Abstract: The analysis of the spatial disparities of social marginalization is a requirement in the present-day socio-economic and political context of Romania, an East-European state, member of the European Union since 2007, at present faced with the imperatives of the growth of its territorial cohesion. The main objective of this article is to develop a methodology for the assessment of social marginalization, in order to understand the intensity of the marginalization phenomenon at different spatial scales. The article proposes a social marginalization index (SMI), calculated through the integration of ten indicators relevant for the two components of social marginalization: the material component and the symbolical component. The results highlighted a strong connection between the total degree of social marginalization and the dependence on social benefits, unemployment rate, non-inclusion in the compulsory education, criminality rate, and the type of pension insurance.
Abstract: As in other countries from Central and Eastern Europe,
the economic restructuring occurred in the last decade of the
twentieth century affected the mining industry in Romania, an
oversize and heavily subsidized sector before 1989. After more than
a decade since the beginning of mining restructuring, an evaluation
of current social implications of the process it is required, together
with an efficiency analysis of the adaptation mechanisms developed
at governmental level. This article aims to provide an insight into
these issues through case studies conducted in the most important
coal basin of Romania, Petroşani Depression.