Paper short abstract

This paper examines how young Romanian men engage with socialist-era cars as restoration projects, exploring the intersection of masculinity, repair practices, and nostalgia in post-socialist society. It analyzes how middle-class aficionados construct identity through working-class skills.

Paper long abstract

The social memory of the socialist car lingers vividly in the networks of young car restaurateurs and reparation aficionados in Romania. The socialist car is a throwback to a different time when, especially men, were expected to repair things. While society prescribed masculine dominance over technical education, embedded social relations in garages and car tinkering contributed to reproducing and performing masculinity. The socialist car generated certain types of sociability throughout its users, characteristic of repair societies; it embodies a set of practical and skilled knowledge that can shed light on the way in which society and gender work.

Young, middle-class men can afford buying old, socialist cars and turn them into historical restauration projects. Yet, performing such practices in a post-repair society leads most to reach for the help and service of the former generation of mechanics. How come middle class men, born after the demise of socialism, show interest in cars that are symbolic of a different era?

The nostalgic return of the socialist car in the contemporary landscape points to a biographical question on how masculinity is reiterated through repairing practices.

When reproducing the working-class-type of labor in a digitized world and a highly neoliberal context, the aficionados imagine and depict a symbolic construction of socialist masculinity. The act of tinkering is something enticing for them, bringing authenticity to their identity. While the technical working-class skill is valuable, as a scarce resource, the social status and cultural capital of the man working in a liberal job increases.