Poporanism is a Romanian version of nationalism and populism.
The word is derived from ''popor'', meaning "people" in
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
. Founded by
Constantin Stere
Constantin G. Stere or Constantin Sterea (Romanian; russian: Константин Егорович Стере, ''Konstantin Yegorovich Stere'' or Константин Георгиевич Стере, ''Konstantin Georgiyevich Stere''; also known u ...
in the early 1890s, Poporanism is distinguished by its opposition to
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
, promotion of
voting rights
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
for all and its intent to reform the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
and the farming system.
Regarding Romania's agrarian situation, Poporanists wished to form
co-operative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
farms for the peasants and to remove them from
aristocratic
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At the time of the word's ...
control. Unlike
Junimism, another popular political philosophy, Poporanism focused mainly on expanding the power of the peasants. In a very nationalist manner, it was also a champion of the Romanian language and of maintaining the Romanian spirit.
Several famous Romanians, including
Ion Agârbiceanu
Ion Agârbiceanu (first name also Ioan, last name also Agărbiceanu and Agîrbiceanu; September 12, 1882 – May 28, 1963) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian writer, journalist, politician, theologian and Greek-Catholic priest. Born among the ...
, supported it.
Narodism and Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea
Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea
Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea (born Solomon Katz; 1855, village of Slavyanka near Yekaterinoslav (modern Dnipro), then in Imperial Russia – 1920, Bucharest) was a Romanian Marxist theorist, politician, sociologist, literary critic, and jour ...
, a Romanian political activist, first introduced the Russian ideas of
Narodism
The Narodniks (russian: народники, ) were a politically conscious movement of the Russian intelligentsia in the 1860s and 1870s, some of whom became involved in revolutionary agitation against tsarism. Their ideology, known as Narodism, ...
to Romania and supported the ideas of Poporanism. The fundamental philosophy of Narodism had a lasting impact on Poporanism, spurring its
rejection of capitalism and of
Marxist ideas. However, unlike Narodists, Stere did not believe that a revolution was necessary in Romania. Later, Dobrogeanu-Gherea and Stere had a split of political philosophy in regards to
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
and
liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
, and Dobrogeanu-Gherea formed the
Social Democratic Worker’s Party, and Poporanists joined the
National Liberal Party.
References
Agrarian politics
Kingdom of Romania
Left-wing populism
Populism
Romanian nationalism
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