians held during the communist period, and new values such as environmental sustainability. She argues that the fact protesters are taking to the streets to argue in favour of new policies, rather than simply to attack political leaders, suggests Romanians are beginning to adopt western styles of civic engagement.