In consonance with the newer orientations within Romanian social history, the studies included in this volume are the result of typological or case researches for the Romanian elite. Focusing on the systematic investigation of the sources, they do not omit the sociological theories of the elites, but they start from an idea specific to historical research: the study changing the perspective from micro-history to macro-history, not the other way around; from the great social structures to the life horizons subjected to investigation. Starting from an inspired quote by François Rosset, “life as an oriented path”, the relevance of those topics, considered small or insignificant from the perspective of la longue durée, has been reconsidered lately, in order to identify the features of social groups and the dynamic of social transformations. Under the influence of the dialogue with foreign historiography and of historical comparatism, the social history studies within this volume focus on more varied social typologies and social identities at the level of the Romanian elite. The second section of the volume comprises several studies dedicated to the relations between elite and power, seen as an expression of the relation of domination, institutionally and politically. We dedicated the volume to the memory of the historian Mihai Dim. Sturdza, a true aristocrat in the Romanian historiography of the last decades and, at the same time, an authentic scholar. Our dedication isn’t only the expression of appreciation for the work of the regretted historian, but also of the “genealogical” connection between it and many studies published here.weiterlesen