THE MISSION OF ROMANIAN SOCIOLOGY DURING THE COMMUNIST PERIOD. FROM SOCIOLOGISTS’ MEMOIRS. Romanian Academy Publishing House, Bucharest, 2025. Cătălin Zamfir, Elena Zamfir (eds.)

Abstract

This review discusses Cătălin and Elena Zamfir’s edited volume on the mission of Romanian sociology under communism, arguing that its main strength lies in converting autobiographical testimony into sociological evidence by anchoring memoirs in verifiable publications, projects, and institutional records. The review summarizes the book’s two-part architecture, an analytical framing chapter followed by thirteen professional memoirs, and highlights recurring themes: cycles of institutional opening and closure, methodological vigilance toward indicators, professional ethics under ideocratic pressure, and the persistence of empirically grounded inquiry. The volume is read as both a landmark archive for disciplinary memory and a timely resource for contemporary debates on expertise, politicization, and the governance of knowledge.