Andrei Marga

Andrei Marga (b. May 22 1946) is a Romanian philosopher, political scientist, and politician. Rector – for the second time – of the Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, he was a member of the Christian-Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNŢCD), serving as Minister of Education in the Democratic Convention (CDR) coalition governments of Victor Ciorbea, Radu Vasile, and Mugur Isărescu (1997-2000). In January 2001, he replaced Ion Diaconescu as PNŢCD chairman, but resigned from his post in July 2001, amid political tensions in the party. He formed a new party, the Popular Christian Party later in the year. [Alan J. Day, Roger East, Richard Thomas, "A Political and Economic Dictionary of Eastern Europe", Europa Publications, London, 2002. p.112.] Later, he affiliated with the National Liberal Party (PNL).

Marga has authored a large number of volumes on political science, political philosophy, and the philosophy of history. His work touches a variety of subjects, including the philosophical theories of Herbert Marcuse and Jürgen Habermas, the nature of positivism, and trends in contemporary philosophy.ro icon Mădălina Diaconu, [http://www.observatorcultural.ro/informatiiarticol.phtml?xid=13330&print=true "Premiile Herder 2005"] , in "Observator Cultural"; retrieved August 4, 2007] He has also lectured on specific subjects, such as the philosophic foundations of transition from communism to a market economy, and the evolution of principles guiding European integration. In later works, he approached topics pertaining to the philosophy of religion, and to the status of religion in the age of globalization. In 2005, Andrei Marga received the Herder Prize in recognition of his contributions.

Biography

Marga was born in Bucharest and attended a German university for postgraduate studies. He was among a few gifted students allowed to travel abroad under the communist regime of the time. In 1989, he became the rector of the Babeş-Bolyai University.

As minister, Andrei Marga promoted educational system reform, stressing that the communist legacy had contributed to a rise in political corruption, and indicating that Romanian education lacked staples of professionalism such as underlined purposes, standards in certification, and evaluation criteria. [Daun & Săpătoru, p.171] Marga also criticized the the system for relying on "original features" and "Romanian traditions", which had been explained as a means to promote national development, but, in effect, had contributed to the gap between Romania and the Western world. [Daun & Săpătoru, p.171] He called for these traditions to be amended, and for modernization to be introduced, and defined his goals as "increasing the links between education and the economic, administrative and cultural environment, improving the educational infrastructure, eliminating paternalism and populism from educational management, and enhancing international cooperation in education". [Daun & Săpătoru, p.171]

The program was criticized by the political opposition, who argued that the system in place was satisfactory, and blamed the existing problems on the post-1989 political and social climate. [Daun & Săpătoru, p.173] In parallel, supporters of reform were dissatisfied with its slow pace and inadequate financing. [Daun & Săpătoru, p.171-172]

In early 1998, a controversy erupted in Romanian politics, after the CDR announced that it was planning to stand by the plan to set up separate universities for the Hungarian minority.Matyas Szabó, "Romania. The perils of Coalition politics", in Peter Rutland, "Annual Survey of Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union 1998", M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, 2000, p.265. ISBN 0765603608] The decision was in turn based on a promise made to their coalition partner, the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania. In this context, Marga took the middle ground, saying that he supported separate Hungarian-language sections but not separate institutions (a similar view was expressed by the CDR's other coalition partner, the Democratic Party).

Marga only joined the PNŢCD in 1999, two years before ascending to its leadership. However, party rules prohibited members with less than 5 years in the party from running for party president. During the party's congress, a few candidates resigned in support of Marga and the party's constitution was amended to allow Marga to run. Marga was able to defeat his other conservative opponents with the support of the congress in spite of opposition from the party hierarchy. He was brought in to reform the party and position it to recover from the loses of the December 2000 election. However, his tenure failed to bring in the rapid changes desired and opposition from prominent conservative elements in his party stifled his ideas. He resigned in July 2001. [Lavinia Stan, "From Riches to Rags: The Romanian Christian Democrat Peasant Party", in "East European Quarterly", Vol. 39, 2005.]

In 2002, Marga joined the PNŢCD's former coalition partner, the National Liberal Party. At the time, a voice from within the PNL, Mihai Voicu, indicated that this was part of an "internal consolidation" trend, with the National Liberals attracting members from less successful CDR groups and other right-wing or centrist forces. [ro icon Mihai Voicu, [http://www.pnl.ro/index.php?id=dp1082 "Creşterea partidului este dată de acţiuni concrete"] , at the [http://www.pnl.ro/ PNL official site] , May 28, 2003; retrieved October 26, 2007]

Published works

* "Herbert Marcuse. Studiu critic" ("Herbert Marcuse. A Critical Study"), Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1980, 250 p.
* "Cunoaştere şi sens. Perspective critice asupra pozitivismului" ("Cognition and Sense. A Critical Approach of Positivism"), Editura Politică, Bucharest, 1984, 256 p.
* "Acţiune şi raţiune în concepţia lui Jürgen Habermas" ("Action and Reason with Jürgen Habermas"), Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1985, 306 p.
* "Raţionalitate, comunicare, argumentare" ("Rationality, Communication, Argumentation"), Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1991, 327 p.
* "Introducere în metodologia şi argumentarea filosofică" ("Introduction to Philosophical Methodology and Argumentation"), Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1992, 194 p.
* "Philosophy in the Eastern Transition", Editura Apostrof, Cluj-Napoca, 1993, 200 p.; (expanded edition), Editura Apostrof, Cluj-Napoca, 1995, 283 p.
* "Explorări în actualitate" ("Explorations into the Present Time"), Editura Apostrof, Cluj-Napoca, 1995, 187 p.
* "Filosofia unificării europene" ("The Philosophy of the European Unification"), Editura Apostrof, Cluj-Napoca, 1995, 257 p.; (second edition), Editura Apostrof, Cluj-Napoca, 1997, 392 p.
* "Universitatea în tranziţie" ("University in Transition"), Editura Apostrof, Cluj-Napoca, 1996, 209 p.
* "Academic Reform. A Case Study", Cluj University Press, Cluj-Napoca, 1997, 100 p.
* "Reconstrucţia pragmatică a filosofiei" ("The Pragmatic Reconstruction of Philosophy"), Polirom, Iaşi, 1998, 193 p.
* "Educaţia în tranziţie" ("Education in Transition"), Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1999, 126 p.
* "Relativismul şi consecinţele sale" ("Relativism and Its Consequences"), Editura Studiilor Europene, Cluj-Napoca, 1999, 200 p.
* "Anii reformei: 1997-2000" ("The Years of Reform: 1997-2000"), Editura Studiilor Europene, Cluj-Napoca, 2001, 200 p.
* "University Reform Today", Cluj University Press, Cluj-Napoca, 2001, 214 p.
* "Bildung und Modernisierung" ("Education and Modernization"), Cluj University Press, Cluj-Napoca, 2001, 206 p.
* "Introducere în filosofia contemporană" ("Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy"), Polirom, Iaşi, 2002, 560 p.
* "Ieşirea din trecut (documente şi reflecţii)" ("Path out of the Past. Documents and Reflections"), Editura Alma Mater, Cluj-Napoca, 2002, 264 p.
* "Filosofia lui Habermas" ("The Philosophy of Habermas"), Polirom, Iaşi, 2006, 520 p.
* "Diagnoze - Articole şi eseuri" ("Diagnoses - Articles and Essays"), Editura Eikon, Cluj-Napoca, 2008, 550 p.

Notes

References

*Holger Daun, Dana Săpătoru, "Educational reforms in Eastern Europe: Shifts, Innovation and Restoration", in Holger Daun, "Educational Restructuring in the Context of Globalization and National Policy", Routledge, London, 2002. ISBN 0815339410