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Fieldwork Begins In A Watched Country
- Catherine Verdery arrived in 1970s Romania as a cautious anthropologist studying peasants and learned to adapt to a surveillance culture.
- She observed haying, social customs, and slowly learned how to make sources comfortable amid fear.
Friendship Recalibrated By Surveillance
- The Securitate shifted from overt terror to mass surveillance and recruitment of ordinary citizens as informers.
- That forced Romanians to treat friendship as a long, tested process rather than casual closeness.
Secret Close Friendship Forms
- Catherine and Mariana formed a secret, intense friendship, sneaking meetings and hiding visits from Mariana's husband.
- They shared long conversations, travel, letters, and felt like allies against a hostile state.