ABSTRACT
It was Christmas Eve 1968 when, in the centre of Bucharest, passers-by perplexedly witnessed a street demonstration, which seemed to have nothing in common with the usual manifestations more or less 'directed' by the regime. Except for the workers' rebellion of Brasov against Ceausescu's economic policies in November 1987, the student manifestations in Bucharest and Iasi were the only street protests in Romania between 1946 and 1989. This chapter analyses the relationship between the communist regime and the student community. It examines how a specific student counterculture gradually came into existence and was set up as an autonomous space for expression opposed to the political system. At the time of the establishment of the communist regime in Romania student identity was ambiguously interpreted. On one hand, students were seen as a possible source of highly qualified personnel to realise the socialist revolution, whereas, on other hand, precisely because they were aspiring intellectuals, students were automatically looked on with suspicion.
